1964 Major League Baseball season

1964 MLB season
LeagueMajor League Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationApril 13 – October 15, 1964
Number of games162
Number of teams20
TV partner(s)NBC, CBS
Regular season
Season MVPAL: Brooks Robinson (BAL)
NL: Ken Boyer (STL)
AL championsNew York Yankees
  AL runners-upChicago White Sox
NL championsSt. Louis Cardinals
  NL runners-upPhiladelphia Phillies
World Series
ChampionsSt. Louis Cardinals
  Runners-upNew York Yankees
World Series MVPBob Gibson (STL)
MLB seasons

The 1964 Major League Baseball season was played from April 13 to October 15, 1964. This season is often remembered for the end of the New York Yankees' third dynasty, as they won their 29th American League Championship in 44 seasons. However, the Yankees lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. As of 2022, the Cardinals are the only National League team to have an edge over the Yankees in series played (3–2), amongst the non-expansion teams.

Awards and honors

Standings

Postseason

Bracket

World Series
   
AL New York Yankees 3
NL St. Louis Cardinals 4

MLB statistical leaders

  American League National League
Type Name Stat Name Stat
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
Wins Dean Chance LAA
Gary Peters CHW
20 Larry Jackson CHC 24
ERA Dean Chance LAA 1.65 Sandy Koufax LAD 1.74
SO Al Downing NYY 217 Bob Veale PIT 250
SV Dick Radatz BOS 29 Hal Woodeshick HOU 23
SB Luis Aparicio BAL 57 Maury Wills LAD 53

Managers

American League

Team Manager Comments
Baltimore Orioles Hank Bauer Finished 3rd, 2 games behind
Boston Red Sox Johnny Pesky Replaced during the season by Billy Herman
Chicago White Sox Al López Finished 2nd, 1 game behind
Cleveland Indians Birdie Tebbetts Replaced during the season by George Strickland
Detroit Tigers Chuck Dressen
Kansas City Athletics Ed Lopat Replaced during the season by Mel McGaha
Los Angeles Angels Bill Rigney
Minnesota Twins Sam Mele
New York Yankees Yogi Berra Won the American League pennant
Washington Senators Gil Hodges

National League

Team Manager Comments
Chicago Cubs College of Coaches
Cincinnati Reds Fred Hutchinson Replaced during the season by Dick Sisler
Houston Colt .45's Harry Craft Replaced during the season by Lum Harris
Los Angeles Dodgers Walter Alston
Milwaukee Braves Bobby Bragan
New York Mets Casey Stengel
Philadelphia Phillies Gene Mauch Finished tied for 2nd place with Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates Danny Murtaugh
San Francisco Giants Alvin Dark
St. Louis Cardinals Johnny Keane Won the World Series

Home Field Attendance

Team Name Wins Home attendance Per Game
Los Angeles Dodgers 80 -19.2% 2,228,751 -12.2% 27,515
New York Mets 53 3.9% 1,732,597 60.4% 21,129
San Francisco Giants 90 2.3% 1,504,364 -4.3% 18,572
Philadelphia Phillies 92 5.7% 1,425,891 57.2% 17,604
New York Yankees 99 -4.8% 1,305,638 -0.3% 16,119
Chicago White Sox 98 4.3% 1,250,053 7.9% 15,433
Minnesota Twins 79 -13.2% 1,207,514 -14.2% 14,726
St. Louis Cardinals 93 0.0% 1,143,294 -2.3% 14,115
Baltimore Orioles 97 12.8% 1,116,215 44.1% 13,612
Milwaukee Braves 88 4.8% 910,911 17.8% 11,246
Boston Red Sox 72 -5.3% 883,276 -6.3% 10,905
Cincinnati Reds 92 7.0% 862,466 0.4% 10,518
Detroit Tigers 85 7.6% 816,139 -0.7% 9,953
Los Angeles Angels 82 17.1% 760,439 -7.4% 9,388
Pittsburgh Pirates 80 8.1% 759,496 -3.1% 9,376
Chicago Cubs 76 -7.3% 751,647 -23.3% 9,280
Houston Colt .45s 66 0.0% 725,773 0.9% 8,960
Cleveland Indians 79 0.0% 653,293 16.1% 7,967
Kansas City Athletics 57 -21.9% 642,478 -15.7% 7,932
Washington Senators 62 10.7% 600,106 12.0% 7,409

Events

January–April

May–August

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax

September–December

  • September 9 – The St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies go into extra innings at Connie Mack Stadium tied at five. An error by Dick Allen leads to three unearned runs as the Cards score five in the eleventh for a 10–5 victory.
  • September 12 – Frank Bertaina of the Baltimore Orioles beats Bob Meyer of the Kansas City Athletics, 1–0, in a game in which both pitchers throw a one-hitter. The Orioles also set a Major League record for the fewest at bats by one team in a game, with 19 in eight innings.
  • September 20 – Jim Bunning strikes out Johnny Roseboro in the ninth inning to preserve the Philadelphia Phillies' 3–2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles. The win comes after two straight losses (both charged to Jack Baldschun) and leaves the first place Phils in front of the National League by 6½ games with 12 games to play. When they return to Philadelphia in the early morning, 2,000 fans, including mayor James Tate are on hand to greet the team.
  • September 21 – John Tsitouris hurls a 1–0 shutout for the Cincinnati Reds over Art Mahaffey and the first-place Phillies, launching a 10-game Phillies losing streak. Rookie Chico Ruiz scores the only run when, with Frank Robinson at bat, he steals home with two outs in the sixth inning.
  • September 27 – Johnny Callison hits three home runs, but the Phillies lose to the Milwaukee Braves 14–8. The Phils suffer the seventh loss in their 10-game losing streak, while the Reds sweep the New York Mets (4–1 and 3–1). These results knock Philadelphia out of first place, with the Reds replacing them atop the NL standings. The Phillies would never return to first place in 1964.
  • September 29 – The Pittsburgh Pirates blank the Reds 2–0 at Crosley Field (despite the Reds getting 11 hits off Bob Friend) to end the Reds' nine-game winning streak. Meanwhile, the St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Phillies 4–2 at Busch Stadium, the seventh win in the Cardinals' eight-game winning streak and the ninth loss in the Phillies' 10-game losing streak. The win, Ray Sadecki's 20th of the season, puts the Cardinals into a tie for first place with the Reds; St. Louis had been 11 games out of first on August 23.
  • October 3 – The New York Yankees clinch their 14th American League pennant in 16 years with an 8–3 victory over the Cleveland Indians, holding off the Chicago White Sox by a single game.
  • October 3 – As a result of the now-concluded Phillies' 10-game losing streak, this day begins with four teams still having a mathematical shot at the NL pennant. One of them, the San Francisco Giants, is eliminated with a 10–7 loss to the Chicago Cubs. At the end of the day's play, the Reds and the Cardinals are tied for first place, with the Phillies a game back. In recent days, the NL has had to scramble to schedule various possible playoffs.
  • October 4 – The Phillies defeat the Reds, 10–0, in the last regular-season game for both teams unless there is a playoff; that result clinches (for the Cardinals) a tie for the NL pennant. At the end of that game, both teams are ½ game back of the Cardinals, and await the result of the Cardinals-Mets game. Then, the Cardinals, never in first place until the last week of the season, clinch their first pennant since 1946 with an 11–5 win over the Mets, who had just beaten the Cardinals twice in the two preceding days. The win by the Cardinals averts a three-way tie for the NL pennant, with the Phillies and the Reds both finishing one game back in a second-place tie.
  • October 15 – The St. Louis Cardinals take an early lead in the deciding World Series Game Seven over the New York Yankees. Lou Brock hits a fifth-inning home run to give pitcher Bob Gibson a 6–0 lead. Mickey Mantle, Clete Boyer and Phil Linz homer for New York, but the Yankees fall short. The Cardinals win the game 7–5 and are the World Champions. The Boyer brothers, Ken for St. Louis and Clete for the Yankees, homer in their last World Series appearance, a first in major league history.
  • October 16 – The day after the final game of the World Series, the managerial posts of both pennant winning teams are vacant. In the morning, Johnny Keane, manager of the victorious St. Louis Cardinals, resigns, much to the surprise of owner Gussie Busch. Hours later, New York Yankee general manager Ralph Houk fires Yogi Berra as his manager, citing Berra's lack of control over team and his inability to command respect from his players. Less than a week later, Houk replaces Berra with Keane; meanwhile, Berra reunites with Casey Stengel as a coach with the New York Mets.
  • November 2 – CBS Broadcasting Inc. becomes the first corporate owner of a Major League team after buying eighty percent of the New York Yankees assets for $11,200,000.
  • November 10 – The Braves sign a 25-year lease to play in the new Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium.
  • November 24 – St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Ken Boyer, who hit .295 with 24 home runs and 119 RBI, is named National League Most Valuable Player with 243 points. The Phillies' Johnny Callison (187) and Boyer's Cardinal teammate Bill White are the runners-up.
  • December 1 – The Houston Colt .45s officially change their nickname to Astros. The change coincides with the team's impending move from Colt Stadium to the Harris County Domed Stadium, also known as the Astrodome. A change in name for the three-year-old franchise is necessitated due to a dispute with the Colt firearm company; the Astros name is chosen due to Houston being the home of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center (later the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center).
  • December 4:
    • The Minnesota Twins acquire extremely versatile utility César Tovar from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for pitcher Gerry Arrigo. Tovar will play eight seasons in Minnesota.
    • MLB owners decide to use a free agent draft beginning in January 1965. The inverse order of the previous year's standings will be used to select players every four months.

See also


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