1964 in baseball
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following are the baseball events of the year 1964 throughout the world.
[edit] Champions
[edit] Major League Baseball
[edit] Other champions
[edit] Awards and honors
[edit] MLB statistical leaders
[edit] Major league baseball final standings
[edit] American League final standings
[edit] National League final standings
[edit] Events
[edit] January–April
- April 8 – Houston Colt .45s relief pitcher Jim Umbricht dies of cancer at the age of 33. The franchise would retire his number in 1965, by which time it is known as the Astros.
- April 14 – Sandy Koufax goes all the way in his only opening day start, allowing no walks and beating the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-0 at Dodger Stadium. Frank Howard hoemers for The Los Angeles Dodgers.
[edit] May–August
- June 21 – On Father's Day at Shea Stadium, Jim Bunning fans ten, drives in two runs, and pitches the first perfect game (excluding Don Larsen's 1956 World Series effort, and Harvey Haddix's 1959 extra-innings loss) since Charlie Robertson's on April 30, 1922, as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 6–0. Bunning also becomes the first pitcher to throw no-hitters in both leagues, and Gus Triandos becomes the first catcher to catch a no-hitter in each league. Bunning throws just 90 pitches in winning his second no-hitter. The next time Bunning faces the Mets he will shut them out, the first no-hit pitcher in the 20th century to do that. The Mets fare little better in the nightcap, as 18-year-old rookie Rick Wise pitches into the seventh inning to win his first game, giving up just three hits and three walks (Johnny Klippstein pitched the final three innings). The Phillies increase their National League lead to two games over the San Francisco Giants.
- August 12 – Mickey Mantle hits a home run from both sides of the plate in a 7–3 Yankees win over the Chicago White Sox. It is the tenth time in his career that he has done so and a major league record for switch-hit homers in a game.
- August 20 – At Comiskey Park, the Chicago White Sox complete a four-game sweep of the New York Yankees with a 5–0 shutout. As the Yankees' team bus heads to O'Hare International Airport after the game, infielder Phil Linz takes out a harmonica and plays a plaintive version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Manager Yogi Berra tells Linz to put the harmonica away. After Linz asks what Berra had said, Mickey Mantle tells Linz to "play it louder," which he does, prompting an unusually angry Berra to storm to the back to the bus and slap the harmonica out of Linz' hands; the instrument strikes Joe Pepitone's knee. The "Harmonica Incident" convinces the Yankee front office that Berra has lost control of the team and cannot command respect from his players. As a result, the decision is made to fire Berra at the end of the season.
[edit] September–December
- 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, Ray Sadecki records his 20th victory as his 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 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 – 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 1st 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 1/2 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 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.
- 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.
[edit] Births
[edit] January–February
[edit] March–April
[edit] May–June
[edit] July–August
[edit] September–October
[edit] November–December
[edit] Deaths
- January 13 – Margaret Stefani, 46, All-Star infielder in the 1943 inaugural season of the All- American Girls Professional Baseball League
- February 13 – Ken Hubbs, 22, second baseman for the Chicago Cubs and the 1962 Rookie of the Year, in a plane crash
- February 14 – Bill Stewart, 69, NL umpire from 1933 to 1954 who worked four World Series, four All-Star Games and the 1951 NL pennant playoff; also a hockey coach and referee who led the Chicago Black Hawks to the 1938 Stanley Cup title
- March 19 – John Henry Lloyd, 79, Hall of Fame shortstop of the Negro Leagues who became known as the black Honus Wagner
- April 1 – Casey Hageman, 76, pitched from 1911 through 1914 for the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs
- April 8 – George Moriarty, 79, third baseman, manager and umpire in the American League for 35 years
- April 8 – Jim Umbricht, 33, relief pitcher for the Houston Colt .45s, who battled back from cancer surgery to post a 4–3 record for the club in 1963
- April 20 – Eddie Dyer, 64, pitcher and manager for the St. Louis Cardinals who guided the team to the 1946 World Series title
- June 11 – Jack Blott, 61, catcher for the 1924 Cincinnati Reds, and later a football coach in the Michigan and Wesleyab universities from 1924 through 1940
- July 19 – Len Swormstedt, 85, pitched from 1901 to 1906 for the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Americans
- July 22 – Bill Narleski, 64, shortstop who played from 1929 to 1930 for the Boston Red Sox
- August 17 – Happy Felsch, 72, center fielder and one of eight players banned from baseball for life for his role in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal
- August 21 – J.L. Wilkinson, 86, owner of the Negro League Kansas City Monarchs from 1920 to 1948
- September 11 – Tom Meany, 60, sportswriter for six New York newspapers, as well as Collier's magazine, from 1923 to 1956; publicity and promotions director for the Mets since their 1961 formation
- September 26 – Paul Zahniser, 68, pitcher for the Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox, and Cincinnati Reds from 1923 to 1929.
- September 27 – Jud McLaughlin, 52, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox between 1931 and 1933
- November 12 – Fred Hutchinson, 45, manager of the Cincinnati Reds since 1959, previously a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers
- November 19 – Fred Hofmann, 70, spent 36 years in the major leagues as a catcher, coach and scout, and also won two minor league pennants as a manager
- December 1 - Barbara Rotvig, 35, AAGPBL pitcher who played for the Kenosha Comets
- December 31 – Red Rollings, 60, utility infielder/outfielder who played for the Red Sox and Braves Boston teams between 1927 and 1930
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[edit] References
