July 30, 1964: Phillies nip Giants in extras on rookie John Briggs’ walk-off double

The Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants had been locked in a seesaw battle for first place in the National League since Opening Day of the 1964 season. Neither team had managed to shake the other through the first four months of the season, and on July 30, as they were preparing to wrap up a three-game series in Philadelphia, the Phillies held a slim half-game lead.

Eleven games had been contested between the two teams, with San Francisco victorious in six. Four had extended into extra innings. “People who have seen the games between these clubs probably won’t ever see more exciting baseball,” said Phillies manager Gene Mauch.1 Thursday’s contest would decide who would end the series in first.

San Francisco, winner of 85 or more games in each of the last three years – including a NL title in 1962 – was a seasoned team led by fourth-year manager Alvin Dark. The lineup was anchored by star center fielder Willie Mays, supported by power hitters like 22-year-old rookie Jim Ray Hart and 1963 All-Star Willie McCovey.2

Philadelphia was an ascending team built around a strong pitching staff and a potent offense, led by All-Star Game MVP Johnny Callison and NL Rookie of the Year-bound Dick Allen. The roster also included two notable bonus-rule rookies,3 18-year-old right-handed pitcher Rick Wise and 20-year-old left-handed-hitting outfielder John Briggs.

Briggs, signed by Phillies scout Jocko Collins in 1962, had played just one season at Single-A Bakersfield before debuting with Philadelphia on April 17, 1964. Used sparingly throughout the season’s first half, he had played in just 31 games and logged only four plate appearances in the last two weeks.

He was not in the starting lineup against the Giants that Thursday night. With left-hander Bob Hendley starting for San Francisco, righties Alex Johnson and Cookie Rojas were manning left and center field. Callison was anchored in right field, batting second.

On the mound for Philadelphia was 22-year-old right-hander Ray Culp, making his 16th start of the season. Culp was sharp early, limiting the Giants to three hits over the first four innings.

In the first, San Francisco’s Harvey Kuenn – starting in left field with Orlando Cepeda out with a shoulder injury and McCovey shifted to first4 – stroked a leadoff single and was forced at second on a Hal Lanier grounder. Lanier scooted to second on a wild pitch, but Culp struck out Hart to end the inning. Giants catcher Del Crandall doubled in the second inning, and Hart singled in the fourth, but both were stranded.

Hendley retired the first six Phillies batters before faltering in the third. Gus Triandos opened the inning with a long home run to left – his second of the series and third of the season. The Philadelphia backstop, celebrating his 34th birthday, was competing in his first NL season after playing for three AL clubs over his first 11 seasons. When asked about having success on previous birthdays Triandos said, “I don’t keep a scrapbook. I shut that stuff out of my mind.”5

One out later Culp walked and Rojas singled to left. Callison struck out, but Tony Taylor lined a single to center, scoring Culp as both runners advanced on the throw. 

Dark went to the bullpen, summoning right-hander Ron Herbel to face Allen and Johnson. Hendley’s 2⅔-inning outing was his second straight abbreviated start; five days earlier in Los Angeles he had surrendered five hits and three runs to the Dodgers before being replaced with one out in the first.

Herbert intentionally walked Allen to load the bases, and Mauch replaced Johnson with pinch-hitter Wes Covington. Dark countered and called for left-hander Billy O’Dell. Covington grounded to second, but Philadelphia jogged off the field with a 2-0 lead.

O’Dell held the Phillies scoreless over the next three innings, allowing only two singles and a walk.

San Francisco finally broke through in the fifth when Jesús Alou belted a long home run to left. Crandall singled but was caught stealing second as pinch-hitter Matty Alou struck out. O’Dell fanned to end the inning.

Culp settled back in and continued to hold the Giants to one run through eight innings, scattering eight hits and striking out eight.

Jim Duffalo replaced O’Dell in the seventh and tossed two scoreless innings, sending the game to the ninth with the Phillies clinging to a 2-1 lead.

Hart and McCovey were due up. Other than a fourth inning single by Hart, they had been held in check. Culp retired Hart on a foul pop fly, but McCovey – celebrating the fifth anniversary of his four-hit big-league debut against the Phillies – blasted a mammoth home run into the right-field seats, tying the score, 2-2. “I didn’t even look,” said Culp of McCovey’s 14th homer of the season. “Some guys hit the ball on the button, and it might not make it. He’s different.”6

Culp then hit Jesús Alou with a pitch and, after Crandall reached on a throwing error by Allen, Culp’s day was done. Mauch summoned closer Jack Baldschun, who struck out Jim Davenport on a full-count pitch. “It was a fastball high and tight,” said Baldschun. “I think he was looking for a screwball, waiting for it to break.”7 Cap Peterson grounded to third, Allen gloved it and stepped on the bag for the third out.

New Giants reliever Gaylord Perry shut down the Phillies in the bottom of the ninth, sending the game to extra innings.

Art Mahaffey entered for the Phillies in the 10th, making only his second relief appearance of the season against 19 starts. Kuenn reached on an infield single, moved to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on Lanier’s bunt. Mays singled to left, giving the Giants their first lead of the game, 3-2.

Hart flied to center and McCovey grounded out, then Perry returned for the 10th. Callison opened with a screeching double down the right field line. Taylor was hit by a pitch and Allen legged out a scratch single, loading the bases with no outs. Dark pulled Perry and called for veteran lefty Billy Pierce.

Briggs, who had entered as a pinch runner in the eighth, now came to the plate. Before stepping in he turned to Mauch and said, “Don’t worry skipper, I’ll get that run home somehow.”8 Using teammate Allen’s bat9 – “I figured I would do better against a left-hander with a longer bat”10 – he belted a booming double to right. Callison and Taylor sprinted home with the tying and winning runs. 

Briggs’ clutch hit preserved Philadelphia’s first place standing. The Phillies stretched their lead to 6½ games by September 20 before collapsing with a late season 10-game losing streak. When the season ended on October 4, the St. Louis Cardinals – in fifth place, six games back on July 30 – were on top of the NL standings, one game ahead of Philadelphia and three ahead of San Francisco.

Briggs remained with Philadelphia for seven seasons, finally earning regular playing time his last full season with the team. Traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in 1971, he enjoyed some of his most productive seasons in the American League. His major-league career spanned 12 seasons with three teams, concluding with a brief stint in Japan.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Madison McIntyre and copy-edited by Keith Thursby.

Photo credit: John Briggs, Trading Card Database.

Sources 

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for information including the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI196407300.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1964/B07300PHI1964.htm

Notes

1 Ralph Bernstein, “Mauch Beats Dark in Right Guesses,” Lancaster (Pennsylvania) New Era, July 31, 1964: 14.

2 McCovey’s 44 home runs in 1963 tied Henry Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves for the most in the NL.

3 The bonus rule between the years 1947 and 1965 required amateur baseball players who received a signing bonus in excess of $4,000 to be rostered on the major league team for two years.

4 Cepeda returned to the starting lineup on August 2. Harry Jupiter, “Phils Outscrap Giants,” San Francisco Examiner, July 31, 1964: 53.

5 Stan Hochman, Home Run on Birthday No Celebration for Gus,” Philadelphia Daily News, July 31, 1964: 45.

6 Frank Dolson, “Briggs Didn’t Start Game but He Ended It,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 31, 1964: 27.

7 Dolson.

8 Ralph Bernstein, “Mauch Beats Dark in Right Guesses.”

9 Bernstein, “Mauch Beats Dark in Right Guesses.” Allen’s bat was generally considered one of the largest in the majors, typically around 35 to 36 inches in length and weighed between 38 and 42 ounces

10 Bernstein, “Mauch Beats Dark in Right Guesses.”