1964 Boston Red Sox season

1964  Boston Red Sox
League	American League
Ballpark	Fenway Park
City	Boston, Massachusetts
Record	72–90 (.444)
League place	8th
Owners	Tom Yawkey
President	Tom Yawkey
General managers	Pinky Higgins
Managers	Johnny Pesky (70–90) Billy Herman (2–0)
Television	WHDH-TV, Ch. 5
Radio	WHDH-AM 850 (Curt Gowdy, Ned Martin, Art Gleeson)
Stats	ESPN.com Baseball Reference
←  1963 Seasons 1965  →

The 1964 Boston Red Sox season was the 64th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished eighth in the American League (AL) with a record of 72 wins and 90 losses, 27 games behind the AL champion New York Yankees. The Red Sox attracted 883,276 fans to Fenway Park, fifth in the Junior Circuit and 11th in MLB, reflecting a six percent turnstile decline from 1963. ^[1]

Former Boston infielder Johnny Pesky, in his second season as manager, led the team to a 70–90 mark before he was dismissed on October 1. Third-base coach Billy Herman, 55, succeeded Pesky; he signed a two-year contract and directed the Red Sox to two victories in the season's final two games. ^[2]

Offseason

• October 14, 1963: The Red Sox release veteran right-hander Bob Turley and appoint him their pitching coach for 1964, replacing Harry Dorish. Earlier in October, the Red Sox had released infielder Billy Gardner (October 2) and left-hander Chet Nichols Jr. (October 4). ^[3]
• February 4, 1964: Third baseman Carmen Fanzone is signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox. ^[4]
• Prior to 1964 season: Outfielder Bobby Gene Smith is released by the Red Sox. ^[5]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	99	63	.611	—	50‍–‍31	49‍–‍32
Chicago White Sox	98	64	.605	1	52‍–‍29	46‍–‍35
Baltimore Orioles	97	65	.599	2	49‍–‍32	48‍–‍33
Detroit Tigers	85	77	.525	14	46‍–‍35	39‍–‍42
Los Angeles Angels	82	80	.506	17	45‍–‍36	37‍–‍44
Cleveland Indians	79	83	.488	20	41‍–‍40	38‍–‍43
Minnesota Twins	79	83	.488	20	40‍–‍41	39‍–‍42
Boston Red Sox	72	90	.444	27	45‍–‍36	27‍–‍54
Washington Senators	62	100	.383	37	31‍–‍50	31‍–‍50
Kansas City Athletics	57	105	.352	42	26‍–‍55	31‍–‍50

Record vs. opponents

1964 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KCA	LAA	MIN	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	11–7	10–8	8–10	11–7	13–5–1	11–7	10–8	10–8	13–5
Boston	7–11	—	4–14	9–9	5–13	12–6	9–9	5–13	9–9	12–6
Chicago	8–10	14–4	—	12–6	11–7	16–2	10–8	9–9	6–12	12–6
Cleveland	10–8	9–9	6–12	—	11–7	10–8	9–9	10–8–1	3–15–1	11–7
Detroit	7–11	13–5	7–11	7–11	—	11–7	10–8	11–7	8–10–1	11–7
Kansas City	5–13–1	6–12	2–16	8–10	7–11	—	6–12	9–9	6–12	8–10
Los Angeles	7–11	9–9	8–10	9–9	8–10	12–6	—	12–6	7–11	10–8
Minnesota	8–10	13–5	9–9	8–10–1	7–11	9–9	6–12	—	8–10	11–7
New York	8–10	9–9	12–6	15–3–1	10–8–1	12–6	11–7	10–8	—	12–6
Washington	5–13	6–12	6–12	7–11	7–11	10–8	8–10	7–11	6–12	—

Opening Day lineup

2	Chuck Schilling	2B
1	Ed Bressoud	SS
8	Carl Yastrzemski	LF
11	Frank Malzone	3B
7	Dick Stuart	1B
6	Lou Clinton	RF
25	Tony Conigliaro	CF
10	Bob Tillman	C
27	Bill Monbouquette	P

Notable transactions

• April 21, 1964: The Red Sox release veteran right-handed starting pitcher Gene Conley, 33. ^[6]
• June 4, 1964: The Red Sox trade outfielder Lou Clinton, 26, to the Los Angeles Angels for outfielder/first baseman Lee Thomas, 28. ^[6]
• August 5, 1964: The Red Sox sign free-agent outfielder Al Smith, 36, released today by the Cleveland Indians. ^[6]
• September 6, 1964: Left-hander Wilbur Wood, 22, is purchased from the Red Sox by the Pittsburgh Pirates. ^[7]

Roster

1964 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 15 Pete Charton 29 Ed Connolly 21 Arnold Earley 24 Dave Gray 20 Bob Heffner 36 Jack Lamabe 27 Bill Monbouquette 23 Dave Morehead 17 Dick Radatz 19 Jay Ritchie 14 Bill Spanswick 26 Earl Wilson 19 Wilbur Wood		Catchers  5 Russ Nixon 40 Mike Ryan 10 Bob Tillman Infielders  1 Ed Bressoud 51 Bobby Guindon 39 Dalton Jones 11 Frank Malzone  2 Chuck Schilling 28 Al Smith  7 Dick Stuart 16 Dick Williams		Outfielders  6 Lou Clinton 25 Tony Conigliaro  3 Gary Geiger 30 Tony Horton 12 Félix Mantilla  4 Román Mejías  6 Lee Thomas  8 Carl Yastrzemski		Managers 35 Billy Herman 22 Johnny Pesky Coaches 35 Billy Herman (Third base) 33 Al Lakeman (Bullpen) 32 Harry Malmberg (First base) 34 Bob Turley (Pitching)

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Bob Tillman	131	425	118	.278	17	61
1B	Dick Stuart	156	603	168	.279	33	114
2B	Dalton Jones	118	374	86	.230	6	39
3B	Frank Malzone	148	537	142	.264	13	56
SS	Ed Bressoud	158	566	166	.293	15	55
LF	Tony Conigliaro	111	404	117	.290	24	52
CF	Carl Yastrzemski	151	567	164	.289	15	67
RF	Lee Thomas	107	401	103	.257	13	42

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Felix Mantilla	133	425	123	.289	30	64
Russ Nixon	81	163	38	.233	1	20
Chuck Schilling	47	163	32	.196	0	7
Tony Horton	36	126	28	.222	1	8
Lou Clinton	37	120	31	.258	3	6
Roman Mejias	62	101	24	.238	2	4
Dick Williams	61	69	11	.159	5	11
Al Smith	29	51	11	.216	2	7
Gary Geiger	5	15	5	.385	0	1
Bobby Guindon	5	8	1	.125	0	0
Mike Ryan	1	3	1	.333	0	2

Pitching

= Indicates league leader

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bill Monbouquette	36	234.0	13	14	4.04	120
Earl Wilson	33	202.1	11	12	4.49	166
Dave Morehead	31	166.2	8	15	4.97	139

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Jack Lamabe	39	177.1	9	13	5.89	109
Bob Heffner	55	158.2	7	9	4.08	112
Ed Connolly	27	80.2	4	11	4.91	73
Bill Spanswick	29	65.1	2	3	6.89	55
Pete Charton	25	65.0	0	2	5.26	37

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Dick Radatz	79	16	9	29	2.29	181
Arnold Earley	25	1	1	1	2.68	45
Jay Ritchie	21	1	1	0	2.74	35
Dave Gray	9	0	0	0	9.00	17
Wilbur Wood	4	0	0	0	17.47	5

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Seattle Rainiers	Pacific Coast League	Edo Vanni
AA	Reading Red Sox	Eastern League	Eddie Popowski
A	Winston-Salem Red Sox	Carolina League	Bill Slack
A	Waterloo Hawks	Midwest League	Matt Sczesny
A	Wellsville Red Sox	New York–Penn League	Larry Lee Thomas
A	Statesville Colts	Western Carolinas League	Dave Philley and Rudy York

Statesville affiliation shared with the Houston Colt .45s ^[8]
Source: ^{[9] [10]}

References

1. "1964 Major League Attendance & Team Age." Baseball Reference
2. "1964 Boston Red Sox." Retrosheet
3. "Transactions for 1963 Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet
4. Carmen Fanzone page at Baseball Reference
5. Bobby Gene Smith page at Baseball Reference
6. "Transactions for 1964 Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet
7. Wilbur Wood page at Baseball Reference
8. "1964 Statesville Colts Statistics".
9. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
10. Boston Red Sox Yearbook. 1964. p. 9. Retrieved March 14, 2021– via Wayback Machine.

External links

• 1964 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1964 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com