By William Kelly
Although they are 60 years apart, the 1964 and 2024 Philadelphia Phillies baseball teams have a lot in common.
In the last month of the season both teams were seven gaves ahead, expected to win the pennant and advance to the World Series, but the fans of the ’64 team, at least those who are still with us, remember what happened then and hope history doesn’t repeat itself.
The Phllies, who called the old, rickety, Connie Mack Stadium home, were not a very good team until Gene Mauch came along to take over as manager in 1960. Often called a “genius” who knew more about baseball than practically anyone else, Mauch took the team to a new level in 1964, beginning with the acquisition of pitcher Jim Bunning.
From opening day the Phillies took over first place in the National League (there were no divisions, no League Championship Series back then) and stayed there most of the season.
Although Chris Short was the ace of the pitching staff, Bunning quickly took over that role. On June 21, in the first game of a double header against the New York Mets, Bunning pitched the first perfect game in the National League since 1880. No runs, no hits, no walks, no errors. It happened to be Father’s Day. As the father of nine, five girls and four boys, it was the perfect day for him to pitch a perfect game.
The game was made special when second baseman Tony Taylor dove into the dirt to prevent a sure hit. While on the ground, Taylor tossed the ball to shortstop Bobby Wine who threw the ball to first base for the out. Taylor was very religious and made the sign of the cross before he entered the batter’s box for his next at-bat.
Jim Bunning would later be elected to the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, serving his home state of Kentucky from 1987 until 2011.
Right fielder Johnny Callison, by far the most popular player on the team, won the All-Star game for the National League with a three-run homer. Rookie third baseman Richie Allen (later Dick Allen), hit the long ball with an extra heavy bat. A lot of Connie Mack Stadium home runs went over the right field fence and into the street, where people in the rowhomes sat on their roofs to watch games, Richie Allen hit balls out of the park in center field.
Richie Allen led the National League in runs (125), triples (13), extra-base hits (80), total bases (352) and he finished in the top five in batting average (.318), slugging (.557), hits (201), and doubles (38). He won Rookie of the Year, and with a powerful and muscular physique, hit 29 home runs, 18 of them clearing Connie Mack’s 65-foot-high left field grandstand; and twice cleared that park’s 65-foot-high, right-center-field scoreboard, a feat considered virtually impossible, and one that I personally witnessed.
You could get a seat in the left-field stands for $2, as I often did as a 12-year-old fan, and then walk around the stadium taking it all in. As the stadium was situated in the middle of North Philadelphia at 21st and Lehigh with no parking lot; most people went there by bus.
As the season wore on the Phillies took a seven-game lead over the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals. The names of the players on the team were household names like many of the Phillies are today.
Clay Dalrymple was the everyday catcher, except for when Bunning pitched when Gus Triandos, who was part of the Bunning trade with Detroit, took over.
Wes Covington played left field, Tony González was in center, Frank Thomas played first and Cookie Rojas was the utility player who, in the course of the year, played every position, including pitcher, and one day hit an inside-the-park home run.
Besides Bunning and Short, the other starting pitchers were Art Mahaffey, Ray Culp, John Boozer and Jack Baldschun, with the bullpen including relief pitchers Ed Roebuck and Dallas Green, who would later become the team manager.
With only two weeks left in the season and needing only three wins to clinch the NL championship, things began to fall apart.
The legend they call “the Curse of Chico Ruiz,” cemented its place in Phillies lore on Sept. 21, 1964 at home vs. the Reds. It was in the 6th inning in a scoreless game. Chico Ruiz, a rookie known for his speed, got on base for the Reds with a single, then got over to third when Vada Pinson slapped a hit up the middle, bringing Frank Robinson to the plate.
With two outs and two strikes, Ruiz took off for home when pitcher Art Mahaffey began his windup, catching everybody by surprise. All he had to do was throw a strike, but Mahaffey threw the ball over Clay Dalrymple’s head, allowing Ruiz to steal home and score what turned out to be the winning run.
Things only got worse after that and not even Tony Taylor’s prayers would help them. With injuries piling up, the Phillies lost 10 games in a row. Mauch pitched Bunning and Short back to back with only a day’s rest. It was a plan that didn’t work.
Pitcher Dallas Green, who went on to win the 1980 World Series for the Phillies as manager summed it up. Said, “I think everybody in Philadelphia thought we were going to win the pennant,” Green told FOX Sports years later. “I think everybody in the clubhouse thought we were going to win it. I didn’t think there were many doubts at all.”
But the Phillies lost every game of their last homestand of the season, and the Reds took over first place with the St. Louis Cardinals close behind. The Phillies were swept three games in St. Louis and fell into third place with the Cardinals taking the National League Championship and going on to win the World Series.
Although the Phillies won the last two games of the season in Cincinnati, finishing 92-70, they ended up in second place and out of the pennant race.
They say it was the worst collapse in sports history and certainly in Philadelphia sports history, until the Eagles last year when they began with a 10-1 record, before losing 5 of their last 6.
And now the current 2024 Phillies, like the 1964 team, are seven games ahead with only a few weeks to play. While many knowledgeable people believe they will win the National League pennant and go on to the World Series, those who lived through the ’64 collapse can see it happening again, but are praying it won’t.
