The 1964 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 82nd season for the franchise in Philadelphia. The Phillies finished in a second-place tie with the Cincinnati Reds. Both posted a record of 92–70, finishing one game behind the National League (NL) and World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, and just two games ahead of fourth-place San Francisco. Gene Mauch managed the Phillies, who played their home games at Connie Mack Stadium.
The team is notable for being in first place in the National League since opening day, and then suffering an unthinkable collapse during the final two weeks of the season. The "Phold of '64", as it became known, is one of the most infamous collapses in baseball history.
Offseason December 5, 1963: Don Demeter and Jack Hamilton were traded by the Phillies to the Detroit Tigers for Jim Bunning and Gus Triandos.Gus Triandos at Baseball Reference
The team From 1919 through 1947, the Phillies finished last a total of 17 times and next to last seven times. A 1962 cartoon in a baseball magazine depicted a ballplayer arriving at a French Foreign Legion outpost, explaining, "I was released by the Phillies!"
Things began to change slowly beginning in 1960 when Gene Mauch was hired as manager to replace Eddie Sawyer, who had resigned after the club's opening game of the regular season. Although the Phillies slumped to 47–107 in 1961 (including a 23-game losing streak), they began to climb back to respectability in 1962 and 1963. The front office, headed by John Quinn as General Manager, had replaced most of the players of the 1950s with new, young talent.
+ Opening Day lineupNumberNamePosition8 Tony Taylor Second base6 Johnny Callison Right field15 Richie Allen Third base5 Roy Sievers First base25 Tony González Center field10 Danny Cater Left field11 Clay Dalrymple Catcher7 Bobby Wine Shortstop23 Dennis Bennett Pitcher Chris Short was a rookie on the 1959 team, and by the end of 1963 was the ace of the staff. He was joined by Art Mahaffey in 1960, Dennis Bennett in 1962 and Ray Culp in 1963 as starters. The bullpen had Ed Roebuck, who was purchased from the Washington Senators in April 1964, as the primary relief pitcher, along with John Boozer and Dallas Green. Rookie Rick Wise, primarily a reliever but also a spot-starter, joined the club in June. Jack Baldschun was the closer.1964 Philadelphia Phillies The catching duties were platooned between Clay Dalrymple, who was the regular catcher since 1960 and Gus Triandos, who acted both as Bunning's personal catcher and as Dalrymple's backup, having come over from Detroit in the Bunning trade (below).Gus Triandos @ baseball-reference.com
The infield had two fine shortstops in Bobby Wine and Rubén Amaro, and two fine second basemen in Tony Taylor and Cookie Rojas. Mauch could and did platoon them depending on the pitcher they were facing. Richie Allen (who years later would be called Dick Allen) came up in September 1963 as a rookie showing much promise, and during spring training, made the club as the starting third baseman. John Herrnstein was at first.
In the outfield Johnny Callison was in right field, Tony Gonzalez in center, and Wes Covington was in left field. Covington was first platooned with rookie Danny Cater in left; however, Cater suffered a broken arm in a game against Milwaukee on 22 July and didn't return to the lineup until late September.Clark, William A (2002) The Summer of '64: A Pennant Lost, Mcfarland & Co,
The most important acquisition by the Phillies in the off-season of 1963 was the acquisition of Jim Bunning. Bunning had been with the Detroit Tigers since 1955 and was one of the best pitchers in the American League, throwing a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox in 1958 and was a five-time All-Star. However, in 1963 he began having problems with the front office of the Tigers, and did not get along well with the Tigers' new manager, Charlie Dressen. Also, Bunning was having a mediocre season with Detroit, and Dressen believed that Bunning's career was over at the age of 31. Denny McLain, a rising star with the Tigers, began to get Bunning's starts in September and by the end of the season after going 12–13, Bunning was asking the Tiger management for a trade. His wishes were complied with, and he and Triandos were sent to the Phillies in exchange for outfielder Don Demeter and pitcher Jack Hamilton.Halberstam, David (1994) October 1964, Ballantine Books
Regular season Throughout the 1964 season, the Phillies seemed destined to make it to the World Series. Since the beginning of the season, with an 8–2 start, the team had been in first place, and had led the National League all season, sometimes by as many as nine or ten games.1964 Philadelphia Phillies Schedule
During the season Johnny Callison was having a career year and was the top contender for the National League Most Valuable Player award. Richie Allen was the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year (which he won in the postseason). In addition to his pitching, Bunning also added another dimension to the club. Chris Short had been the ace of the staff prior to Bunning joining the club. However, he never was comfortable being the leading pitcher and having that responsibility. With Bunning joining the staff, the pressure was off Short and he thrived as the number-two starter.
The 1964 National League All-Star team had three Phillies: Chris Short, Jim Bunning, and Johnny Callison. Callison was named the game's Most Valuable Player, hitting a fast ball by Boston Red Sox ace Dick Radatz into the right field stands at Shea Stadium for a 3-run home run in the 9th inning for the win.1964 All-Star Game Then in early August, the Phillies acquired Frank Thomas from the New York Mets and Vic Power from Los Angeles Angels to shore up the bench for the pennant run in September. The Phillies were having their best season since the 1950 "Whiz Kids", giving "pennant fever" to their fans for the first time in 14 seasons.
Jim Bunning's perfect game From opening day, Bunning thrived in the National League, going 6–2 in the first two months of the season, and becoming the ace of the pitching staff. On Father's Day he got the start for the first game of a doubleheader against the New York Mets, and on that day, June 21, he threw the first perfect game in the National League since 1880.
Tracy Stallard started for the Mets in the first game of the doubleheader that day. As the game progressed, Philadelphia scored single runs in both the 1st and 2nd innings and had a big inning in the 6th, scoring four runs to take a 6–0 lead. On the mound, Bunning had a strong performance against the Mets batters, striking out 10.Box Score of Jim Bunning Perfect Game, 21 June 1964
For perhaps the only time in the stadium's history, the Shea faithful found themselves rooting for the visitors, caught up in the rare achievement, and roaring for Bunning on every pitch in the ninth inning. His strikeout of John Stephenson for the last out capped the performance.
The "Phold"
Beginnings On September 1 the Phillies held a -game lead over the Cincinnati Reds and it seemed were in cruise mode to clinching the pennant.National League Standings 31 August 1964 TV Guide went to press with a World Series preview that featured a photo of Connie Mack Stadium. (Through the 1968 season, both first-place teams automatically went to the World Series, the only postseason play at the time.)
On September 7, Labor Day, the Phillies split a doubleheader with the Dodgers while the Reds lost 2 games to the St. Louis Cardinals. That increased the Phillies' lead to games with 25 left to play. Then things started to go wrong, first with a string of injuries. The next game, Frank Thomas broke his right thumb sliding into second base against Maury Wills, the Dodger shortstop. The number four starter, Ray Culp, started to have problems with his right elbow; Dennis Bennett began having a sore arm. Art Mahaffey began to have control problems, being taken out in the first inning on September 8; in his next start, against the San Francisco Giants, he was taken out in the third inning.
Things appeared to settle down on September 13 when Bunning beat the Giants for his 17th win, and Short and Bennett followed up with wins over the Houston Colt .45s. However, Bunning replaced Culp for the start on the 16th for the last game against Houston and, pitching on two days' rest, gave up a two-run home run by Rusty Staub and lasted only innings (charged with 4 more runs).National League Standings 17 September 1964 On September 20, Bunning beat the Dodgers in Los Angeles, 3–2, throwing a five-hitter. Bunning remembered that the club had been shaky; the Phillies almost blew the game in the ninth when Vic Power made an error, leading to two unearned runs. Then Bunning finished the game by striking out the Dodger catcher, John Roseboro. After the game, a reporter from Sports Illustrated photographed Bunning. It was to be on the cover of the magazine for its World Series edition in October.
During the month, the club had gone 12–9 and the lead over the Reds remained at games with 12 games to play.National League Standings 20 September 1964 However, the win over the Dodgers on the 20th would be the last win by the Phillies in September.
"The Curse of Chico Ruiz" On September 21, the team returned to Philadelphia to begin a three-game series against the Reds as part of a seven-game homestand, which included four against the Milwaukee Braves; a sweep of the Cincinnati series would clinch the pennant for the Phillies. Then they would go on the road to end the season, playing three games in St. Louis and two games in Cincinnati.
Art Mahaffey began his first start since a 9–1 loss to the Giants on the 12th, pitching against John Tsitouris in the first game against the Reds. It was a pitchers' duel until the sixth inning, when Cincinnati's Chico Ruiz hit a single, which was followed up by Vada Pinson hitting a line drive through the pitcher's box and past second base; however, Johnny Callison threw Pinson out as he tried to advance to second, while Ruiz reached third on the play. Frank Robinson then came up to bat, swinging and missing for strike one. Ruiz, on third, noted that Mahaffey had not checked him before pitching, and on the next pitch, Ruiz broke for home plate. A surprised Mahaffey pitched high and wild and the Phillies' catcher, Clay Dalrymple, jumped high but missed the ball, which went back to the screen. Ruiz successfully stole home plate, giving the Reds the lead and what would turn out to be the game's only run in a 1–0 Cincinnati victory. Richie (later Dick) Allen said of the play: "The play broke our humps."
Ruiz's steal of home has evolved into a popular culture legend. Some Philadelphia sports fans still refer to the "Curse of Chico Ruiz" as the reason for many of their teams' misfortunes.
The Collapse In the next game, manager Gene Mauch rode Robinson, Ruiz and the rest of the Reds hard from the dugout, yelling over at them constantly about Ruiz and his stealing home the night before. The Reds responded with Frank Robinson hitting a two-run homer off Chris Short, who had to be taken out in the fifth inning. The Phillies lost and their lead was down to games. In the third game of the series with the Reds, things went from bad to worse, when Dennis Bennett lasted six innings with a sore arm as the Phillies lost again, 6–4, with Pinson and Ruiz hitting home runs. The lead was now down to games.