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1964 Philadelphia Phillies season

1964 Philadelphia Phillies
1964 Philadelphia Phillies team photo.jpg
Team photo of the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) R. R. M. Carpenter, Jr.
General manager(s) John J. Quinn
Manager(s) Gene Mauch
Local television WFIL
Local radio WFIL
(By Saam, Bill Campbell, Richie Ashburn)
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External video
Struck Out: The Fall of the 1964 Phillies, 6:42, Philadelphia:The Great Experiment

The 1964 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 82nd season for the franchise in Philadelphia. The Phillies finished in a second-place tie with the Cincinnati Reds. Both posted a record of 92–70, finishing one game behind the National League (NL) and World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, and just two games ahead of fourth-place San Francisco. Gene Mauch managed the Phillies, who played their home games at Connie Mack Stadium.

The team is notable for being in first place in the National League since the opening day, and then suffering a drastic collapse during the final two weeks of the season. The "Phold of '64", as it became known, is one of the most infamous collapses in baseball history.

From 1919 through 1947, the Phillies finished last a total of 17 times and next to last seven times. A 1962 cartoon in a baseball magazine depicted a ballplayer arriving at a French Foreign Legion outpost, explaining, "I was released by the Phillies!"

Things began to change slowly beginning in 1960 when Gene Mauch was hired as manager to replace Eddie Sawyer, who had resigned after the club's opening game of the regular season. Although the Phillies slumped to 47–107 in 1961 (including a 23-game losing streak), they began to climb back to respectability in 1962 and 1963. The front office, headed by John Quinn as General Manager, had replaced most of the players of the 1950s with new, young talent.


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Wikipedia

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