The smallest crowd ever to attend a game at Fenway Park watches the Red Sox, en route to their sixth consecutive losing season, beat the Indians, 4-2, to snap a six-game slide. The crowd of 306 paid patrons is less than half of the previous low at the Boston ballpark when only 674 fans showed up for a game against Kansas City last season.
As a pinch-hitter in the top of the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium, Bill Roman hits his only big league home run in his first major league at-bat. The 25 year-old Tiger rookie first baseman will accumulate only 37 career plate appearances during a brief two-year stint in Detroit.
A total of 36 strikeouts, 19 by Pittsburgh batters, ties the National League record for whiffs in the Pirates’ 1 – 0 squeaker against the Reds in 16 innings. Jerry May’s squeeze bunt scores the lone run. The loss drops the Reds out of 1st place with three games left.
In a rarity at Fenway Park, the Indians shut out the Red Sox in a doubleheader winning 5 – 0 and 3 – 0. Rookie Luis Tiant and Sam McDowell go the distance in applying the whitewash.
The Phillies lose their 10th straight game as Curt Simmons of the Cards beats Jim Bunning, 8 – 5. The Phils now trail by 2 1/2 games with just two to play, but have a glimmer of hope since the Cardinals have three games left against the 10th-place Mets.
At a press conference, the Mets announce Casey Stengel, the only skipper the franchise has ever known, will continue to manage next season. Although the expansion team has finished last in all three years of its existence, the ‘Old Perfessor’ is given a raise.
Masanori Murakami becomes the first player born in Japan to win a major league game. At Candlestick Park, the 20 year-old southpaw one-hits the Colt .45’s over three innings, and the Otsuki native gets the victory when Matty Alou, who hasn’t homered in two years, goes deep to give the Giants a dramatic walk-off 5-4 win in the bottom of the 11th inning.
1964 – In the last game played at Colt Stadium, Jim Wynn singles home Rusty Staub for a 1-0, 12-inning triumph over Los Angeles . Bob Bruce is masterful, scattering five hits in the complete game victory. Bruce becomes the first 15-game winner in franchise history.
The Philadelphia Inquirer stops its recent practice of printing the Phillies magic number, citing the countdown digit has lost its significance in the National League race. The fading Phils, which had a 6.5 game lead just six days ago, now clings to a half-game margin, and the team will need to beat the contenders they will face in five of the six remaining games to clinch the once ‘certain’ pennant.
On Fan Appreciation Day at Shea Stadium, a promotion which features egg tossing contests and wheelbarrow races between games, the Reds sweep a twin bill from the Mets to take sole possession of first place. Six days ago, Cincinnati had trailed the Phillies by six and a half games.