1964 in baseball
The following are the baseball events of the year 1964 throughout the world.
Champions
Major League Baseball
Other champions
Awards and honors
MLB statistical leaders
Major league baseball final standings
American League final standings
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National League final standings
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Events
January
- January 3 – The Reds announce that manager Fred Hutchinson has contracted lung cancer. He will begin two months of radiology treatment in Seattle and will make spring training with the team.
- January 6:
- January 15:
- Major League Baseball executives vote to hold a free-agent draft in New York City. A new TV pact is also signed.
- 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 Louisville moving proposal. Finley is given an ultimatum to sign a lease in Kansas City or lose his franchise.
- January 28 – Cincinnati Reds center fielder Vada Pinson is cleared of assault charges stemming from a September 5‚ 1963‚ incident when Cincinnati sportswriter Earl Lawson does not pursue charges further.
- January 29 – Pitcher-writer 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
March
- 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 two years. 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. All three are assigned to the Magic Valley Cowboys of the Pioneer League.
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 homers for the Dodgers.
- April 17 – The New York Mets play their first game at brand-new Shea Stadium and lose 4–3 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. 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.
- April 23 – At Colt Stadium, Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt .45's 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.
May
June
- June 4 – Sandy Koufax pitches the third of his four career no hitters, to pace the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3–0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium.
- June 15 – The Chicago Cubs trade Lou Brock, Jack Spring and Paul Toth to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ernie Broglio, Doug Clemens and Bobby Shantz. The swap eventually gains notoriety as perhaps the most lopsided in the history of baseball, as Brock goes on to a Hall of Fame career in St. Louis while Broglio posts a 7–19 record in a Cubs uniform.
- 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.
July
August
September
- September 1 – At Shea Stadium, pitcher Masanori Murakami of the San Francisco Giants becomes the first Japanese player to appear in the Major Leagues. He enters the game in the ninth inning of the Giants' 4–1 loss to the New York Mets and strikes out Charley Smith, the first batter he faces; Ed Kranepool also strikes out two batters later.
- 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.
- 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 six and a half 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, 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
- 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, and it is still mathematically possible to get a 4-way tie for such. But then one of those four teams, 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; because of the Reds' loss, the Cardinals clinch a tie for the NL pennant. At the end of that game, the Phillies and Reds 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 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, who himself will be replaced (as St. Louis manager) by coach and former Cardinal star Red Schoendienst. Meanwhile, Berra reunites with Casey Stengel by becoming a coach with the New York Mets.
November
December
- 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.
Births
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Deaths
January
- January [?] – Al Cabrera, 82, Spaniard shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals during the 1912 season.
- January 13 – Margaret Stefani, 46, All-Star infielder in the 1943 inaugural season of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
- January 15 – Ed Henderson, 79, who pitched in 1914 with the Pittsburgh Rebels and the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the Federal League.
- January 15 – Bob Larmore, 67, backup shortstop for the 1918 St. Louis Cardinals.
- January 16 – Howard Baker, 75, third baseman who played for the Cleveland Naps, Chicago White Sox and New York Giants in parts of three seasons spanning 1912-15.
February
- February 4 – Fred Smith, 85, pitcher for the 1907 Cincinnati Reds.
- February 12 – Al Pierotti, 68, pitcher for the Boston Braves from 1920–1921, who was also an offensive lineman in the American Professional Football League from 1920 through 1929.
- February 14 – Bill Stewart, 69, National League 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.
- February 15 – Ken Hubbs, 22, second baseman for the Chicago Cubs and the 1962 Rookie of the Year, in a plane crash.
- February 15 – Fred Trautman, 71, pitcher for the 1915 Newark Peppers of the Federal League.
- February 22 – Ike Samuels, 90, third baseman for the 1895 St. Louis Browns of the National League.
- February 24 – Henry Baldwin, 69, backup infielder for the 1927 Philadelphia Phillies.
- February 27 – Tony Smith, 79, shortstop for the AL Washington Senators (1907) and the NL Brooklyn Superbas/Dodgers (1910–1911).
March
- March 2 – Fred Vaughn, 45, second baseman for the AL Washington Senators over parts of two seasons from 1944–45.
- March 3 – Lefty Scott, 48, pticher for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1945 season.
- March 10 – Warren Shanabrook, 83, third baseman for the 1906 Washington Senators.
- March 13 – Mack Allison, 77, pitcher who played from 1911 through 1913 for the St. Louis Browns of the American League.
- March 19 – John Henry Lloyd, 79, Hall of Fame shortstop of the Negro Leagues who was dubbed as the black Honus Wagner.
April
- 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 during 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
- June 11 – Jack Blott, 61, catcher for the 1924 Cincinnati Reds, and later a football coach in the Michigan and Wesleyan universities from 1924 through 1940.
July
- July 19 – Len Swormstedt, 85, pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Americans from 1901 to 1906.
- July 22 – Bill Narleski, 64, shortstop who played from 1929 to 1930 for the Boston Red Sox.
August
September
- September 11 – Tom Meany, 60, sportswriter for six New York newspapers, as well as Collier's magazine from 1923 to 1956; also publicity and promotions director for the New York 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
- November 11 – Oscar Stanage, 81, catcher for the Detroit Tigers from 1909 to 1925.
- November 12 – Fred Hutchinson, 45, manager of the Cincinnati Reds since 1959, previously a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers.
- November 19 – Fred Hofmann, 70, who spent 36 years in the major leagues as a catcher, coach and scout, and also won two minor league pennants as a manager.
December
- December 1 – Barbara Rotvig, 35, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League pitcher 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.
References
