1964 World Series
The Series is seen as a bellwether point in baseball history as it was the last hurrah for the 1950s Yankee Dynasty of Mantle, Maris, Ford and Berra, among others, and it demonstrated that the National League's growing enthusiasm to sign black and Latino players (such as those of the '64 Cardinals) was a permanent paradigm shift in fielding a championship team.
Mickey Mantle, playing in his last Series, hit three home runs, raising his total to a record-setting 18, surpassing Babe Ruth's mark of 15.
Utility infielder Chet Trail, who had no prior major league experience, appeared on the Yankees' World Series roster to fill the opening created by an injury to Tony Kubek.
After winning the American League pennant in 1963, the Yankees faced strong challenges from the pitching-rich Chicago White Sox and up-and-coming Baltimore Orioles in 1964.
The Phillies did their part by defeating the Reds, 10–0, but the Cardinals overcame an early 3–2 deficit and beat the Mets, 11–5, to win the pennant.
[11] The Cardinals also believed that they should swing early in the count against Whitey Ford, and this strategy also paid off, as Ray Sadecki, Carl Warwick, and Mike Shannon all drove in runs on the first or second pitches of their at-bats.
Tresh's RBI double in the fifth after two two-out singles made it 4–2 Yankees, but the Cardinals sent eight men to the plate in the sixth inning.
The Yankees cut the lead to one in the eighth when Johnny Blanchard doubled and scored on Bobby Richardson's single off Barney Schultz, but the Cardinals padded their lead in the bottom half, loading the bases off Rollie Sheldon on two walks and an error, then Flood's RBI single and Lou Brock's two-run double off Pete Mikkelsen put them up 9–5.
Rookie Mel Stottlemyre, called up from the minors in August, dominated for New York and the Cardinal bullpen wilted in the late innings.
[12] The Cardinals struck first in the third on Curt Flood's groundout with runners on second and third, but the Yankees tied the game in the fourth on Clete Boyer's bases-loaded sacrifice fly off Bob Gibson.
Lou Brock's groundout in the eighth with runners on second and third shaved the lead to 4–2, but the Yankees blew the game open in the ninth.
The Cardinals got a run in the bottom half when Dick Groat hit a leadoff triple and scored on Tim McCarver's single, but Stottlemyre retired the next two hitters to end the game as the Yankees' 8–3 win tied the series heading to New York.
[14] Mantle swung at the first pitch from Barney Schultz, a knuckleball that failed to move,[12] and hit it into the right field stands to win the game for the Yankees.
Schultz had been a mainstay of the Cardinals' stretch run and Yankee scouting reports had advised that his knuckler was most vulnerable on the first pitch when he threw harder than usual to try for a strike.
After Lou Brock flied out, Dick Groat reached base on a slow roller that was bobbled by Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson.
Flood scored on a Bill White ground out after Phil Linz made another misplay, throwing a ball into the dirt at first on what should have been the back end of a double play.
With one out and one on, Joe Pepitone smashed a bouncer off Bob Gibson's leg, the ball ricocheting towards the third-base line.
[17] McCarver delivered a three-run home run in the tenth inning to send the Cardinals back to St. Louis with a 3–2 lead in the series.
Back-to-back home runs by Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle put the Yankees up 3–1 in the sixth before they blew the game open in the eighth.
After a walk loaded the bases, Gordie Richardson relieved Schultz and allowed a grand slam to Joe Pepitone to put the Yankees up 8–1.
The Cardinals scored a run in the bottom of the inning on Bill White's RBI groundout with runners on second and third and no out, then in the ninth, Bob Skinner hit an RBI single with two on off Steve Hamilton (the run charged to Bouton) before Curt Flood hit into the game-ending double play.
[11][19] Al Downing came in for the fifth after Stottlemyre developed shoulder stiffness,[20] and Lou Brock hit his first pitch for a home run.
Mantle cut the gap in half with a three-run homer in the sixth, adding to his own record for total home runs in the World Series.
[21] Ken Boyer's brother Clete hit a home run for New York with one out in the ninth, making the score 7–4.
Linz hit another home run, pulling New York to within two, 7–5, but the next batter, Richardson, popped up to second baseman Dal Maxvill and the Cardinals won the Series.
After appearing in 15 World Series (winning ten) in the 18 seasons from 1947 to 1964, the Yankees went into decline as many of their stars either moved on to other teams or retired.
