Four managers came together once again for a face-to-face Season Ticket showdown, bringing teams chosen from the famous 1964 National League pennant race which saw four teams finish the season separated by just three games. A double round-robin FTF tournament with no playoffs - winner takes all!
| Manager | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Costa | 1964 Cincinnati Reds (92-70) |
| 2 | Scott Needle | 1964 Saint Louis Cardinals (93-69) |
| 3 | Fred Steffens | 1964 San Francisco Giants (90-72) |
| 4 | Bob Militello | 1964 Philadelphia Phillies (92-70) |
- 26-man roster, named prior to start of tournament
- Pitchers must have 15+ GS to start, any pitcher starting a game is ineligible to relieve
- Position players with less than 150 AB may not start; they are eligible to PH at any time, but may only stay in the game (or enter as defensive replacement) in 6th inning or later. Pitchers may not pinch hit or pinch run.
- Starting pitchers (i.e., no relief Stamina rating) who are not used to start may relieve with a relief Stamina equal to one-half their starting value (rounded down), but they can only be used (1) when the original starter hits a Fatigue of 4, or (2) the game is in extra innings
- Pitcher injuries will be ignored, and any other injuries are in force for the remainder of the current game ONLY; if a player is injured (or ejected), his replacement is not subject to limits specified above
- Season Ticket “Season Play” pitcher fatigue rules (page 28 of the Rules) will govern usage and in-game Fatigue; the “Pitching on Short Rest” rule will be in effect for pitchers who qualify.
- Designated hitter rule in effect for home games of DH-era teams
- No zombie runner in extra innings
- Games tied after twelve innings are recorded as ties in the standings
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| Blame the organizer for failing - again - to take any photos of actual people |
Three 1st-inning singles (two of which failed to leave the infield) gave the Reds a quick lead and the two starters got down to work. A string of zeroes followed, with GIDPs getting both men out of trouble in the 3rd, until the Giants evened things up in the 6th. Willie Mays bounced one to Leo Cardenas at short to start the inning, but the throw to first sailed high and wide to put Mays at second. After a groundout for the first out, Hal Lanier grounded one to third and Steve Boros completed the left-side exacta by throwing the ball into the dirt and past Deron Johns at first, Mays scoring and Lanier taking second on the error. That was it until we reached the 9th with both starting pitchers still on the hill, Marichal setting down sixteen straight Reds at one stretch, when Frank Robinson doubled to start the top of the 9th and an intentional walk and sacrifice put runners on second and third with one out. Marichal caught Marty Keough looking for a called third strike, and had two strikes on Cardenas before the shortstop lofted a fly ball to left that was just out of the reach of Harvey Kuenn and bounded all the way to the fence for a two-run triple. Billy McCool came on in the bottom of the 9th for Cincinnati and worked around a two-out pinch-hit single by Jim Davenport by popping Orlando Cepeda up on the infield as the potential tying run for the final out. Robinson and Pete Rose each had two hits for the Reds. Cincinnati 3-7-3, San Francisco 1-4-1. [box] [pbp]
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| Leo Cardenas strikes the key blow in the 9th |
Lou Brock's 7th-inning home run broke open a scoreless game and Cardinals pitching held the Phillies to five hits in a close game at Connie Mack Stadium. The bats were quiet for the first half of the game, Short escaping a two-on, one-out mess in the 4th and Simmons allowing only three hits through the first six innings. In the top of the 7th, Bill White slapped a leadoff single and was at third base with two outs when Brock drove one into the center-field seats for the first home run of the tournament and a 2-0 Cardinal lead. Philadelphia finally dented Simmons in the 8th behind a leadoff Wes Covington double and a two-out RBI hit from pinch-hitter Frank Thomas, but that was all that the home team could muster as Simmons and Barney Schultz recorded the final four outs without incident. Curt Flood led STL with three hits. St Louis 2-8-1, Philadelphia 1-5-0. [box] [pbp]
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| Curt Simmons' eight innings of five-hit ball are too much for Philadelphia |
Round 2: 1964 Giants (Gaylord Perry) at 1964 Cardinals (Bob Gibson)
Perry vexed Cardinal hitters for 8.1 innings and Willie Mays homered to lead the Giants to a narrow victory. The game was scoreless through three innings, but Mays put a stop to all of that with a leadoff homer in the 4th, and this appeared to rattle Gibson slightly. The next two men reached, and had been sacrificed to second and third with one out when Hal Lanier singled to center to score Orlando Cepeda. Jesus Alou then lofted a fly ball to medium center, and Curt Flood came up throwing and gunned down Tom Haller at the plate to limit the damage for St Louis. Those two runs loomed large, though, as the Cards could not find a way home against Perry, failing to get a hit until the 5th inning and only accumulating two through eight frames. But he began to tire in the 9th - Dick Groat doubled with one out, and Curt Flood singled him home to make it a one-run game. After Ken Boyer walked, it was time for Perry to depart and Bob Shaw entered with the potential tying run now at second. Bill White grounded to second, and the runners moved up, but Mike Shannon dribbled one to short which Jose Pagan handled for the final out. San Francisco 2-8-1, St Louis 1-4-1. [box] [pbp]
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| Gaylord Perry allows four hits in 8.1 innings |
Gus Triandos homered twice and scored three times to power the Phillies to the win. Cincinnati jolted Bunning with two runs in the top of the 1st on three straight singles, but Deron Johnson was cut down at the plate trying to score on Johnny Edwards' double. That allowed Philadelphia to take the lead in the bottom half of the inning when Triandos went deep on Maloney with two on and two out. After the sudden offensive explosion in the opening inning, things settled down and neither team really threatened until the Phils batted in the 6th. Triandos singled to start the inning, and Tony Gonzalez followed with a walk. Two outs put runners at the corners, but Maloney struggled to find the pitch that would end the inning. He walked Bunning to load the bases, and then Danny Cater to force in a run, before whiffing Johnny Callison for the third out. Triandos hit a solo shot in the 7th to pad the lead, and Bunning retired eleven of the last twelve (six via strikeout) to put the Reds away. Philadelphia 5-7-2, Cincinnati 2-6-0. [box] [pbp]
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| Gus Triandos homers twice to power the Phils |
Lou Brock scored the first St Louis run and later hit a three-run homer that buried Cincinnati at Crosley Field. The Reds escaped the STL 1st when Vada Pinson threw out Curt Flood at the plate on Bill White's hit, but the Cards would get to Bob Purkey in the 3rd. Roger Craig worked a walk to start it off, then Brock, Dick Groat and Flood each singled to score two runs and a third came in when White bounced into a twin killing. Three more Cardinal runs tallied in the following inning when Purkey walked Tim McCarver and plunked Julian Javier ahead of Brock's fly ball which just cleared the center-field fence. The Reds got a couple of consolation runs, but Craig pitched into the 7th and two relievers held the line from there. St Louis 6-10-1, Cincinnati 2-9-0. [box] [pbp]
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| Lou Brock launches a three-run homer in the 4th |
Tony Gonzalez's two-out home run in the 8th inning jumped the Phillies into a late lead and Ed Roebuck pitched three hitless innings of relief to earn the win. Philadelphia got off to the quickest possible start when Danny Cater started the game with a leadoff homer, but San Francisco answered with three runs in the bottom of the 3rd - Jim Ray Hart reached on a Dick Allen fielding error, Willie McCovey walked, and Willie Mays hit his second bomb of the tournament to give SF a 3-1 lead. The Phils chipped away with a run in the 6th on a Johnny Callison double and Wes Covington's RBI groundout, but squandered two walks in the 7th; they saw their first two batters then go down in the 8th before Gus Triandos singled and Gonzalez shocked the Candlestick crowd with a towering drive to left field which McCovey could only stand and admire. Roebuck, who had come on in the 7th to strike out his first two batters, allowed only one man to reach base, on an error, and twirled a 1-2-3 9th inning to lock it up for Philadelphia. Philadelphia 4-7-2, San Francisco 3-8-0. [box] [pbp]
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| Tony Gonzalez accepts congratulations after his big two-run homer |
After the rest day, the action continued . . .
The second half of the draw started with the most improbable comeback in the (admittedly short) history of the Showdown, as Philadelphia scored five times before a single out was recorded in the 9th inning to shock Cincinnati in front of its home crowd. The Reds got out front when Steve Boros hit a long drive to center with two out and a man aboard in the 4th - Tony Gonzalez crashed into the wall in pursuit and, as the ball caromed into left-center, Boros circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run. After CIN added two more in the 7th to make it 4-0 behind an RBI double by Pete Rose and a run-scoring infield single by Frank Robinson, it looked like the game was in hand. Joey Jay had pitched seven shutout innings, only pressed when three singles resulted in Bennett being thrown out at home by Robinson in the 3rd, but use of a pinch hitter meant that Cincinnati would look to lean on its strong, deep bullpen for two innings. Bill Henry allowed two baserunners in the 8th but no runs, and Ryne Duren was asked to hold down the fort in the 9th. He quite literally had nothing, however; a walk, single and hit batsman loaded the bases right away and Cookie Rojas singled home two runs to cut the Cincinnati lead in half. Frank Thomas pinch hit for the pitcher and doubled to left to score the two runs that tied the game and sent Duren packing (perhaps too late). Sammy Ellis took his place in the firing line, and Danny Cater greeted him with a base hit to center that scored Thomas and put the Phillies on top. Jack Baldschun came in for the bottom of the inning and walked the potential tying run on base with two outs, but got Robinson to sky to left field to send the crowd streaming for the exits in deathly silence. Philadelphia 5-12-1, Cincinnati 4-9-0. [box] [pbp]
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| Frank Thomas delivers the big pinch-hit double to tie the game |
Willie Mays and Tom Haller homered in a four-run 6th inning that proved to be the difference at Candlestick Park. The two clubs swapped 1st-inning runs, Curt Flood homering for St Louis and Jim Ray Hart hitting a sac fly for San Francisco, but Hendley and Sadecki held firm from there through five innings. In the bottom of the 6th, Harvey Kuenn walked to lead off and Mays followed with his third blast in four games then, with two outs, Jose Pagan singled and Haller followed behind him with another circuit clout that doubled the lead to 5-1. Reliever Jack Sanford ran out of gas in the 7th, allowing two singles and a walk for a run before being lifted; new man Masanori Murakami was touched by PH Phil Gagliano for a two-run double that got the Cards back within a run, but the Japanese teenager got the next two men to escape the inning and Billy Pierce pitched the last two stanzas while allowing just one two-out baserunner. San Francisco 5-6-0, St Louis 4-8-1. [box] [pbp]
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| Willie Mays hits his third homer of the tournament |
Danny Cater had four hits and Tony Gonzalez drove in three runs to lead an easy Philadelphia win over St Louis. The Cardinals went ahead 2-0 in the early innings on Julian Javier's home run and an RBI ground out by Dick Groat. Dark clouds started to gather for the Phillies on the next batter when Short pulled up while pitching to Simmons and had to leave the ballgame, replaced by Rick Wise. Things were going swimmingly for Simmons, though, who had allowed only one hit over the first four innings until Johnny Callison led off the 5th with a single. Simmons got the next two outs, but he walked the light-hitting Ruben Amaro (1-for-13 so far in the tournament) and the surprising Gonzalez did it again with a big home run that scored three runs and put the Phils in control. Four straight hits to start the 7th led to three more PHI runs and Wise was in complete control. He pitched 4.2 innings of two-hit relief until allowing two singles in the 9th and departing for Jack Baldschun to get the final two outs. Philadelphia 9-12-0, St Louis 3-8-0. [box] [pbp]
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| Danny Cater goes four-for-five from the leadoff slot |
San Francisco scored four times in the final four innings to pull away from Cincinnati and reward a dominant performance by Juan Marichal. The Giants scored the game's first run on a Johnny Edwards passed ball in the 3rd, but the Reds equalized on Frank Robinson's homer in the 4th, one of only two CIN hits against Marichal in seven innings. In the 6th, O'Toole could no longer hang with the Dominican Dandy, allowing the first three Giants to reach base before RBIs from Jose Pagan and Tom Haller. In the 8th two walks, one intentional, set the table for Willie McCovey's two-run pinch-hit double (on which Frank Robinson was injured running into the outfield wall) and San Francisco was on its way to what had become a fairly comfortable victory. San Francisco 5-9-0, Cincinnati 1-2-0. [box] [pbp]
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| Juan Marichal was nearly unhittable |
Frank Robinson homered in the 5th to put Cincinnati in front, and three pitchers combined to hold the Cardinals scoreless over the final five innings. The Reds scored two times in the opening inning after Bill White's error kept the door ajar for Deron Johnson's two-out two-run double. But St Louis fought back, scoring once in the 3rd on Lou Brock's RBI single and twice in the 4th on White's two-run homer. In the next half-inning, however, Pete Rose singled off of Gibson and, with two outs, Robinson took him deep for two runs and the lead. A Cincinnati bullpen that had experienced some issues in the tournament came through in their final game - after Maloney finished off seven good innings, Bill Henry and Billy McCool pitched the final two frames and struck out four Cards. Cincinnati 4-7-1, St Louis 3-10-2 [box] [pbp]
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| Frank Robinson's HR puts the Reds in front to stay |
With a chance to scramble a tie at the top the standings with a win, the Giants held the upper hand for five innings before Wes Covington grabbed the Showdown title with a two-run home run. Orlando Cepeda's leadoff double led to a run for SF in the 3rd, Willie Mays (again) driving in the Giants run with a single. Perry was continuing his outstanding tournament with only two hits surrendered through five innings, but SF decided to pinch-hit for him in the 6th and that brought Jack Sanford on for the bottom of the inning. Dick Allen greeted him with a single, Covington was up next and he launched the ball out of the yard to give the Phils the lead with just nine outs left to secure the championship. Surprisingly, all nine of those would come out of the hand of Bunning, who tossed his second complete game of the tournament and allowed just one baserunner in those last three frames. PH Matty Alou led off the 9th with a single, but Bunning stayed in the game to retire the next three Giants in order to end the game in a celebratory dogpile in front of the mound. Philadelphia 2-6-1, San Francisco 1-8-2. [box] [pbp]
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| The right arm of Jim Bunning carries Philadelphia to a title |
Final Standings
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | RDiff | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 PHILLIES | 5 | 1 | 0.833 | 0.0 | 11 | 2-1 | 3-0 |
| 1964 Giants | 3 | 3 | .500 | 2.0 | 2 | 1-2 | 2-1 |
| 1964 Cardinals | 2 | 4 | .333 | 3.0 | -4 | 0-3 | 2-1 |
| 1964 Reds | 2 | 4 | .333 | 3.0 | -9 | 0-3 | 2-1 |
The Phillies lost their first game and then stormed to five consecutive wins and a title. They scored nearly 40% more runs than the second-highest team in the field, somewhat on the strength of a .323 average with runners in scoring position, and allowed the fewest home runs. As is often the case, they got unexpected contributions from Cater and Gonzalez, and part-time bats like Triandos flourished in full-time duty. Oddly all four teams had winning records on the road, for an aggregate 3-9 home record in the tournament. [Tournament stats]
1B: Danny Cater, 1964 Phillies (4)
2B: Julian Javier, 1964 Cardinals (4)
SS: Dick Groat, 1964 Cardinals (4)
3B: Dick Allen, 1964 Phillies (4)
There were three complete games thrown in the tournament, and one man had two of them - Phillies SP Jim Bunning. He controlled the game in different ways - in his first start, he was overpowering and struck out twelve Reds while, in his second, he fanned only two but got thirteen ground ball outs and three infield pop-ups. In both appearances, though, he got stronger as the game progressed - after the 3rd inning, he allowed a total of four base hits in the two games on his way to a sub-1.00 WHIP and 14 Ks in 18 total innings.
Showdown History
Showdown 1: 100-win teams that didn't qualify for the postseason
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