1964 MLB season | |
---|---|
League | Major League Baseball |
Sport | Baseball |
Duration | April 13 – October 15, 1964 |
Number of games | 162 |
Number of teams | 20 |
TV partner(s) | NBC, CBS |
Regular season | |
Season MVP | AL: Brooks Robinson (BAL) NL: Ken Boyer (STL) |
AL champions | New York Yankees |
AL runners-up | Chicago White Sox |
NL champions | St. Louis Cardinals |
NL runners-up | Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds |
World Series | |
Champions | St. Louis Cardinals |
Runners-up | New York Yankees |
World Series MVP | Bob Gibson (STL) |
The 1964 Major League Baseball season was played from April 13 to October 15, 1964. This season is often remembered for the end of the New York Yankees' third dynasty, as they won their 29th American League Championship in 44 seasons. However, the Yankees lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. As of 2023, the Cardinals are the only National League team to have an edge over the Yankees in series played (3–2), amongst the non-expansion teams, despite holding a losing record in World Series games against them (13–15).
American League
| National League
|
World Series | ||||
AL | New York Yankees | 3 | ||
NL | St. Louis Cardinals | 4 |
|
Team | Manager | Comments |
---|---|---|
Baltimore Orioles | Hank Bauer | Finished 3rd, 2 games behind |
Boston Red Sox | Johnny Pesky | Replaced during the season by Billy Herman |
Chicago White Sox | Al López | Finished 2nd, 1 game behind |
Cleveland Indians | Birdie Tebbetts | Replaced during the season by George Strickland |
Detroit Tigers | Chuck Dressen | |
Kansas City Athletics | Ed Lopat | Replaced during the season by Mel McGaha |
Los Angeles Angels | Bill Rigney | |
Minnesota Twins | Sam Mele | |
New York Yankees | Yogi Berra | Won the American League pennant |
Washington Senators | Gil Hodges |
Team | Manager | Comments |
---|---|---|
Chicago Cubs | Bob Kennedy | |
Cincinnati Reds | Fred Hutchinson | Replaced during the season by Dick Sisler |
Houston Colt .45's | Harry Craft | Replaced during the season by Lum Harris |
Los Angeles Dodgers | Walter Alston | |
Milwaukee Braves | Bobby Bragan | |
New York Mets | Casey Stengel | |
Philadelphia Phillies | Gene Mauch | Finished tied for 2nd place with Reds |
Pittsburgh Pirates | Danny Murtaugh | |
San Francisco Giants | Alvin Dark | |
St. Louis Cardinals | Johnny Keane | Won the World Series |
Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles Dodgers [1] | 80 | -19.2% | 2,228,751 | -12.2% | 27,515 |
New York Mets [2] | 53 | 3.9% | 1,732,597 | 60.4% | 21,129 |
San Francisco Giants [3] | 90 | 2.3% | 1,504,364 | -4.3% | 18,572 |
Philadelphia Phillies [4] | 92 | 5.7% | 1,425,891 | 57.2% | 17,604 |
New York Yankees [5] | 99 | -4.8% | 1,305,638 | -0.3% | 16,119 |
Chicago White Sox [6] | 98 | 4.3% | 1,250,053 | 7.9% | 15,433 |
Minnesota Twins [7] | 79 | -13.2% | 1,207,514 | -14.2% | 14,726 |
St. Louis Cardinals [8] | 93 | 0.0% | 1,143,294 | -2.3% | 14,115 |
Baltimore Orioles [9] | 97 | 12.8% | 1,116,215 | 44.1% | 13,612 |
Milwaukee Braves [10] | 88 | 4.8% | 910,911 | 17.8% | 11,246 |
Boston Red Sox [11] | 72 | -5.3% | 883,276 | -6.3% | 10,905 |
Cincinnati Reds [12] | 92 | 7.0% | 862,466 | 0.4% | 10,518 |
Detroit Tigers [13] | 85 | 7.6% | 816,139 | -0.7% | 9,953 |
Los Angeles Angels [14] | 82 | 17.1% | 760,439 | -7.4% | 9,388 |
Pittsburgh Pirates [15] | 80 | 8.1% | 759,496 | -3.1% | 9,376 |
Chicago Cubs [16] | 76 | -7.3% | 751,647 | -23.3% | 9,280 |
Houston Colt .45s [17] | 66 | 0.0% | 725,773 | 0.9% | 8,960 |
Cleveland Indians [18] | 79 | 0.0% | 653,293 | 16.1% | 7,967 |
Kansas City Athletics [19] | 57 | -21.9% | 642,478 | -15.7% | 7,932 |
Washington Senators [20] | 62 | 10.7% | 600,106 | 12.0% | 7,409 |
CBS and NBC aired weekend Game of the Week broadcasts. Although it had been three years since the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 was passed to authorize sports leagues to enter into television contracts that "pooled" the TV rights of all their teams, MLB still operated under the older system where the networks purchased the regular season rights to individual clubs. By 1964, CBS paid $895,000 total for the rights to six teams, with the New York Yankees getting a $550,000 share. The six clubs that exclusively played nationally televised games on NBC were paid $1.2 million total. [23]
The All-Star Game and World Series aired on NBC.
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