Buzz Boyle
From BR Bullpen
Ralph Francis Boyle
- Bats Left, Throws Left
- Height 5' 11½", Weight 170 lb.
- High School Elder High School
- School Xavier University
- Debut September 11, 1929
- Final Game September 29, 1935
- Born February 9, 1908 in Cincinnati, OH USA
- Died November 12, 1978 in Cincinnati, OH USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Buzz Boyle was an outfielder who was a regular for the Brooklyn Dodgers for a couple years in the 1930s. In 1934, when he hit .305 with 10 triples, he was 16th in the MVP voting. He also had a 25-game hitting streak that year and led the league in assists as a rightfielder.
He came up in 1929 and 1930 for cups of coffee with the Boston Braves before joining Brooklyn in 1933.
His last year in the majors was in 1934 with the Dodgers at age 27, when he hit .272 as an outfielder, but the team as a whole hit .277 (as did the league).
Boyle hit .316 on the great 1939 Kansas City Blues minor league team which won 107 games, and which featured Vince DiMaggio, Jerry Priddy, Phil Rizzuto, Sandy Vance, Tommy Holmes, and others. He managed two Yankees farm teams: the Akron Yankees in 1941 and the Norfolk Tars in 1942. In 1946 he managed the Muskegon Lassies in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. In 1947, Boyle managed the Reds' Providence Chiefs farm team.
After his playing career ended, he was a Cincinnati Reds scout for 21 seasons (1948-1968). He tried to sign Don Zimmer, but the Reds wouldn't offer as much money as the Dodgers, so Zimmer went with the Dodgers instead. He later joined the Montreal Expos (1969-1972) and Kansas City Royals (1973-1974).
His brother Jim Boyle was in one game with the 1926 New York Giants, and the brothers are two of only five major league players to come out of Xavier University.
