Our Blog: 1964 NL Pennant Race
1964 NL Pennant Race. October 4th. Cardinals defeat Mets to take NL Pennant. Phillies and Reds end season tied for 2nd, 1 game behind.
Posted by Ken Revis at 8:43 AM on November 16, 2011
Having blogged about the 1951 NL Pennant
Race and the 1967 AL Pennant Race, we now turn to one of
the other great races, unless you were a Philadelphia Phillies fan at the time.The
Phillies lead by 6 1/2 games over the Reds and Cardinals and 7 games over the Giants
with 12 games to go in the 1964 season. The Phillies haven't won the pennant since
1950 and look assured of finally winning it this year. We will relive each of the 12 games
for the Phillies, Cardinals, and Reds. Each day we
will cover one day's worth of games, beginning with September 21st. See first day of blog. Here are the
standings as play begins on October 4th, the last day of the regular season.
Cardinals 11, Mets 5
The Cardinals win the NL pennant today before 30,146 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Curt Simmons starts for St. Louis and goes 4 1/3 innings, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits. Bob Gibson, in relief, wins his 19th game of the year, against 12 losses. He pitches 4 innings, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits. Barney Schultz earns his 14th save of the year, as he pitches 2/3 of an inning, giving up 0 runs on 1 hit. The Mets use 6 pitchers. Galen Cisco starts and takes the loss, his 19th of the year, against 6 wins. He goes 4 innings, giving up 5 runs on 7 hits. The Cards score 3 runs in each of the 5th, 6th, and 8th innings. Bill White hits his 21st home run in the 6th inning with 1 on. Curt Flood also homers, his 5th of the year, in the 8th inning with the bases empty. The Cardinals also collect 6 doubles - Tim McCarver (18th and 19th) and Dick Groat (34th and 35th) have 2 each, and Ken Boyer (30th) and Lou Brock (30th) have the others. For New York, Charley Smith hits his 20th home run of the year, in the 4th inning with the bases empty, and Roy McMillan (8th) and Billy Klaus (13th) each double. The Cardinals have 14 hits, 0 errors, and leave 8 on base. The Mets have 10 hits, 2 errors, and leave 11. See Game
Phillies 10, Reds 0
The Phillies win their 2nd in a row over the Reds, but it's too little too late, as they finish the season 1 game behind the Cardinals. The Reds also finish a game behind. The game is played before 28,535 fans at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Jim Bunning gives up 6 hits in his 9 inning complete game. The Reds use 7 pitchers. John Tsitouris is the starter and lasts only 2 1/3 innings, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits. He takes the loss, moving his record to 9 and 13. Dick Allen has a double, his 38th, and 2 home runs - his 28th in the 5th inning with noone on, and his 29th in the 6th with 2 aboard. Also for the Phillies, Tony Taylor doubles, his 13th of the year. Cincinnati has no extra base hits in the game. The Phillies have 12 hits, 1 error, and leave 5 on base. The Reds have 6 hits, 0 errors, and leave 7. See Game
The Cardinals win the pennant, their 1st since 1946. The final standings are as follows:
The Cardinals had an amazing run. From September 21st, when they were behind by 6 games, they went 10 and 3. The Reds went 8 and 4 during that period. However, the Phillies collapsed, going 2 and 9 during that span. For their last 11 games, the Phillies scored 48 runs and allowed 67 while the Cardinals scored 60 and allowed 40. The Reds scored 43 and allowed 31. The Phillies scored about the same runs per game in the last 11 versus the prior 151 (4.4 runs per game), but, as is usually the case, it was pitching that made the difference. The Phils in their previous 151 games had allowed 3.7 runs per game. In their final 11, they allowed 6.1 runs per game. The Cards allowed 3.1 runs/game and the Reds 2.6 during the same stretch. The Cardinals go on to beat the Yankees in the World Series, their 7th World Championship.
| Team | W | L | W-L% | GB |
| Cardinals | 92 | 69 | .571 | -- |
| Reds | 92 | 69 | .571 | -- |
| Phillies | 91 | 70 | .565 | 1.0 |
Cardinals 11, Mets 5
The Cardinals win the NL pennant today before 30,146 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Curt Simmons starts for St. Louis and goes 4 1/3 innings, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits. Bob Gibson, in relief, wins his 19th game of the year, against 12 losses. He pitches 4 innings, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits. Barney Schultz earns his 14th save of the year, as he pitches 2/3 of an inning, giving up 0 runs on 1 hit. The Mets use 6 pitchers. Galen Cisco starts and takes the loss, his 19th of the year, against 6 wins. He goes 4 innings, giving up 5 runs on 7 hits. The Cards score 3 runs in each of the 5th, 6th, and 8th innings. Bill White hits his 21st home run in the 6th inning with 1 on. Curt Flood also homers, his 5th of the year, in the 8th inning with the bases empty. The Cardinals also collect 6 doubles - Tim McCarver (18th and 19th) and Dick Groat (34th and 35th) have 2 each, and Ken Boyer (30th) and Lou Brock (30th) have the others. For New York, Charley Smith hits his 20th home run of the year, in the 4th inning with the bases empty, and Roy McMillan (8th) and Billy Klaus (13th) each double. The Cardinals have 14 hits, 0 errors, and leave 8 on base. The Mets have 10 hits, 2 errors, and leave 11. See Game
Phillies 10, Reds 0
The Phillies win their 2nd in a row over the Reds, but it's too little too late, as they finish the season 1 game behind the Cardinals. The Reds also finish a game behind. The game is played before 28,535 fans at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Jim Bunning gives up 6 hits in his 9 inning complete game. The Reds use 7 pitchers. John Tsitouris is the starter and lasts only 2 1/3 innings, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits. He takes the loss, moving his record to 9 and 13. Dick Allen has a double, his 38th, and 2 home runs - his 28th in the 5th inning with noone on, and his 29th in the 6th with 2 aboard. Also for the Phillies, Tony Taylor doubles, his 13th of the year. Cincinnati has no extra base hits in the game. The Phillies have 12 hits, 1 error, and leave 5 on base. The Reds have 6 hits, 0 errors, and leave 7. See Game
The Cardinals win the pennant, their 1st since 1946. The final standings are as follows:
| Team | W | L | W-L% | GB |
| Cardinals | 93 | 69 | .574 | -- |
| Reds | 92 | 70 | .568 | 1.0 |
| Phillies | 92 | 70 | .568 | 1.0 |
| Giants | 90 | 72 | .556 | 3.0 |
The Cardinals had an amazing run. From September 21st, when they were behind by 6 games, they went 10 and 3. The Reds went 8 and 4 during that period. However, the Phillies collapsed, going 2 and 9 during that span. For their last 11 games, the Phillies scored 48 runs and allowed 67 while the Cardinals scored 60 and allowed 40. The Reds scored 43 and allowed 31. The Phillies scored about the same runs per game in the last 11 versus the prior 151 (4.4 runs per game), but, as is usually the case, it was pitching that made the difference. The Phils in their previous 151 games had allowed 3.7 runs per game. In their final 11, they allowed 6.1 runs per game. The Cards allowed 3.1 runs/game and the Reds 2.6 during the same stretch. The Cardinals go on to beat the Yankees in the World Series, their 7th World Championship.
Categories: 1964 NL Pennant Race
Teams: Cardinals, Giants, Mets, Phillies, Reds, Yankees
Players: Dick Allen, Ken Boyer, Lou Brock, Jim Bunning, Galen Cisco, Curt Flood, Bob Gibson, Bob Gibson, Dick Groat, Billy Klaus, Tim McCarver, Roy McMillan, Barney Schultz, Curt Simmons, Charley Smith, Smith, Tony Taylor, John Tsitouris, Bill White, Bill White, Bill White, Bill White
Games: CIN196410040, SLN196410040
