1964 World Series
The 1964 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 1964 season. The 61st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals against the American League champion New York Yankees; the Cardinals prevailed in seven games. St. Louis won their seventh world championship, while the Yankees, who had appeared in 15 of 18 World Series since 1947, did not play in the Series again until.
In an unusual twist, the Yankees fired Yogi Berra after the Series ended, replacing him with Johnny Keane, who had resigned from the Cardinals after the Series. His job had been threatened by Cardinals management, and it was unexpectedly saved by the Cardinals' dramatic pennant drive.
This is also the most recent World Series that matched the Yankees up against the Cardinals; in the previous four meetings, each team had won twice, with the Yankees winning in 1928 and 1943, and the Cardinals in 1926 and 1942. This was the first World Series to feature a team with the players' last names on the uniforms. This was also the first fall classic on TV to feature the then-new technology of instant replay.
This pennant for the Yankees concluded their remarkable run of 15 World Series appearances over 18 years. In total, they won 29 American League championships in the 44-year span from 1921 through 1964.
Background
The 1964 World Series, and the season leading up to it, later became the subject for the David Halberstam New York Times bestseller October 1964. The Series is seen as a bellwether point in baseball history as it was the last hurrah for the 1950s Yankee Dynasty of Mantle, Maris, Ford and Berra, among others, and it demonstrated that the National League's growing enthusiasm to sign black and Latino players was a permanent paradigm shift in fielding a championship team.The Series featured the brother-against-brother match-up of Ken Boyer of the Cardinals and Clete Boyer of the Yankees, both of whom started at third base for their respective teams.
For the first time in Series history, all six umpires rotated through their positions. In all Series from 1947 through 1963, only the four infield umpires had rotated, with the last two umpires working only in the outfield throughout the Series.
Mickey Mantle, playing in his last Series, hit three home runs, raising his total to a record-setting 18, surpassing Babe Ruth's mark of 15.
Utility infielder Chet Trail, who had no prior major league experience, appeared on the Yankees' World Series roster to fill the opening created by an injury to Tony Kubek. Trail did not play in the series, and Trail never appeared in a major league game during his career.
Both Berra and Keane were St. Louis natives, though neither had ever played for the hometown Cardinals; Berra's entire playing career was spent in New York, while Keane played in the Cardinals' farm system but never reached the major leagues as a player.
Yankees
After winning the American League pennant in 1963, the Yankees faced strong challenges from the pitching-rich Chicago White Sox and up-and-coming Baltimore Orioles in 1964. On August 22, the Yankees were in third place, games out of first. Led by recently called up pitcher Mel Stottlemyre, and helped by the post trade deadline acquisition of relief pitcher Pedro Ramos from Cleveland, the Yankees went 27–8 to take a game lead with five to play. After losing two games in Detroit, the Yankees clinched the pennant on the next-to-last day of the season with an 8–3 win over the Indians.Cardinals
The Cardinals were coming off a second-place finish in 1963, and their road to the World Series was even more dramatic than that of the Yankees. After a season-long four-way race among the Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cincinnati Reds, the Phillies appeared to have the pennant in hand as they built a game lead with 12 games to play. But they proceeded to lose 10 straight games. With two games remaining, four teams still had a mathematical chance to win the pennant. The Giants were the first to be eliminated when they lost on October 3 to the Cubs, 10–7. The Cardinals lost to the lowly Mets, 15–5, while the Phillies ended their 10-game losing streak with a 4–3 win over the Reds. Going into the last day of the season, the Cardinals and Reds were tied for first and the Phillies were one game back; the Phillies hoped to force the first three-way tie in major league history by defeating the Reds and hoping the Mets would beat the Cardinals. The Phillies did their part by defeating the Reds, 10–0, but the Cardinals overcame an early 3–2 deficit and beat the Mets, 11–5, to win the pennant.During the season, the Cardinals would be involved in the Lou Brock-for-Ernie Broglio trade, later considered one of the more lopsided trades in baseball history.
Summary
Matchups
Game 1
The Cardinals' scouting report indicated that injuries had taken their toll on Mickey Mantle's defense and that he could be run on. They acted on this intelligence, taking extra bases repeatedly and scoring from second on singles in the second and sixth innings. The Cardinals also believed that they should swing early in the count against Whitey Ford, and this strategy also paid off, as Ray Sadecki, Carl Warwick, and Mike Shannon all drove in runs on the first or second pitches of their at-bats.The Cardinals struck first in the bottom of the first off Whitey Ford on Ken Boyer's sacrifice fly after two one-out singles, but Tom Tresh's two-run home run after a single off Ray Sadecki put the Yankees up 2–1 in the second. They made it 3–1 when Clete Boyer singled, stole second, and scored on Ford's single. The Cardinals cut the lead to 3–2 in the bottom of the inning when Mike Shannon hit a leadoff single, moved to second on a groundout, and scored on Sadecki's single. Tresh's RBI double in the fifth after two two-out singles made it 4–2 Yankees, but the Cardinals sent eight men to the plate in the sixth inning. Shannon's home run after a single tied the game, then after Tim McCarver doubled, Al Downing relieved Ford and allowed a two-out RBI single to Carl Warwick and a single to Curt Flood to put the Cardinals up 6–4. The Yankees cut the lead to one in the eighth when Johnny Blanchard doubled and scored on Bobby Richardson's single off Barney Schultz, but the Cardinals padded their lead in the bottom half, loading the bases off Rollie Sheldon on two walks and an error, then Flood's RBI single and Lou Brock's two-run double off Pete Mikkelsen put them up 9–5. Schultz retired the Yankees in order in the ninth for the save. Ford pitched with severe pain and numbness in his arm for much of the 1964 season, and that day he was again in pain and missing with sliders inside. Shannon came up looking for sliders and hit one 500 feet. This was the last World Series appearance by Ford, whose shoulder had been injured during the season. Ford had pitched in 22 World Series games with the Yankees, compiling ten victories, going back to the sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1950, and set a record which still stands by pitching consecutive scoreless innings across three different World Series.
Game 2
Rookie Mel Stottlemyre, called up from the minors in August, dominated for New York and the 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 game in the fourth on Clete Boyer's bases-loaded sacrifice fly off Bob Gibson. After a walk and hit-by-pitch in the sixth, Tom Tresh's RBI single put the Yankees up 2–1. Next inning, Phil Linz hit a leadoff single, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Bobby Richardson's single. After moving to third on a single, Richardson scored on Mickey Mantle's groundout. Lou Brock's groundout in the eighth with runners on second and third shaved the lead to 4–2, but the Yankees blew the game open in the ninth. Linz's leadoff home run off Barney Schultz made it 5–2 Yankees. After a one-out single, Gordie Richardson relieved Schultz and allowed an RBI double to Mantle. After an intentional walk, Joe Pepitone's RBI single and Tresh's sacrifice fly made it 8–2 Yankees. The Cardinals got a run in the bottom half when Dick Groat hit a leadoff triple and scored on Tim McCarver's single, but Stottlemyre retired the next two hitters to end the game as the Yankees' 8–3 win tied the series heading to New York.Game 3
Curt Simmons and Jim Bouton were both very effective. Simmons got 17 ground-ball outs. The Yankees scored a run in the second on Clete Boyer's RBI double with two on, but Simmons's RBI single tied the game in the fifth. Bouton stranded the go-ahead run four times and held the top five hitters in the Cardinal lineup to a 2 for 21 day.In the bottom of the ninth, Mickey Mantle reached deep for one of the last ounces of Yankees magic. With the game tied at one, Mantle, the leadoff hitter, told on-deck hitter Elston Howard to go back to the clubhouse because he was going to hit a home run. Mantle swung at the first pitch from Barney Schultz, a knuckleball that failed to move, and hit it into the right field stands to win the game for the Yankees. Schultz had been a mainstay of the Cardinals' stretch run and Yankee scouting reports had advised that his knuckler was most vulnerable on the first pitch when he threw harder than usual to try for a strike. Mantle's home run broke Babe Ruth's record for most home runs hit in World Series play.
Game 4
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 Craig came in to pitch and gave up an RBI single to Elston Howard but allowed no more damage. After five innings, New York was still up 3–0 and St. Louis had only one hit off Downing.The turning point of the game — and the Series — came in the top of the sixth. Carl Warwick led off with his third pinch-hit base hit, tying a World Series record. Curt Flood singled to put runners on first and second. After Lou Brock flied out, Dick Groat reached base on a slow roller that was bobbled by Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson. Instead of runners on second and third with two out, the bases were loaded with one out.
In the first game, Yankee Al Downing struck Cardinal Ken Boyer out with a high changeup. Downing faced Boyer again with the bases loaded, and Boyer guessed that he'd see the high changeup again. He guessed right, and hit a grand-slam. Ron Taylor relieved Craig and gave up one hit over the last four innings. St. Louis won the game 4–3; instead of trailing three games to one, Boyer's grand slam enabled the Cardinals to even the Series at two games apiece and guaranteed a return to St. Louis.