September 27, 1964: The Phold: Phillies’ seventh straight loss drops them out of first place

It had been a terrible week for the Philadelphia Phillies. On Sunday, September 20, after beating the Dodgers in Los Angeles, 3-2, the Phillies had a 6½-game lead over their closest pursuers for the National League pennant, the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals. After that win, the Phillies returned to Philadelphia and Connie Mack Stadium for a three-game series beginning on Monday, September 21, against the Reds. The Phillies had an opportunity to lengthen their league lead. However, the Reds opened the series with a 1-0 win on Chico Ruiz’s steal of home in the sixth inning with Frank Robinson at the plate. The Reds then won the next two games and the Phillies’ lead was now 3½ games. The Cardinals lost one of two games against the New York Mets so they were now in third place, five games behind the Phillies.

There was no reason to panic but the Phillies needed to get back to winning against the Milwaukee Braves, who were coming to Philadelphia for a four-game series. The Braves, although not in pennant contention, were a formidable opponent, featuring future Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Joe Torre, and Warren Spahn.

The Phillies’ collapse continued as the Braves won the first three games while the Reds won three in a row against the lowly Mets. As the Phillies prepared for their Sunday game on September 27, their lead, which had looked to be unsurmountable, was down to a half-game over Cincinnati. The day before, they had lost in excruciating fashion as the Braves wiped out a 4-3 Phillies lead with three in the ninth. If the Phillies lost the Sunday game and the Reds won their doubleheader against the Mets, the Reds would be in first place. The Phillies had been in first place since July 21.

For the Sunday contest, the Phillies called upon their ace, Jim Bunning, an 18-game winner so far. This was Bunning’s fourth start since September 16. He was pitching on short rest, having started the first game of the series on Thursday night, pitching six innings in a losing effort.

The Braves countered with right-hander Tony Cloninger, who had 17 wins. The Braves scored two runs in the first inning when Felipe Alou and Lee Maye both got hits and Hank Aaron drove them in with a double. The Phillies got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning as Tony Gonzalez doubled and scored on a single by Dick Allen.

In the bottom of the second, the Phillies took a 3-2 lead. Clay Dalrymple led off with a double and scored on Tony Taylor’s triple. Taylor scored on Bunning’s fly out.

The top of the fourth inning proved to be Bunning’s undoing: The Braves scored six runs on seven hits. Joe Torre led off the inning with an infield hit. Rico Carty and Denis Menke followed with singles, Menke’s driving in Torre. Ty Cline doubled in Carty and Cloninger, a good-hitting pitcher, blooped a single to center field that scored Menke. Manager Gene Mauch replaced Bunning with Dallas Green, who gave up a double to Felipe Alou that scored Cline with the fourth run of the inning. Lee Maye’s single drove in Cloninger. Green got Hank Aaron to hit into a double play but Alou scored from third base. The Braves now led 8-3.

The Braves scored four more runs in the fifth. Green retired the first two hitters, but the next six hitters reached base against him, on four singles, a double, a wild throw, and a walk. The big hits were singles by Cloninger and Maye and a two-run double by Felipe Alou. The Braves led 12-3 as Green was replaced by Morrie Steevens.

Johnny Callison led off the bottom of the sixth for the Phillies with a home run. Cloninger had retired eight Phillies in a row. After Callison’s home run, Cloninger retired the next three Phillies. The Braves scored a run in the top of the seventh on a wild pitch by Rick Wise. The Phillies threatened in the bottom of the seventh but did not score. Joe Torre led off the top of the eighth with a home run off Jack Baldschun, the Phillies’ fifth hurler.

Chi-Chi Olivo replaced Cloninger in the bottom of the eighth and was greeted by Callison’s second home run of the game. Tony Taylor singled in another run, and the score was 14-6 entering the ninth inning. The Phillies scored two runs when Dick Allen doubled and Callison hit his third home run of the game. After Callison’s homer, Wes Covington struck out looking and the game was over. When Cincinnati swept its twin bill with the Mets, the Phillies found themselves in second place, a game behind the Reds.

The star of the game for the Braves was Tony Cloninger, who gave up four runs on seven hits in seven innings and got two hits and two RBIs. He was backed by the timely hitting of Lee Maye with five hits. Felipe Alou and Joe Torre also had three hits each. The Braves shelled Phillies hurlers for 22 hits.

Before hitting his first home run, in the sixth inning, Johnny Callison decided to once again stuff a wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth. He had been a user several years before but gave it up at his wife’s urging.1 He was chawing on this same tobacco for both his second and third home runs. His three home runs gave him 31 for the season. Dick Allen also had three hits for the Phillies.

In postgame interviews there was considerable discussion as to the mindset of the Phillies. Catcher Clay Dalrymple raised the issue, saying, “I don’t think anybody out there is choking up. I haven’t felt any pressure, I mean that.”2 However, manager Mauch seemed to be feeling something as he snapped at reporters, “What do you care how I feel. I’m sick and tired of hearing my own voice. Especially the last seven days.”3 Bobby Bragan, the Braves manager, observed, “There’s no question they’re feeling the tension. You gotta feel sorry for them.”4 Callison added an optimistic note: “We’re going to bounce back. I believe that. I really believe that.”5

The Cardinals defeated the Pirates and were just a half-game behind the Phillies. The fact that the Phillies lost the National League lead earned a headline on the first page of the Philadelphia Inquirer although the release of the Warren Commission report naming Lee Harvey Oswald as the sole assassin of President Kennedy overshadowed the account of the Phillies game.6

After the game the Phillies were off to St. Louis for a Monday night game opening a three-game series. They lost all three, and their losing streak was extended to 10 games. Cincinnati lost two of three to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Cardinals were now in first place as the teams entered the final weekend. The Phillies still had a shot at tying for the pennant if they won two games in Cincinnati and the Cardinals were swept in a three-game series against the Mets.

Surprisingly, the Phillies were in contention to tie for the pennant as the games began on the final Sunday of the season. The Phillies had come from behind on Friday night to beat Cincinnati while the Mets won the first two games against the Cardinals. While the Phillies won on Sunday, the Cardinals defeated the Mets and won the pennant with the Phillies and Reds tied for second, one game behind. The final two weeks of a bizarre pennant race had finally ended. One that Philadelphians will never forget.

SOURCES

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, a box score and play-by-play account for this game can be seen on Baseball-Reference.com:

baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI196409270.shtml

NOTES

1 Frank Dolson, “Callison Smashes 3 Tobacco ‘Belts,’” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 28, 1964: 32.

2 Dolson, “Callison Smashes 3 Tobacco ‘Belts.’”

3 Frank Dolson, “Phils Don’t Want Braves Sympathy,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 28, 1964: 35.

4 Dolson, “Phils Don’t Want Braves Sympathy.”

5 Dolson, “Phils Don’t Want Braves Sympathy.”

6 “Phils Lose 7th in Row, Drop to 2nd,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 28, 1964: 1.