1964 - THE YEAR OF THE PHILLY PHOLD

Well let me begin by saying that this blog is for those people who remember the Philly Phold, most notably the die hard fans of the Philadelphia Phillies, and SAM you know who I am talking about. Let's see if any of these names strike a familiar note: Clay Dalrymple, John Hernstein, Tony Taylor, Dick Allen, Bobby Wine, Wes Covington, Tony Gonzalez, Johnny Callison, I need to stop here and remember that Callison hit 3 Homeruns on the last day of the season in a 14-8 loss to the Braves. Back to those names: Cookie Rojas, Rueben Amaro, Gus Triandos, Danny Cater, Frank Thomas(Not the White Sox Frank by the way), Roy Sievers, Alex Johnson, Johnny Briggs, Vic Power, Costen Shockley, Adolfo Phillips, Don Hoak, and Pat Corrales. These were the players of the PHOLD, and lest we not forget, here is the Pitching staff: Jim Bunning, Dennis Bennett, Chris Short,(Remember Bunning/Short and pray for rain), Art Mahaffey, Ray Culp, Rick Wise(Eventually traded for Steve Carlton), Jack Baldschun9Today's equivalent of a "Closer"), John Boozer, Ed Roebuck(Not related to Sears but may well have been), Bobby Shantz(A's of Kansas City), Dallas Green(Before he realizzed he would be a better manager than a pitcher), Bobby Locke, and Cal McLish(I believe he was in his 60's at the time)..
Anyway, there is the whole lot of the Philadelphia Phillies in the season that left a city crushed and in despair. Well I guess it is time to remember "GENE MAUCH", the manager that decided to pitch Bunning and Short everyday for the final week of the season. Gene was a baseball wizard and knew and studied the game, but he was never able to put it into practice.
Dick Allen was a true Superstar and of course he was loathed in Philly, he hit .318 had a Slugging percentage of .557, Scored 125 runs, had 201 Hits, 38 Doubles, 13 Triples and 29 Homeruns, so with all that, they still ran him out of town. Oh I did forget he only had 91 RBI's.
Of course for poor Richie, he came to town when Johnny Callison was their aging hero and he suffered for it, Johnny hit 31 Homers and had 104 RBI's that infamous year.
Jim Bunning and Chris Short actually won 36 games and lost 17 that year but they will always be remembered for the failure to win at the end.
It was an excruciating summer to live through and to suffer yet another disaster in Philadelphia. My buddy Sam is an eternal optimist and has been a devoted fan since I can remember, Sam bleeds for the Phillies, and he believes every year is the year they return to the Series and are crowned the Champions, and of course the parade down Broad Street to Citizens Bank park. In 1964 the parade would have been to Connie Mack Stadium(named for Connie Mack who once managed the A's and in true Philadelphia fashion sold off all the best players). Connie Mack Stadium was a true ball park, nothing fancy, built in the middle of a neighborhood(I mean a real neighborhood with row houses lining the streets) 21st & Lehigh Avenue. It cost $457, 167 to build(of that the land was 141,918 and the stadium 315,248) it was a grand old place, it was actually owned by Connie Mack and Shibe(It was originally called Shibe Park. It housed the Philadelphia Athletics from 1909(when it was built) to 1954 and the Phillies from 1938 to 1970. It opened on April 12, 1909, the last game was played on Octobe 1, 1970 and it was demolished in June of 1976.
Connie Mack Stadium was the 1st Concrete and Steel Stadium in the Major Leagues, it took less than a year to build. It was originally named for Ben Shibe who was an Athletics stockholder. It was renamed Connie Mack Stadium in 1953.
Now a final rest in peace to days gone by: Before 1953, 20th street residents could see games for free over the 12ft right field fence and fans could see the Laundry lines on the roofs of 2oth street houses. they played the 1943 and 1952 All Star games here. The Old Yankee stadium scoreboard was installed in front of the right center field wall in 1956. It is today the site of the Deliverance Evangelical Church(possibly a fitting end to the old gal).
Well Sam I hope this gives you some idea that I am still a follower and still a loyalist although I now reside in Florida(Where baseball should be illegal!!!)..
It is always nice to remember the Days of Wine and Roses so to speak.

Live long and prosper.