On June 16, 1964, Ken Boyer welcomed Lou Brock to the club by hitting for the cycle as he led the way to a 7-1 defeat of the Colt .45s in Houston. Brock was making his debut in a Cardinals uniform after being traded to the club the day before. He picked up two hits in five at bats, which included a triple and a run scored. Boyer's historic day began with a leadoff single in the second, and it was followed up with a run scoring double in the third, a triple that scored Brock in the fifth, and was capped off with a leadoff home run in the seventh. The newest addition to the Cardinals who donned the number 20 on his back went 2 for 5, and with the help of Boyer's hot bat scored a run. He also stole second base in the eighth inning, which would be the first of 888 bases he would steal while wearing the uniform of the St. Louis Cardinals. The game was a slumpbuster that put to bed a five game skid the club had been on, and was the beginning of a four game winning streak. Brock, who the newspapers so aptly pointed out was struggling with a .251 averaged when the trigger was pulled to send him to St. Louis would end up hitting .348 in 103 games for the Cardinals during that championship season. The cycle hit by Boyer was the second time he had accomplished the feat with the Birds on the Bat across his chest, making him the only man to accomplish the feat twice in the modern era. The first coming in 1961. His contributions to the '64 club go beyond measure, as he put together an MVP campaign by leading the team with 24 home runs, 119 RBIs, and runs scored with 100. On and off the field he was a true leader, and that is why he will forever be known as The Captain.
Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU196406160.shtml
If you haven't already please check out the page:
https://www.facebook.com/kenboyerbook
The author, Kevin McCann, is in the process of writing an in depth book about the life, and career of the man who gave his entire life to baseball.
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