Sixty-four Stop

Seven game World Series are usually exhilaratingly memorable. The 1964 Fall Classic between the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals had many great moments. The teams went the distance in seven gritty games, with St. Louis prevailing 4-3 for their seventh world championship. It marked the first time Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle went yard in the same World Series game. It was the first and only time two brothers, Ken and Clete Boyer, homered during the same World Series game. 1964 was the first year Yogi Berra was the Yankee skipper, and he was canned after the World Series loss. The year distinguished the beginning of the Yankees’ longest post-season drought since the days before Babe Ruth donned the pinstripes. After the fallout, the Yankees would not return to the Fall Classic for twelve more seasons. On the 45th anniversary of the 1964 World Series, here are some highlights from the classic diamond duel.
Whitey Ford started his final World Series game as he took the hill October 7, 1964 at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis. His competition that day was Ray Sadecki. Cardinals’ manager, Johnny Keane, fielded a premier pitching staff with Sadecki, Curt Simmons and Bob Gibson igniting the fuse on the mound. St. Louis stormed into their first pennant in 18 years after inching the Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds. The Cards represented baseball’s National League with the help of Philadelphia’s late season collapse. The Yankees, winners of 99 games in 1964, weren’t the considerable class of the American League but won the pennant over Chicago by a game. Berra boasted a lineup featuring Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Clete Boyer, Elston Howard, Joe Pepitone, Bobby Richardson, Pedro Gonzalez, Tom Tresh and Phil Linz. His starting staff included aces Ford, Jim Bouton, Al Downing, and Mel Stottlemyre. Game 1 was a 9-5 Cardinal win. The slugfest started with a run for St. Louis in the bottom of the first inning. Left-fielder Tresh helped the Yankees to an early 4-2 lead with a two-run shot in the second and an RBI double in the fifth. The Cardinals produced four sixth inning runs and put the game out of reach in the eighth. It’s interesting to note fleet centerfielder, Curt Flood (the man who “changed” baseball), also played on the championship Cardinals team of 1964. Flood’s RBI triple, pinch-hitter Carl Warwick’s single and Mike Shannon’s long two-run hammer broke open the game in the sixth. The three run frame made a winner out of Sadecki, who bested Ford through six innings. Whitey made an early exit because of a troubled arm. The 35 year old pitched 5 1/3 innings of eight hit ball, striking out four. Ford would not return the rest of the series. Berra called reliever, Downing, from the bullpen to replace the ailing Ford. Lou Brock went 2 for 5 for the Cards and Barney Schultz recorded the World Series Game 1 save.
The next day, October 8th, the Yankees came to bat at Sportsman’s Park with a chance to even the series. They were successful. The Bombers roughed up St. Louis starter Gibson. The hard-throwing Bob provided the Cardinals eight innings but allowed eight hits and four runs. Rookie hurler, Stottlemyre, was the only Yankee to take the mound in Game 2, completing the job scattering seven hits and allowing three runs to cross the plate. The Yankees dropped the Cards 8-3 with the help of four runs off Gibson and another quartet off two relievers, Gordie Richardson and Roger Craig. Shortstops were the top hitting performers in the second contest. The Cardinals’ Dick Groat, was 1 for 3 with a walk. The Yankees shortstop, Linz, got on board, clubbing three of his seven World Series hits during Game 2. Linz’s homerun was the only one of this game. The Yankees would produce their other runs in less-dramatic fashion. Mantle had two RBIs and scored twice, on his consistent way to finishing his best-ever series batting .333. Mickey’s Game 3 winner was his 16th World Series homerun, besting Babe Ruth‘s record by one.
Mickey was Mr. Clutch in the milestone Yankee moment of the 1964 World Series. Mantle smashed a game-winning homerun into the right field stands on October 10th at Yankee Stadium. The bomb came during the first pitch thrown by Schultz to open the bottom of the ninth. It broke the one-all tie and have New York a 2-1 series edge over St. Louis. Game 3 pitted the 35 year old veteran Simmons against saucy starter, Bouton. The 24 year old writer of “Ball Four” threw a complete game. His only blunder was a run-scoring single by Simmons in the fifth. Simmons seemed to do it all for St. Louis but Schultz couldn’t shut down the Yankees in the ninth to give his team a chance to win the game with the bat. Clete Boyer was 1 for 3 at the plate for the Bombers, notching their first run with an RBI double in the second inning. The Yankees overcame two soiled errors in the field to win the shortest game of the ‘64 classic.
New York opened the bottom of the first the next day with back-to-back doubles and three consecutive singles. The results were three runs driven in off Sadecki in his second appearance during the series. Downing held the 3-0 lead into the sixth inning when Clete’s older brother, MVP third baseman, Ken Boyer, smacked a grand slam. The bases loaded homerun was enough to give St. Louis a 4-3 road victory and tie the series at two. Craig picked up the win for the Cards, tossing 4 2/3 scoreless frames. The lefty Downing went six strong during Game 4 but staggered to a 8.22 ERA during the post-season exhibition. The come-from-behind win was a crucial Cardinal win as the teams prepared for a Game 5 showdown in the Bronx, Monday, October 12th.
Gibson struck out 13 Yankees and did not allow an earned run in 10 innings during Game 5’s jaw-dropping stop. The extra-innings affair ended with a 5-2 St. Louis win. The elusive Bombers were held scoreless through eight innings by the overpowering Gibson, but a Cardinal error in the bottom of the ninth produced the duo of Yankee runs. Mantle reached base on the gaff and Tresh’s two-out tater send the game to an additional frame. The Yankees tried to ward off defeat in Game 5. A walk and a bunt single placed two Redbirds on base in the top of the tenth. Current broadcaster and former Cardinals catcher, Tim McCarver, brought all runners home with one swing. The three run shot was one of McCarver’s team high, 11 hits during the series. Stottlemyre made another impressive effort, striking out six and walking only two Cardinals on the day. Pete Mikkelsen beared the New York loss.
Following an off-day, baseball’s best bid a game back at Sportsman’s Park with the home team aspiring to close out the series. The Game 6 nail-biter remained tied at one through six innings. The Cardinals scored in the bottom of the first and the Yankees added a digit in the fifth frame. Maris and Mantle went long with back-to-back dingers in the sixth. The solo homeruns by the M&M boys were clubbed off Simmons. Curt yielded seven hits, including the two shots by the Yankees outfielders, before being removed from the game. Ron Taylor finished the inning perfectly but the Cardinals replaced him with Schultz. Schultz was ineffective through just 2/3 of an inning in the 8th. Reliever Gordon Richardson’s pitch to Pepitone turned the game into a 8-1 domination. Pepitone plastered the grand slam, and the first baseman completed a terrific series with a .308 average. The Cardinals would score a run in each of the final two innings but it wasn’t enough to capture a Cardinal crown this day. Bouton improved to 2-0 with the 8-3 final and Steve Hamilton secured his only save.
Thursday, October 15th, 1964 was the date of the tell-tale, down-to-the-wire, Game 7. The winner would take it all in the deciding finish. Gibson and Stottlemyre were the starters on the scorecard, each pitching on two days’ rest. The Cards struck first with three runs in the fourth inning. The Cards added three more runs in the fifth to increase the lead by six runs. Lou Brock hit one into the stands and landed an even .300 batting average over 30 at bats in seven games. The Hall-of-Famer is one of the most accomplished base runners in baseball history and his fifth inning blow lead to an insurmountable Redbird lead. McCarver stole home plate during the fourth. The steal was one of two on the day for St.Louis. Right-fielder Shannon, also snagged a bag for the Cardinals. Shannon struggled during the series, striking out a depressing nine times. He led St. Louis in strikeouts and runs scored, with six. The Yankee strikeout and run leader? Mantle, of course. The Mick cut the deficit in half with a three-run homerun in the top of the Yankee sixth at Busch. Mantle’s shellacking was one of three Yankee blasts in Game 7. Linz would sock his second and Boyer would wallop his first before the game was over. Boyer’s brother, Ken, decked a seventh inning solo shot to put the game out of reach. New York’s Richardson got his 13th hit of the series to break his own single-series record. Richardson’s .406 average was the best by any Yankee. Gibson cooled down the Yankees and notched his 31st strikeout in Game 7. He lost Game 2 but proceeded to come back to defeat New York twice. The World Series MVP’s nine innings and nine strikeouts contributed to the conclusion: 7-5 Cardinals win the World Series of 1964.

Parting points:
Brandon Walsh: “You probably don’t like football either”.
Susan Keats: “Too violent”

Awesome come-from-behind Yankee win just now…