September 10, 1964: Phillies get the best of Cardinals on a September afternoon with so much at stake

Arm’s length. The Philadelphia Phillies had held the rest of the NL at arm’s length for the better part of two months, maintaining a cushion over their rivals that made clinching the 1964 pennant seem only a matter of time. It wasn’t. On Wednesday, September 9, the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for five runs in the top of the 11th to secure a 10-5 win over Philadelphia. Winners of 13 out of their last 16 games, the streaking Cardinals had halved the gap with the Phillies from 10 games to five and now claimed the runner-up spot in the standings. The Phillies had paced the league since mid-July, but three straight defeats at Connie Mack Stadium preceded this game on Thursday, September 10, the final home game before a 10-day road trip.

For the Phillies, there seemed more riding on this afternoon game than the obvious advantage of beating a pennant rival. Management was taking steps to prepare the ballpark for its first World Series since 1950, specifically authorizing construction of a new kitchen behind the current press box so that the current kitchen could be converted into space for the 600 writers expected to attend the fall classic.1 Also, Philadelphia Mayor James H.J. Tate linked a Phillies pennant with a number of civic improvements before hopefully joyous voters on the November ballot. “It will be a sad blow,” said the mayor, should the loss of the pennant also cost sewer, water and subway improvements as well as a $25 million loan for a new ballpark.2 For now, the fans were reacting enthusiastically to the Phillies season. The team had already broken its single-season attendance record, set during the pennant-winning campaign of 1950, and fans responded to a warm, sunny afternoon with a “surprisingly large mid-week crowd of 14,552.”3

In addition to World Series and civic expectations, the Phillies were forced to act quickly after first baseman Frank Thomas fractured his thumb sliding into second base during a September 8 loss to the Dodgers. Thomas, just acquired from the New York Mets on August 7, had hit .302 with 7 home runs and 26 RBIs in 33 games for the Phillies. To replace Thomas, Philadelphia quickly acquired 36-year-old Vic Power from the Los Angeles Angels for cash and a player to be named later. Power would make his Phillies debut against the Cardinals.

Chris Short (15-7, 1.94 ERA) took the mound for the Phillies. Curt Flood earned a leadoff single by beating a throw from Ruben Amaro. The Philadelphia shortstop “made a good backhand stop but his throw had no chance.”4 Flood had now hit in 20 of his last 21 games. Lou Brock struck out, then Amaro started an inning-ending double play on a bouncer from Dick Groat. Ray Sadecki (16-9, 3.79 ERA), who won his prior outing against the Phillies on July 26, induced a grounder and popup from Cookie Rojas and Power, respectively, to open his afternoon. Sadecki walked Johnny Callison and shortstop Groat’s error allowed Dick Allen to reach first. Third baseman Ken Boyer forced Allen at second base on Alex Johnson’s grounder to close the first inning.

The second inning would witness the totality of the afternoon’s scoring. The Cardinals struck the first blow, but their half of the inning was a case of “what could have been.” With the count full, Short walked Boyer. Charlie James, in the lineup to face the left-handed Short, proved correct his manager’s platooning instincts with a drive into right-center field. With runners at the corners, Bill White lined the first pitch into the right-field corner to score Boyer for the game’s first run. Short seemed to be wobbling and the Cardinals had an opportunity to extend their lead with no outs and two runners in scoring position. Julian Javier smacked a 2-and-1 offering inside the third-base line, but Allen executed what would prove to be the play of the game. He snared the ball on the foul line 10 feet behind the sack and then delivered a precise throw to Power to catch Javier “by less than half a step.”5 Allen described the play after the game as a mere reaction to a hit ball. He said, “I don’t know how I did it. I just did it.”6 The runners held their bases; then, Bob Uecker’s strikeout and Sadecki’s popup behind the plate ended the half-inning.

The Phillies made the most of their opportunities in the bottom of the second. Tony Taylor singled to left field and Gus Triandos followed with a hard grounder to Boyer that seemed likely to end in a double play. The ball, however, took an awkward bounce and struck Boyer under the chin.7 Boyer recovered, but the lumbering Triandos, slower than usual because of a pulled leg muscle, beat the throw at first.8 Boyer was charged with an error. Boyer would get Triandos in the end: He gathered Amaro’s bunt and threw to Groat, who was covering second base on the play. Short brought to the plate a .063 batting average, the product of three singles spread across the 1964 season. The pitcher smacked a “sinking liner down the right field line”9 into the Phillies bullpen, scoring Taylor and Amaro for a 2-1 lead. The triple, partly the result of James diving but missing the catch, proved to be Short’s only extra-base hit of the year. Rojas flied out to Brock in left field for the second out. Power popped up into short left field for what appeared likely to be the inning’s final out. Groat waved off Brock, but dropped the ball. The error allowed Short to score and Power to claim second base. Groat said later, “I have no excuses. It was lousy, lousy, lousy – just about as bad a play as you could make. I really fouled it up.”10 The inning thus extended, Callison slugged his team-leading 26th home run over the right-field wall for a 5-1 advantage. Allen almost duplicated Callison’s feat, but Flood caught the ball in front of the 430 sign in deep center field for the third out.11

The Cardinals opened the third inning with the top of their order due to bat. Short appeared to have settled into the game as Flood, Brock, and Groat went down in order. The Phillies almost added to their advantage in the bottom of the inning. With two outs they loaded the bases on a single by Triandos, another Cardinals error by second baseman Javier on Amaro’s grounder, and Short’s second hit of the game. Rojas popped up to White in foul ground, though, keeping the score at 5-1. St. Louis got singles by James and Javier in the top of the fourth, but Short otherwise struck out the side with Boyer, White, and Uecker being sent back to the dugout.

Short’s pitching now took over the game. The Cardinals were unable to get a baserunner in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings. Short struck out four during those frames; he would end the game with a season high of 12. In the fifth inning Sadecki gave way to Mike Cuellar, at that time a 27-year-old enjoying his first extended run in the major leagues. Cuellar used a combination of groundballs and strikeouts to keep the Philadelphia from expanding its lead in the fifth and sixth. Power, who hitherto had spent his entire 11-year big-league career in the AL, stroked his first NL hit, a leadoff single, in the seventh. His glory was short-lived: Cuellar picked him off. Callison singled and, after Allen flied out, Johnson walked. With Taylor at the plate, catcher Uecker’s error on a pickoff attempt put Callison and Johnson into scoring position. Taylor, however, struck out looking to end the Phillies seventh.

Short continued to overpower the Cardinals and closed the game strong. Batting for Cuellar to start the eighth, Carl Warwick singled to center; his efforts were quickly erased on a double play ball from Flood. Brock struck out next. In the ninth, Groat grounded out, then Boyer and James both struck out to end the game. Short summarized his outing: “It had to be one of my biggest games with them closing in on us. … When I started warming up, I knew I had a real good fast ball. So I used it mainly – that and my slider.”12

Short’s excellence over the course of the game could not be ignored. The managers, however, seemed focused on Allen’s fielding in the second inning. Phillies manager Gene Mauch called it “the pivotal play of the game.”13 His St. Louis counterpart Johnny Keane agreed that the game turned on that one play. He said, “If the ball got though, we would have won! If Allen doesn’t come up with the ball, we’ve got a 3-0 lead, a man on second, nobody out and Chris Short is probably jerked out of there.”14 With the 5-1 victory, the Phillies appeared back on course for the NL pennant. They departed for the West Coast with a six-game lead in the standings and only 22 games remaining on the schedule. The Cardinals’ late-season surge had not ended with this one game, however, and a mammoth losing streak still awaited the Phillies. The 1964 pennant race remained alive and well.

SOURCES

In addition to the articles cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com

NOTES

1 “Phils Ready for Writers,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 10, 1964: 35.

2 “Phillies Handed Stadium ‘Ball,’” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 10, 1964: 7.

3 Allen Lewis, “Short Shackles Cards; Phillies Hike Lead to 6,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1964: 1.

4 Neal Russo, “Phils Win; Cards 6 Games Back,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 10, 1964: 4B.

5 Lewis: 35.

6 John Dell, “Play by Allen Called Pivotal in Phils’ Win,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1964: 35.

7 Lewis: 35; Russo, “Phils Win.”

8 Lewis: 35.

9 Lewis: 35.

10 Russo, “Kid’s Glove Treatment Is Rough,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 11, 1964: 4C.

11 Russo, “Phils Win.”

12 Dell.

13 Dell.

14 Russo, “Gilt-Edge Hurling by Gibson Fuels Redbird Takeoff,” The Sporting News, September 26, 1964: 4.