Ken Boyer: All-Star, MVP, Captain

I’m excited to share the title and front cover of my latest book project, a biography of baseball great Ken Boyer.

Ken Boyer: All-Star, MVP, Captain tells the story of Kenton Lloyd Boyer (1931-1982), who played major-league baseball for 15 seasons, most of them with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1955 to 1965. He spent his last four seasons with the New York Mets, the Chicago White Sox, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was a five-time Gold Glove Award winner for his exceptional defense at third base, an 11-time All-Star at the same position, and the recipient of the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1964.

The book also explores his personal life, his childhood in southwest Missouri, his minor-league career, and his coaching and managerial careers.

Ken Boyer: All-Star, MVP, Captain is tentatively scheduled for publication in August 2014, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of both the Cardinals’ 1964 World championship and Ken’s MVP season.

To learn more about this project, please visit my book page, like my Ken Boyer page on Facebook, or follow it on Twitter.

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St. Louis Cardinals Book Collection

As baseball author and book reviewer Ron Kaplan notes on his blog, the 2013 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox will spawn a slew of books about the winning team before the holidays.

It’s interesting for me to see the collections of fellow book collectors/hoarders, and sometimes they share photos of them on their blogs or in Facebook groups such as Baseball Books. Ron, a devoted Yankees New York Mets fan,* shared his modest collection of Red Sox titles.

Before Game 6 of the Series commences tonight, I thought I’d share my Cardinals book collection. (A few titles are buried under papers and index cards on my desk, as I need them for the biography of Ken Boyer I’m writing.)

* Big correction: Ron is a Mets fan, NOT a Yankees fan. Big difference!

Title Considerations

Sometimes it’s the easiest part of writing a book. Or it can be the hardest decision to make in the whole process.

What should I call it?

That’s the dilemma I have with my biography of St. Louis Cardinals great Ken Boyer. Oh, I have several titles in mind, but I haven’t settled on the one I’ll use yet.

I’ve asked my Kickstarter backers and followers of my Ken Boyer: Captain of the St. Louis Cardinals Facebook page for their input and suggestions.

Below is a list of possibilities as well as ones that have been suggested to me:

• Ken Boyer: A Life in Baseball
• Ken Boyer: A Baseball Biography
• Ken Boyer: A Baseball Life
• The Captain: The Life and Baseball Times of Ken Boyer
• 14: The Baseball Life of Ken Boyer
• Ken Boyer: A Cardinal Legend
• Ken Boyer 14: The Captain’s Baseball Life
• Ken Boyer: The Biography of a Cardinals Legend
• Janie Boyer’s Dad*

* I thought this was the funniest one.

I’ve also started looking through photos I’ve gathered (and exploring a few other possibilities) as likely candidates for use on the front cover. But to have the cover, I need to have the title selected.

I’d be very interested to know what your thoughts may be, either from the list above or another suggestion. (Note: This poll is only to record reader input and the final title decision will be at my discretion.)

Kickstart for Ken Boyer Book Successful

Thanks to 42 backers (actually 44 to account for two contributions sent by mail), the Kickstarter campaign for my Ken Boyer book was successfully funded at 9:48 PM CST last night!

After the first effort in February and March fell very short of the $2,500 goal, I had my doubts whether this second try would succeed. But a friend thought that tax preparation time was a bad time to ask anyone for money–which in hindsight makes perfect sense!–so I regrouped and gave it another try in July and August. Thankfully, it was a success.

The following comes from my project update to my backers posted this morning:

I’m amazed at the outpouring of support for my project, especially in the last few days as the deadline to fund this Kickstarter effort drew closer. Honestly, there were moments when I doubted the mark would be reached in time. But every one of you came through to make this possible. And for that, I will be forever grateful to you.

Longtime friends, Cardinals fans, and baseball fans in general really stepped up to the plate and showed their support for me personally or how much they wanted to make this book to be written and published.

What has really struck me is the faith that Ken’s children and grandchildren have showed in my work through their pledges, emails, and Facebook messages. This is the most rewarding aspect for me–to have their approval for my project as it goes forward.

A few special “thank-yous” are in order:

• Thank you to Christine Coleman, lead writer for Aaron Miles’ Fastball (a Cardinals blog), for emailing her fellow Cardinals bloggers about the project. It led to two posts at the Cards Conclave and Redbird Rants (courtesy of Daniel Solzman) in the days leading up to the Kickstarter deadline.
• Thank you to Wade Forrester of the Facebook group St. Louis Sports Talk and Facebook page On This Day in Cardinal Nation, for helping promote the Kickstarter effort on them.
• Thank you to Cardinals TV broadcaster Dan McLaughlin for retweeting Daniel’s tweet about the project.
• Thank you to Ken’s children Suzie, Danny, and Jane, and to his grandchildren Brook and Jake, for their pledges and support.

Thank you to all 44 backers who have placed their faith and trust in me to accomplish my goal of writing and publishing a book fitting of Ken Boyer’s legacy. I will do my best to make you all proud!

$1964 Raised but $536 Left to Raise in 60 Hours

Yesterday, pledges were added or increased to my Kickstarter effort for my Ken Boyer book to bring the total amount raised as of this morning to $1964.

Anyone who knows about Ken Boyer and the St. Louis Cardinals realizes the significance of that number.

It was in 1964 that the Cardinals made an August-September comeback to clinch the National League pennant on the last day of the season. It was also the year that Ken, the team captain, batted .295 with 24 homers and 119 RBIs and was named the N.L. Most Valuable Player.

Whether it’s successful or not (though I hope it is!), I’m very grateful and appreciative of the support shown through the pledges that have been made. It’s nice to know there are still fans of Ken who remember him and the personal qualities and talent he brought to the St. Louis Cardinals and–I’m finding out–to the other teams he played for and managed as well.

If you would like to make a pledge, please visit the Kickstarter page and click “Make a Pledge” in the right-hand column. Thank you!

PROJECT UPDATES

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to interview former major-league pitcher Tommy John, who was Ken’s teammate with the Chicago White Sox in 1967 and ’68. The two became good friends and Ken would invite him to go quail hunting in the winter near his home in Hermann, Missouri.

Daniel Shoptaw of the Cards Conclave blog wrote a nice post about the project and the Kickstarter effort this morning. (Thank you so much to Christine at the Aaron Miles’ Fastball blog for her help in spreading the word about them!)

I’ve been working diligently on the manuscript this past week and have finished a first draft of the chapter(s) dealing with Ken’s minor-league seasons at Lebanon and Omaha, as well as what I know so far about his military service. This week, I will start working on his season with the Houston Buffaloes of the Double-A Texas League. It was his performance at Houston that convinced the Cardinals he could be their starting third baseman in 1955–and for years to come.

UPDATE: While writing this post, a $75 pledge was made to bring the total to $2,039.14! Only $460.86 left to go in 59 hours.

2nd UPDATE: A $15 pledge has brought the total up to $2,054.14! Only $445.86 left in 58 hours.

New Kickstarter Campaign for Ken Boyer Book

With a few starts, stops, and restarts in between, I’ve been working on my book project about St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Ken Boyer for the past two years. Now I want to complete my research and start working exclusively on the manuscript in order to have it ready for a 2014 publication date.

I have a new Kickstarter campaign underway at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kevindmccann/ken-boyer-a-baseball-biography

Please take a moment to learn more about the project and look over the rewards I’m offering. As of today, $745.14 has been pledged with 20 days to go. The goal is $2,500, and it’s an all-or-nothing proposition: if I don’t meet the minimum amount, my project receives none of it.

Christine Coleman at Aaron Miles’ Fastball (a great Cardinals blog) invited me to write a guest post to explain the project and the Kickstarter campaign.

I hope my fellow St. Louis Cardinals will support this effort. Pledges will go toward research and travel expenses, including a trip to St. Louis this summer to do work at the public library and the Mercantile Library, as well as interview Kathleen Boyer (Ken’s wife) and family members and teammates.

To follow my progress, please “like” my Ken Boyer Facebook page and follow my new tweets!

 

A Great-Looking Baseball Film

I can’t help but watch this trailer over and over again.

Granted, Jackie Robinson’s integration of major league baseball is an incredible story of courage and fortitude in the face of racism and bigotry. And I would go see this film simply because of that and his place in the game’s history.

But the cinematography and visual effects of 42 are absolutely amazing! There’s Ebbets Field, looking like a brick and mortar ballpark and not a computer generated picture. There’s baseball players playing the game in flannel uniforms and no jewelry around their necks or in their ears. I was skeptical when I first heard that Harrison Ford–Han Solo and Indiana Jones of my childhood–was going to play Branch Rickey. But he pulls it off and actually resembles the man himself!

I’m really looking forward to seeing 42 this spring.

Ken Boyer Book Update 01.11.13

So far, so good.

I’ve committed to blogging about my progress on what has become known in my household as “The Boyer Book,” so I’ll do my best to give a report at least once a week throughout the year.

I’ve done quite a bit of writing this week on Ken Boyer’s teenage seasons in the Cardinal Junior League (See last week’s post for details) almost to the point that he is signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1949. I’m looking forward to writing about his first minor league season with the Lebanon Chix of the Class D PONY League. I had the opportunity to interview Robert Moscrey, who played second base and batted leadoff for the Chix, about his memories of the team, his manager Hal Contini, and Boyer himself.  He couldn’t remember very much about Boyer (after all, it was almost 64 years ago!) as they were teammates for only a month or so toward the end of the ’49 season. Mr. Moscrey did make a very interesting comment that should be useful later in Ken’s story. I’m hoping to get in touch with one more former Chix teammate, too.

One hurdle that I have is acquiring microfilm from the cities where Ken played in the minor leagues–Hamilton, Ontario; Omaha, Nebraska; and Houston–that I need to tell about that part of his career. Another is microfilm for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. If any baseball researchers or Ken Boyer fans live in or near these cities and might be able to do some legwork at the library and find some articles for me, please contact me.

Next week, I’m looking forward to a few more interviews with former teammates!

You can also follow my progress on my Facebook page.

Kitty League Fans!

Fans of the Class D Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League (better known as the Kitty League), I need your memories!

It’s been my goal for the last 10 years to write a comprehensive, season-by-season account of the league’s history. I still intended to do it, but I still have a lot of work and research to finish before it’s completed. In the meantime, I would like to begin work on what I call a “nostalgia” book about the Kitty League. It would be a book filled with pictures, memorabilia, and fan memories.

If you lived in Fulton, Cairo, Jackson, Owensboro, Paducah, Union City, Mayfield, or Madisonville, do you remember what it was like to go to a game as a kid, sell tickets or work concessions, be a batboy, catch foul balls, or any other experiences at your local ballpark? If so, I’d love to hear from you! Who were your favorite players and managers? What do you recall about the ballparks themselves? Did any of them stay at your house? Any memories at all, I would like to include in this book. Send me an e-mail!

Order your copy of Kevin D. McCann’s latest book HURST’S WURST at http://www.kevindmccann.com

Indy Leagues Graveyard

For those independent league baseball fans who check my website Indy Leagues Graveyard, you might be wondering why there’s a domain default page there instead. (Actually I received an e-mail asking about it last week, but I just assumed it was because of the lack of updates for the past few months.) UPDATE: Now there’s a nice article about valium addiction, treatment, and withdrawal. Just the kind of information you’d go to a baseball site for!

Apparently the domain name expired without me knowing it and a company that will not be named swooped in and took it. I thought it had somehow been hijacked and I called the domain hosting company on the phone to figure out what was going on. The person explained they had tried contacting my old e-mail address, but needless to say their renewal reminders never reached me. (Sigh.) So now some non-baseball related website has the domain name I created back in 2002. No telling what they’re going to use it for.

A lesson for fellow webmasters: Make sure your contact information is current with your domain register!

To be honest, between publishing and promoting Hurst’s Wurst and other projects, I’ve not had much time to even work on Indy Leagues Graveyard in the past six months.

So I pose this question: Is there anyone out there remotely interested in me bringing it back? Did it help fill a void that would make it worth the price of a new domain name and hosting to revive it? Drop me a line and let me know what you think or leave your comment.

Order your copy of Kevin D. McCann’s latest book HURST’S WURST at http://www.kevindmccann.com