1964 – In Game 6 of the World Series, New York Yankees Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle hit home runs on back-to-back pitches from Curt Simmons of the St. Louis Cardinals, and Joe Pepitone belts a grand slam. New York wins, 8 – 3, at St. Louis and evens the Series.
test On October 11, 1964 – St Louis Cardinal starting pitcher Ray Sadecki let the first four Yankees hit safely. After a leadoff double by Phil Linz, Bobby Richardson’s RBI double put the Yankees up 1–0. After a single, Mickey Mantle’s RBI single made it 2–0 and Sadecki was promptly removed by manager Keane. Roger…
At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle, facing Barney Schultz, slams the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth inning out of the Bronx ballpark, giving New York a dramatic 2-1 walk-off victory and two games to one advantage over St. Louis in the Fall Classic. ‘The Mick’s’ game-winning round-tripper, his 16th Fall Classic round-tripper, breaking the previous mark set by Babe Ruth, makes him the fifth major leaguer to end a World Series game with a home run.
On October 8, 1964 at Busch Stadium, Rookie Mel Stottlemyre, called up from the minors in August, dominated for New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinal bullpen wilted in the late innings. The Cardinals struck first in the third on Curt Flood’s groundout with runners on second and third, but the Yankees tied the…
Bob Uecker, who had been shagging out in left field, tries his hand at catching batting practice balls with a tuba when an unsuspecting member of a Dixieland band leaves it unattended. Much to the delight of the crowd, the comedic Cardinals backup catcher is successful in two of his six attempts to snag a fly ball in the mouth of the instrument, but the owner, who is not amused, asks the team for $250 to cover the cost of repairing the dented brass.
Thirty minutes after their 9-2 loss to Chicago on the last day of the season, the Giants fire manager Alvin Dark, and then name Herman Franks, a coach on the team, to be his successor. The former controversial skipper, rumored to be on the chopping block before the start of the season, is quoted complaining about the number of black and Hispanic players on his team in a Newsday article printed in August, telling Stan Issacs, “they are just not able to perform up to the white player when it comes to mental alertness”.
Larry Jackson’s 9 – 2 victory over the Giants is his 24th win for the Cubs, the most ever for a pitcher on an eighth-place team. Jackson also sets a major league record for pitchers by fielding 109 chances during the season without committing an error. Walter Johnson fielded 103 chances without an error in 1913.
The Philadelphia Phillies bomb the Cincinnati Reds, 10 – 0, as both teams finish one game behind the St. Louis Cardinals. The Phillies and Reds then sit in the visitor’s clubhouse and hope that New York Mets pitcher Galen Cisco can stop the Cardinals. The Mets take a 3 – 2 lead into the 5th inning, but St. Louis scores three runs to regain the lead. New York scores once more but the Cardinals complete their scoring with three in the 8th to win, 11 – 5. Bob Gibson wins in relief. For St. Louis, it is their first pennant since 1946.
On October 4, 1964, the St. Louis Cardinals win a wild National League pennant race by defeating the New York Mets, 11-5, after dropping the first two games of the series. Bill White drives in a two runs with a home run, scoring future hall of fame Lou Brock, putting the Cardinals up 7-4…
In the event of a tie at the end of the season, National League president Warren Giles flips a coin to determine the different possible playoff pairings, which includes six possibilities – two with two teams, three with three teams, and one with four teams. Reds’ president and general manager Bill DeWitt wins the first toss and chooses to play the Cardinals at home if Cincinnati prevails.