1964
Changes- Retire random 4*+ - 21-year-old ace Sam McDowell (NY Giants) retires.
- Change rotation size (larger) - teams will now use a six-man rotation
- 20 years later stats - Statistical baselines will jump forward 20 years from where they were. The 1964 season will be based on 1932.
Off-Season
- Slugger Joe Adcock moved from the Cubs to the Dodgers.
- Ace Johnny Antonelli moved from the Senators to the White Sox in free agency.
- Eddie Mathews signed with the Durham Bulls.
- Veteran Billy Pierce signed on with the Philadelphia Athletics.
American League East
Philadelphia Athletics (84-58)
Boston Red Sox (80-62)
New York Yankees (71-71)
Baltimore Orioles (50-92)
American League Central
Cleveland Indians (92-50)
Chicago White Sox (79-63)
Detroit Tigers (56-86)
Washington Senators (56-86)
American League West
Kansas City Royals (83-59)
Minnesota Twins (72-70)
California Angels (69-73)
Vancouver Canadians (60-82)
AL MVP: Willie Mays (Cleveland) (4th award, 2nd in AL)
AL CYA: Wilbur Wood (Boston)
AL ROY: Tony Conigliaro (Minnesota)
AL RMA: Ron Piche (Philadelphia)
AL MOY: Tony Stiles (Cleveland) (4th award)
National League East
Philadelphia Phillies (82-60)
Brooklyn Dodgers (70-72)
New York Giants (65-77)
National League Central
Durham Bulls (66-76)
Pittsburgh Pirates (63-79)
Cincinnati Reds (50-92)
National League West
St. Louis Cardinals (91-51)
Milwaukee Brewers (82-60)
Atlanta Braves (74-68)
Chicago Cubs (67-75)
NL MVP: Dick McAuliffe (Milwaukee)
NL MOP: Jim Kaat (Philadelphia)
NL ROY: Sonny Siebert (St. Louis)
NL RMA: Bill Miller (St. Louis)
NL MOY: Joe Kiefer (Philadelphia) (5th award)
Statistical Leaders
Batting Average: Willie Stargell (Vancouver) .369, Dick Allen (Pittsburgh) .349
Home Runs: Tony Conigliaro (Minnesota) 28, Norm Cash (Philadelphia) 25
Runs Batted In: Willie Mays (Cleveland) 156, Dick Allen (Pittsburgh) 125
Stolen Bases: Sonny Jackson (New York) 75, Orlando Cepeda (Pittsburgh) 45
WAR: Joe Cunningham (California) 7.3, Pete Runnels (St. Louis) 5.8
Wins: Mickey Lolich (New York) / Frank Sullivan (Cleveland) 19, Wally Bunker (Philadelphia) 19
ERA: Wilbur Wood (Boston) 3.12, Barry Latman (Milwaukee) 3.05
Strikeouts: Bob Gibson (Cleveland) 74, Herb Score (Philadelphia) 106
Saves: Ron Piche (Philadephia) 38, Bill Miller (St. Louis) 33
WAR: Frank Sullivan (Cleveland) 6.2, Jim Kaat (Philadelphia) 7.6
Notes
- Willie Mays led the Indians to the best record in baseball.
- The Red Sox beat the Tigers on the last day of the season to secure the AL Wildcard.
- Durham made the playoffs despite having the seventh best record of the ten NL teams.
- The Braves slumped from the NL pennant to missing the playoffs.
- Atlanta traded Felipe Alou and Tito Francona to the Yankees for Joe Horlen, Lou Klimchok, and Hank Aguirre.
- The Cubs traded Granny Hamner to Cleveland for two minor leaguers.
Achievements & Milestones
- Ken Boyer (California) had a three homer day.
- Willie McCovey (Vancouver), Ed Bouchee (NY Giants), Tony Gonzalez (Athletics), and Matty Alou (Cleveland) all had six hits in a game.
- Tony Gonzalez (Athletics), Billy Williams (California), Matty Alou (Cleveland), and Jim Fregosi (Kansas City) hit for the cycle.
- Granny Hamner (Cubs) passed 2000 hits.
- Ernie Banks (Baltimore) hit his 300th homer.
- Eddie Mathews (Durham) joined the 400 home run club.
- Cal McLish (Vancouver) became the 17th man to win 300 games.
Division Series
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Philadelphia (4 wins) and Boston (3 wins) advanced. Kansas City (3 wins) and Cleveland (2 wins) were eliminated.
- John Buzhardt (Philadelphia) started the ALDS with a shutout of the Red Sox.
- Knuckleballer Wilbur Wood (Boston) was masterful in the return matchup, allowing only two hits in a 7-0 win.
- Alex Johnson (Kansas City) had a 4-5 day as the Royals beat Cleveland 11-3.
- Granny Hamner (Cleveland) knocked in the winning walk-off hit against the Red Sox for a 3-2 11-inning win.
- Jim Ray Hart (Boston) drove in Luis Aparicio to beat the Royals 4-3.
- Wes Covington (Philadelphia) had the game-winning hit for the A's against the Indians in a 4-3 win.
- The Athletics beat the Royals 6-5 in the final round robin game to secure their place in the ALCS.
- Joe Christopher (Boston) drove in nine ALDS runs.
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Milwaukee and Philadelphia (4 wins) advanced. Durham and St. Louis (2 wins) were eliminated.
- Denny Lemaster (St. Louis) and Gaylord Perry (Durham) battled hard, with the Cards winning the pitching duel 2-1.
- Wally Bunker (Philadelphia) threw eight scoreless innings as the Phils beat Durham 3-0.
- Mickey Mantle (Durham) went 3-4 with a double, a triple, two walks, and three RBI as the Bulls beat Philadelphia 9-5.
- Sonny Siebert (St. Louis) threw a shutout to beat the Phillies 6-0.
- Gail Harris (Milwaukee) drove in Dick Kokos for a 3-2 win against the Bulls.
- The Phillies came back from 3-0 down to beat the Cardinals 4-3 and advance to the NLCS.
- Vic Davalillo (Milwaukee) had twelve hits and six RBI in round robin play.
ALCS
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Philadelphia defeated Boston, 4 games to 2.
- Deron Johnson was series MVP. He had six hits and eight RBI.
- Rookie Roger Repoz (Boston) hit a go-ahead single in the tenth inning of Game Four. Boston won 6-5.
- Chuck Hinton and Russ Snyder (Boston) scored in the top of the ninth inning for a 4-3 Red Sox comeback win in Game Five.
- Jim Pisoni (Philadelphia) bashed two grand slams as the A's sealed the series win with a 15-2 Game Six thrashing.
- Chet Nichols won Games Two and Six.
NLCS
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Milwaukee defeated Philadelphia, 4 games to 3.
- Dick McAulliffe was the series MVP, cracking 14 hits in the series.
- Vinegar Bend Mizell (Milwaukee) won a pitchers' duel in Game Three, as the Brewers beat the Phils 1-0. McAuliffe hit the only home run of the game.
- McAuliffe and Earl Robinson (Milwaukee) both went 4-5 in a 12-3 Brew Crew win in Game Five.
- Tony Kubek (Milwaukee) had a four hit, two double, six RBI day in Game Seven, as the Brewers won the pennant with an 11-4 victory.
- Vinegar Bend Mizell took the victory for Milwaukee in Games Three and Seven.
- Milwaukee last won the pennant in 1953.
World Series
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Philadelphia defeated Milwaukee, 5 games to 3.
- Deron Johnson was series MVP. He went 14-36 with 10 RBI.
- Dick Brown and Dick McAuliffe (Milwaukee) drove in runs in the bottom of the tenth inning of Game Two to give the Brewers a 4-3 win.
- Jim Perry (Milwaukee) threw a shutout as he out-dueled Jerry Lane 1-0 in Game Three.
- Earl Robinson (Milwaukee) singled, doubled, and tripled for three RBI in a 9-7 Game Four win.
- Jim Piersall (Philadelphia) collected four hits as the A's won Game Five, 10-2.
- Eddie Yost (Philadelphia) hit a series-winning walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game Eight, for a 3-2 Philadelphia win.
- Philadelphia won four straight games after being down 3-1.
- Tony Gonzalez (Philadelphia) had ten hits.
- John Buzhardt (Philadelphia) won Games One and Five.
- The first world title for the Athletics since their return to Philly. The Philadelphia A's (now the Kansas City Royals) won the World Series in 1909.
Retirements
- Larry Doby. 1950 AL MVP. African-American pioneer in the big leagues. Five-time All-Star and two time Silver Slugger in center field. Outstanding 151 career OPS+. Part-time member of '64 A's champion.
- Randy Jackson. Fine Pirates third baseman who made three All-Star teams and won three Silver Sluggers. 125 career OPS+, at key defensive position, but only played eleven seasons as a starter.
- Russ Meyer. Veteran ace for Pirates, Red Sox, and others. 263-180 record with a 136 ERA+. Three All-Star games.
Hall of Fame
JOSEPH LOWELL "JOE" GORDON
Second Baseman
Durham Bulls 1938-1953, Detroit Tigers 1954-1955, Toronto Blue Jays 1956-1957, San Francisco Seals 1958, Brooklyn Dodgers 1959, Detroit Tigers 1960
WS, NL ROY, 11x AS, 2x GG, 10x SS
.193/.300/.401, 2266 H, 586 2B, 57 3B, 584 HR, 1760 RBI, 1819 BB, 131 SB, 136 OPS+, 127.3 WAR
HUBERT BENJAMIN "DUTCH" LEONARD
Starting Pitcher
Baltimore Orioles 1913-1916, Cleveland Indians 1917-1928
3x AL MOP, 4x WS, 8x AS
270-159, 8 SV, 2.59 ERA, 4120.1 IP, 2126 K, 127 ERA+, 92.5 WAR
JOHN JOSEPH MCGRAW
Third Baseman
Baltimore Orioles 1901-1916
9x AS, 8x SS
.312/.453/.374, 1921 H, 219 2B, 71 3B, 7 HR, 638 RBI, 1301 BB, 362 SB, 147 OPS+, 68.8 WAR
HERBERT JEFFERIS "HERB" PENNOCK
Starting Pitcher
Pittsburgh Pirates 1912-1916, Chicago White Sox 1917-1931
WS, 2x AS, 2x GG
330-226, 8 SV, 2.63 ERA, 5416 IP, 2256 K, 117 ERA+, 94.3 WAR
Draft
- The Reds selected Fergie Jenkins with the first pick in the draft.
- Steve Carlton went second to Baltimore.
- Detroit picked Davey Johnson at three.
- #4 was Ken Henderson to Washington.
- Vancouver chose Roy White fifth.
- Catfish Hunter went to Durham at eight.
Jim Kaat won the NL Most Outstanding Pitcher Award.
Dick McAuliffe was National League and NLCS MVP.