Champions Major League Baseball World Series: St. Louis Cardinals over New York Yankees (4–3); Bob Gibson, MVP All-Star Game, July 7 at Shea Stadium: National League, 7–4; Johnny Callison, MVP

Other champions College World Series: Minnesota Japan Series: Nankai Hawks over Hanshin Tigers (4–3) Little League World Series: Mid Island, Staten Island, New York Senior League World Series: Massapequa, New York

Awards and honors Baseball Hall of Fame Luke Appling Red Faber Burleigh Grimes Tim Keefe Heinie Manush John Ward Miller Huggins (manager)

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards BBWAA Award National League American League Rookie of the Year Dick Allen (PHI) Tony Oliva (MIN) Cy Young Award — Dean Chance (LAA) Most Valuable Player Ken Boyer (STL) Brooks Robinson (BAL)Gold Glove Awards Position National League American League Pitcher Bobby Shantz (PHI/) Jim Kaat (MIN) Catcher Johnny Edwards (CIN) Elston Howard (NYY) 1st Base Bill White (STL) Vic Power (PHI/) 2nd Base Bill Mazeroski (PIT) Bobby Richardson (NYY) 3rd Base Ron Santo (CHC) Brooks Robinson (BAL) Shortstop Rubén Amaro (PHI) Luis Aparicio (BAL)Outfield Roberto Clemente (PIT) Vic Davalillo (CLE) Curt Flood (STL) Al Kaline (DET) Willie Mays (SF) Jim Landis (CWS)

Statistical leaders American LeagueNational League Stat Player Total Player Total AVG Tony Oliva (MIN) .323 Roberto Clemente (PIT) .339 HR Harmon Killebrew (MIN) 49 Willie Mays (SF) 47 RBI Brooks Robinson (BAL) 118 Ken Boyer (STL) 119 W Dean Chance (LAA) Gary Peters (CWS) 20 Larry Jackson (CHC) 24 ERA Dean Chance (LAA) 1.65 Sandy Koufax (LAD) 1.74 K Al Downing (NYY) 217 Bob Veale (PIT) 250

Major league baseball final standings American League final standings

National League final standings

Nippon Professional Baseball final standings Central League final standings Central League G W L T Pct. GBHanshin Tigers 140 80 56 4 .588 —Taiyo Whales 140 80 58 2 .580 1.0Yomiuri Giants 140 71 69 0 .507 11.0Hiroshima Carp 140 64 73 3 .467 16.5Kokutetsu Swallows 140 61 74 5 .452 18.5Chunichi Dragons 140 57 83 0 .407 25.0

Pacific League final standings Pacific League G W L T Pct. GBNankai Hawks 150 84 63 3 .571 —Hankyu Braves 150 79 65 6 .549 3.5Toei Flyers 150 78 68 4 .534 5.5Tokyo Orions 150 77 68 5 .531 6.0Nishitetsu Lions 150 63 81 6 .438 19.5Kintetsu Buffaloes 150 55 91 4 .377 28.5

Events

January

January 3 – The Cincinnati Reds announce that manager Fred Hutchinson, 44, has contracted lung cancer; at a news conference in his native city of Seattle, the former MLB pitcher says he will begin two months of radiology treatment immediately and plans to be ready when the Reds' spring training camp opens in Florida on February 29. January 6: Owner Charlie Finley signs a two-year pact to move his Athletics‚ pending American League approval‚ from Kansas City, Missouri to Louisville, Kentucky. The Chicago White Sox introduce their new powder-blue road uniforms. January 9 – The Philadelphia Phillies release first baseman Frank Torre. January 14 – The Pittsburgh Pirates sign pitcher Dock Ellis as a free agent. January 15 – Willie Mays‚ the highest-paid player in baseball‚ signs a $105‚000 contract with the Giants. January 16 – American League owners vote 9–1 against Charlie Finley's attempt to move his club to Louisville. Finley is given an ultimatum to sign a lease in Kansas City or lose his franchise. January 20 – The Houston Colt .45s acquire veteran shortstop Eddie Kasko from the Cincinnati Reds for pitchers Jim Dickson and Wally Wolf, plus cash considerations. January 28 – Cincinnati center fielder Vada Pinson is cleared of assault charges stemming from a September 5‚ 1963 incident when local sportswriter Earl Lawson does not pursue charges further. January 29 – Pitcher-author Jim Brosnan is given permission by the Chicago White Sox to make his own deal with another team. His in-season writing has been censured by Sox general manager Ed Short. January 30 – The United States Senate Subcommittee on Monopolies begins hearings on baseball.

February February 2 – Red Faber, Burleigh Grimes, Tim Keefe, Heinie Manush, John Montgomery Ward, and Miller Huggins are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. February 13 – Chicago Cubs second baseman Ken Hubbs, 22, a novice pilot and 's National League Rookie of the Year and NL Gold Glove winner, dies when his private plane crashes in a snowstorm near Provo, Utah. His body is recovered two days later; pallbearers at his February 20 funeral include Cubs' stars and future Hall of Famers Ernie Banks and Ron Santo. February 17: Former Chicago White Sox shortstop Luke Appling is selected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America in a runoff election. In , the first year of eligibility for Appling, he received just two votes. The St. Louis Cardinals reacquire outfielder Carl Warwick from the Houston Colt .45s for pitcher Chuck Taylor and outfielder Jim Beauchamp. Warwick will help the Redbirds win the 1964 World Series, setting a Fall Classic record for reaching first base consecutively as a pinch hitter.

March March 18 – Bolstering their bullpen, the Chicago White Sox acquire 35-year-old left-hander Don Mossi from the Detroit Tigers in a cash transaction. March 22 – The Milwaukee Braves sign outfielder Cito Gaston as an amateur free agent. March 23: Finally, Charlie Finley gives in to American League pressure and signs a four-year lease with the municipal government to keep the Athletics in Kansas City. Finley wanted a two-year deal. His exasperated AL colleagues voted 9–1 that KC's offer was reasonable. The San Francisco Giants sign pitcher Masanori Murakami‚ third baseman Tatsuhiko Tanaka‚ and catcher Hiroshi Takahashi, the first Japanese ballplayers ever to play for American teams. Murakami played for the Fresno Giants and later the MLB Giants, while Tanaka and Takahashi played for the Magic Valley Cowboys. March 31: The Washington Senators acquire pitcher Buster Narum from the Baltimore Orioles for a "player to be named later"/PTBNL, who turns out to be 20-year-old outfield prospect Lou Piniella. The Chicago White Sox sell the contract of pitcher Mike Joyce to the New York Mets.

April April 1 – Cleveland Indians manager Birdie Tebbetts suffers a heart attack. Third-base coach George Strickland will fill in for three months until the 51-year old skipper returns to the team with limited duties. April 8 – Houston Colt .45s relief pitcher Jim Umbricht dies of cancer at the age of 33. In 1965, the franchise will retire his uniform number 32. April 9: The Los Angeles Dodgers acquire well-traveled minor-league outfielder Lou Johnson from the Detroit Tigers' organization for relief pitcher and 1959 World Series hero Larry Sherry. Detroit even sends the Dodgers $10,000 in cash to sweeten the deal. To this point in his 12-season professional baseball career, Johnson, 29, has appeared in only 96 MLB games. But he will be recalled to the Dodgers in May 1965 to replace an injured Tommy Davis and help Los Angeles win two NL pennants and the 1965 World Series. To the chagrin of special consultant Branch Rickey, the St. Louis Cardinals trade Jimmie Coker and Gary Kolb to the Milwaukee Braves for reserve catcher Bob Uecker. After introducing himself, the Redbirds' new backstop is quickly informed by Rickey. "I didn't want you. I wouldn't trade one Gary Kolb for a hundred Bob Ueckers". April 10 – Demolition of the Polo Grounds in Manhattan begins, using the same wrecking ball that demolished Ebbets Field in Brooklyn four years earlier. April 13: Lyndon Johnson, the 36th U.S. President, throws out the ceremonial first pitch in 1964's traditional Presidential Opener before 40,145 at District of Columbia Stadium. The home-standing Washington Senators can muster only one hit, a third inning double by Claude Osteen, off Ken McBride and Julio Navarro, and fall to the Los Angeles Angels 4–0."Los Angeles Angels 4, Washington Senators 0." Retrosheet box score (April 13, 1964). After beating the Reds 6–3 in the traditional home opener in Cincinnati, the Houston Colt .45s sit in first place in the National League for the only time under their original nickname. The next year the Colt .45s are renamed the Astros, to reflect Houston's status as the home of the NASA space program. April 14: Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers goes all the way in his only Opening Day start, allowing no walks and beating the visiting St. Louis Cardinals, 4–0. Frank Howard homers for the Dodgers. Meanwhile, the New York Mets sell the contract of 1950s Dodger legend Duke Snider, 37, to the San Francisco Giants. Snider will spend the last year of his 18-season, Hall-of-Fame MLB career with the arch-rival Giants, batting .210 largely as a pinch hitter. April 17 – The Mets play their first game at brand-new Shea Stadium and lose 4–3 to the Pittsburgh Pirates before 48,736. Willie Stargell hits the first home run in the stadium's history, a second-inning solo shot off the Mets' Jack Fisher. In the first-ever "Kiner's Korner" from Shea, Ralph Kiner's guest is Casey Stengel. Two days later, the Mets win their first of 1,859 victories at the stadium when they beat the Pirates 6–0 behind Al Jackson's six-hitter. April 21 – The Philadelphia Phillies purchase the contract of veteran relief pitcher Ed Roebuck from the Washington Senators. Roebuck, 32, will bolster the Phils' bullpen this season, working in 60 games and posting a 5–3 (2.21) record with 12 saves. April 23: At Colt Stadium, Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt .45s no-hits his former team, the Cincinnati Reds, but loses 1–0. Two ninth-inning errors allow the Reds to score the game's lone run: a two-base throwing error by Johnson himself on Pete Rose's ground ball, and the second by Nellie Fox on Vada Pinson's grounder, which scores Rose. To date, the game is the only one in Major League history whose losing pitcher had pitched a nine-inning no-hitter. The no-hitter is the first of three in MLB this season—all of them thrown by National League hurlers."Top Individual Performances of 1964." Retrosheet. The New York Mets pick up third baseman Charley Smith, 26, from the Chicago White Sox for shortstop Humberto "Chico" Fernández, minor-league catcher Bobby Catton, and cash. April 24 – Willie Mays reaches base five times in five plate appearances—two singles, two bases on balls, and a solo homer—and scores five runs in the San Francisco Giants' 15–5 romp over the Reds at Crosley Field. April 28 – The Los Angeles Angels acquire left-handed pitcher Willie Smith from the Detroit Tigers for right-hander Julio Navarro. An exceptional hitter among pitchers, Smith, 25, will become a full-time outfielder by mid-June to get his bat into the Angel lineup; he'll post a .301 batting average, best among the team's regulars, with 108 hits this season and remain a valuable outfielder and pinch hitter for the rest of his MLB career.

May

May 2 – The Minnesota Twins become the third club in MLB history to hit four consecutive home runs in the same inning, as Tony Oliva, Bob Allison, Jimmie Hall and Harmon Killebrew go deep in the top of the 11th inning in a 7–3 victory against the Kansas City Athletics. The Twins also become the first team to hit at least three consecutive home runs in an extra innings game.Baseball Reference – May 2, 1964, Twins at Athletics Box Score and Play by Play The Twins' six homers on the day (an accomplishment they'll match just 12 days from now, on May 14, in a nine-inning contest) are the most by a big-league team in one game in 1964."Top Team Performances of 1964." Retrosheet.