1964 BOSTON RED SOX ...

A cloud of controversy hung over the 1964 Red Sox. Players had complained and criticized one another publicly after the last season. Johnny Pesky himself, criticized players, especially Dick Stuart, to the press. Tom Yawkey nor Mike Higgins ever got involved nor supported their manager. Carl Yastrzemski said flatly, that there was a conspiracy to get Pesky fired and it was obvious that he was not on his manager's side. Higgins did make an effort to work with Pesky, meeting with him each day during spring training.

There was understandably offseason interest from a number of teams in trading for Jack Lamabe. Pesky contemplated converting him to a starter. Lamabe had said he preferred starting, but would do whatever was asked of him.

Yaz worked as hard in spring training. Baseball came natural to him, but he was a perfectionist, so he worked very hard to get better at his craft than anyone else.

But the story at spring training, was the local sports hero from Swampscott, Mass, Tony Conigliaro. It was true that the Sox were taking a chance on him and other relatively-untested players, but the 1964 Sox, frankly, didn't have a great deal of talent. Tony C. was 19 years old, only in his second year of organized ball, but he made the big league club.

Tony C. was the opposite of Yaz. Instead of walking away from the spotlight, he loved it. He was young and outspoken, charming and having fun. He would be a right-handed slugger in the coziest of ball parks. One day Ted Wiliams was hitting fungos to the outfielders and challenged him. He was really going to tag one and challenged Tony C. to catch it, saying he would give him a Cadillac if he could. Tony C yelled back, no thanks, because he already had a Cadillac. Ted was brash just like Ted.

In a game against the Indians, Tony C. hit a homer out of the stadium in Scottsdale, over the 430 ft mark in center field. It landed on the road and a couple of construction workers marked the spot where it landed, some 570 ft from home plate.

In addition to Tony C. was Tony Horton, a firstbaseman. The two players were not just rivals; they became instant friends, roommates in the spring, and constant companions away from the park. Horton was the team's best hitting prospect and Johnny Pesky was hoping that he would prove good enough to replace Stuart, who seemed to have been put on Earth to complain and bedevil his manager.

As to his fielding, all one needs to know is that Dick Radatz suggested that Stuart’s license plate should be E-3. Stuart actually took Radatz’s suggestion to heart and got a vanity plate.

In a preseason game on March 28th, both Tony Horton and Tony C. hit home runs to lead the Red Sox to a 12-10 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. They both were presented with trophies as co-rookies of the spring by the Charros Club of Scottsdale. Horton however, was optioned to Reading of the Eastern League at the end of the spring camp.

Tony C. the next day hit a double, two triples and a home run in the 13th inning. At one point he made ten extra base hits in a row. Lou Clinton started spring training strongly, but the writing was on the wall. GM Mike Higgins still wanted to see Tony C. get another year of seasoning in the minors, but Johnny Pesky thought he was the best hitter he had seen since Ted Wiliams, and wanted him on the major league team.

It was a very young squad. There were five teenagers and six others were only twenty. Under the "Bonus Baby" rule, four of them had to be included in the 25-man roster. Other than Tony C. and Horton, there were infielders Dalton Jones and Reggie Smith, along with pitchers Dave Gray, Pete Charlton, Bill Spanswick and Ed Connolly.

Pesky, knowing the club wasn't going anywhere, tried to convince  Higgins to bring up the other kids also, but Higgins elected to keep the more veteran players on the squad. So most of the youngsters were sent down after spring training.

In a March 4th intrasquad game, Dave Gray struck out seven. He began to suffer what seemed like tonsillitis at the end of March, until in May, he had a tonsillectomy in Boston.

The Sox opened the season in New York. On April 14th it rained and Tony C. thinking the game would be postponed, slept in. But the rest of the team was at the ball park. Tony C. got a phone call, grabbed a cab and hustled to the park. Pesky cautioned him not to blow his big chance.

The season finally started on April 16th between the Sox and the Yankees. With a 3-3 tie in the top of the 11th inning, a 461 ft triple by Bob Tillman and a wild pitch by Whitey Ford gave the Sox a 4-to-3 win in the eleventh inning. Tony C. got his first hit in the sixth inning.

TONY CONIGLIARO

The next day was Opening Day at Fenway, the next day, April 17th. Everybody who was anybody was there. The Mayor, the Governor and the Senator, the U.S. Attorney General, Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey, Stan Musial and 20,213 fans were all there to see Tony Conigliaro.

The game was tied at 1-1 in the second inning when Tony C. stepped to the plate for the first time. The White Sox' Joel Horlen delivered the first pitch and it hung over the plate. Tony C. swung, there was a boom, and the ball became a speck in the sky and sailed over the monster onto Lansdowne Street. The tie was broken. Jack Lamabe held the lead and threw a complete-game for a 4-to-1 victory. Also, in that game, his first, Dalton Jones slammed his first major-league hit, an RBI triple.

Bill Monbouquette tamed the Yankees for eight innings without a man able to reach third base. With a little help from Dick Radatz, the Sox hutout the Yanks, 4-0 on April 20th.

After winning the first game of a doubleheader in Baltimore, 3 to 1 on April 23rd, the youngster Dave Morehead was put up against the veteran Robin Roberts in the second game. The two both pitched shutout ball for seven frames. Morehead gave up the only run of the game in the eighth and lost a tough one, 1-0.

Dick Stuart swung a magic bat for the Red Sox, who defeated the Orioles, 6 to 4 in 11 innings, on April 28th at Fenway. The Sox were two runs behind in the last of the ninth inning. With Yaz and Eddie Bressoud on base, Stuart doubled off the center field fence to drive in the tying run. Then in the 11th inning, the Sox were two runs behind again and had loaded the bases. Stuart slammed a walk-off grandslam homer into the net and the Sox were 6 to 4 winners.

At the end of the month, the Sox were an undistinguished 5 -7, in the basement, but only two games behind.

The score was tied at 7-7 in the last of the fifth inning on May 3rd. The lead had gone back and forth between the Sox and the Tigers, five times. But now the bases were loaded and Yaz was at the plate. Yaz had never hit a grandslam homer. But today, on the second pitch that changed. Yaz lined a ball against the wind, that landed in the Tigers' bullpen, putting the Sox back in front to stay, 11 to 7.

On May 4th, it all came down to one unfortunate pitch for rookie pitcher Bill Spanswick. He’d held the Indians to three runs through six innings, and the two teams were tied. Three singles loaded the bases, and then Leon Wagner hit a grand slam into the right-field grandstand. Spanswick had given up seven earned runs, and the Sox lost, 7-5. The next day, however, Dave Morehead picked up his first win of the year by shutting out Cleveland, 4-0 on May 5th. He struck out 10 batters.

Then in Detroit, on May 6th, Dalton Jones knocked out four straight hits and Eddie Bressoud got on base safely five consecutive times, but the Sox lost 6 to 3, because the two got little help from the others.

But in the next game on May 7th, the Sox came from behind to beat the Tigers, 7 to 3. Tony C. blasted a homer into the right field upper deck. In 18 games, the Sox had 13 homers and Tony had five of them.

The Sox beat the Senators the next game on May 8th, 9-3. It was the first major league win for pitcher Bill Spanswick. Eddie Bressoud set a Sox team record for consecutive games with a base hit at the start of a season. The record was 17, set by Elmer Smith in 1922, and Bressoud lined a single to left in his third time up, to hit safely in his 18th straight game. Bressoud streak was stopped at 20 games on May 10th. Dom DiMaggio hit in 27 straight games in 1951, for the Sox' overall club record for longest consecutive hit streak.

After losing the first game of a doubleheader in Washington, the Sox came from behind to win the nitecap, 9 to 4 on May 10th. They were behind 3-2, when Gary Geiger and Tony C. delivered the hits to bring the Sox back.

The Sox were in Cleveland for the next game on May 11th, and they were down 11-1 with two down in the ninth inning. They rallied and scored six runs to fall just short, losing 11 to 7. Pitcher Wilbur Wood gave up four runs and five hits after pitching just one inning. He had been clobbered for 11 runs in just 5 2/3 innings over his four relief appearances. His dream to play for his hometown team came to a dramatic close when he was given his outright release to the Seattle Rainiers the next day.

The game on May 12th was a bad one for Dick Stuart. In the first inning, he made a throw to second base when there was nobody there, and gave the Indians two runs. At bat, he left seven base runners stranded, six of them when the score was tied or with his team down by a run. The Sox were leading 5-4 in the ninth and lost the game, 6-5.

As things became worse, Johnny Pesky became more nervous. Players didn't respond to him, and he had to repeat his signs to base-runners and batters. He was second-guessed and criticized by his players and they didn't try to hide it. The Sox were tied for last place, 5 1/2 games behind after 25 games played, when there were rumors that Mike Higgins wanted to replace Pesky with either Billy Herman or Billy Hitchcock, thinking his manager was in far over his head.

From both the health and the baseball perspectives, this was Gary Geiger’s most disappointing season. In February, he was hospitalized with bleeding ulcers and a stomach obstruction. In early May, he tried coming back despite always being tired and weighing just 130 pounds. He appeared in five games (starting three but finishing only one). The doctors then told Geiger that if he started bleeding again, they’d have to remove part of his stomach. This warning, coupled with his fear of flying, influenced him to announce his retirement in Cleveland on May 13th.

The Sox returned home, and Bill Monbouquette (1-5) lost his fifth straight game, 1-0 to the Twins on May 15th. The only run was unearned as a result of an error by Frank Malzone in the eighth inning.

One of Pesky's non-moves paid off against the Twins in the next game on May 16th. They had out-homered Minnesota, three to two, and almost out-hit them two to one and had battled to a 5-5 tie in the 10th inning. Dick Radatz was pitching and due up with the bases loaded and two outs. With Chuck Schilling sitting on the bench, Johnny Pesky let Radatz bat on a hunch. It paid off as he fisted a bloop single into right, to score Lou Clinton from third with the winning walk-off run, 6 to 5.

It was Radatz's third straight hit in a week and he not only won the game, but won $5 from Yaz betting him that he wouldn't get another hit all year long, after the two he had collected the week before.

The Sox and Minnesota Twins squared off in a doubleheader on May 17th at Fenway. The Sox came from behind to win the opener 6 to 2. But in the second game, up 5 to 4, Dick Radatz gave up a two-run homer to Earl Battey in the ninth inning and blew the save, 6-5.

The Sox were behind 3-0 with two outs in the ninth inning on May 19th against the Angels. Bo Belinsky was having his way with the Red Sox batters, making them hit the ball on the ground all game. The Sox were losing 3-0 in the bottom of the ninth.

Rookie Dalton Jones, who had not played in the game to this point, kept walking in front of Johnny Pesky to get noticed. Pesky relented and told Jones he would bat for Red Sox pitcher Bob Heffner. Heffner was due up seventh in the inning. After two quick outs, Dick Stuart walked, and then went to third on Tony C.’s double. A hit batsman and another walk produced a run and left the bases loaded for Jones, who then whistled a double that cleared the bases, giving the Sox a walk-off 4 to 3 victory.

Dalton Jones delivered another key two-bagger the next day. Tied at 2-2 in the seventh inning on May 20th, Jones came up with Bob Tillman and Roman Mejias on base with two outs. He drilled the ball to left center and the Sox won again, 4 to 3.

In the third game, a triple by Yaz that scored Jones and gave the Sox an 8 to 7 win on May 21st, resulting in a three game sweep of the Angels.

One run behind in the last of the ninth inning and there was one out, with Roman Mejias on first base on May 23rd. Felix Mantilla came up the plate to face the Athletics' ace reliever, pitcher John Wyatt. Their meeting didn't last long because Mantilla took a fast ball and lined it into the nets in left, to give the Sox a 5 to 4 win. It was a thriller, and the eighth game of the nine game home-stand, that was settled by one run.

Dick Stuart hadn't hit a home run in three weeks nor hit much of anything else, and was getting catcalls from the fans. He was batting .170 for the month of May. In the field, he was still a hazard. He dropped a throw and made no effort to catch a foul pop up in the game, but Pesky kept him in the lineup. Then he let a ground ball go through his legs and helped blow a five-run lead.

But on May 24th, Stuart stepped to the plate with the score tied at 2-all with the Kansas City A's in the first game of a doubleheader and broke out of his slump. With two men on, he clubbed the ball into the centerfield bleachers to give the Sox a 6 to 2 win. In the fourth inning of the second game, Stuart boomed a two-run homer onto Lansdowne Street, that put the Sox up 3 to 1 and eventually gave them a doubleheader sweep.

Tony C. was known for crowding the plate. He had already gotten the reputation for being a tough out. A rookie who hugged the plate and could hit home runs wore a bull's eye, and pitchers, quite naturally, tried to back him off, or hit him. But Tony C. would not budge nor get intimidated, and was often hit. He suffered his first injury when Kansas City’s Moe Drabowsky hit him in the left wrist during the first game, causing a hairline fracture. Fortunately, he missed only four games.

The Sox made it four straight wins by beating the Senators, 6 to 5 on May 25th. Radatz saved his ninth game of the last 12 played, to give Dave Morehead his third win.

On May 26th, with Earl Wilson and Dalton Jones on base, in a 2-2 game, Eddie Bressoud lined a single to center in the ninth inning, for a 3 to 2 Sox win. It was the Sox (20-19) fifth straight win and gave them a 10-4 record on the homestand. They had won 10 of their last 12 games and were in sixth place, four games out of first.

Felix Mantilla came through again on May 31st, slugging a pinch-hit double in the ninth inning to beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3. The Sox (21-21) finished the month in 6th place, 6 1/2 games out.

Dick Stuart slammed another homer in Los Angeles to give the Sox a come-from-behind 4 to 3 win over the Angels in L.A. on June 1st.

On June 3rd Mike Higgins traded right-handed hitter Lou Clinton to the Angels for Lee Thomas. The Sox needed a new left-handed hitter after outfielder Gary Geiger retired. Both batters had hit well at one point, then slumped. It was thought that perhaps a change of scenery would help all the way around.

Lee Thomas homered and singled in his first two at-bats for the Sox, in a 14-7 win in Kansas City on June 5th. Dick Stuart hit a grandslam, his third of the season and his second against the A's in the last 12 days.

LEE THOMAS

Thomas homered again in the next game, on June 6th, along with Dick Stuart and Tony C. After Arnold Early pitched 1 1/3 innings, his ERA dropped down to 0.66 in the 12 games he had pitched. The Sox beat the A's again, 8 to 6.

On the final day, June 7th, the Sox split a doubleheader. In the first game, Bill Monbouquette won his first game in almost seven weeks, 9 to 5. Homers by Frank Malzone, Yaz, Stuart and Conigliaro helped his effort. The Sox finished their road trip winning five and losing six.

Back at Fenway, the Sox faced the Yankees on June 9th. Earl Wilson and Dick Radatz combined for a 5 to 2 victory. Yaz bombed a two-run homer and Wilson held the Yanks down into the seventh inning.

The Red Sox attempted two blazing finishes against the Yankees in June 10th doubleheader. One worked while the other fell short. They were one run behind in the last of the 10th inning in the first game. Tony C. homered to tie the score and Dick Williams blasted another homer into the left field net, giving the Sox a 7 to 6 win. The homers gave the Sox their fourth consecutive victory over the Yankees this season. But in the night game, the Sox couldn't hold on and lost 10 to 6, with Stuart and Thomas (.303 BA) each banging out four hits.

Dave Morehead turned in his finest performance of the season on June 12th in Baltimore, beating the Orioles, 7 to 3. He struck out 12 batters and six of the first nine he faced. Earl Wilson kept it going the next night, striking out 10 Orioles and winning 6 to 2 on June 13th.

On June 16th, at Yankee Stadium, the Sox a Yanks split a twi-night doubleheader. They took the first game, 6-5 on Frank Malzone's two-run homer. The Sox lost the second game, but Malzone had three singles while Stuart had three singles and a double in a 7 to 5 loss.

The next day, June 17th, the Sox took a 12-inning contest by a 4 to 3 score. Pinch-hitter Russ Nixon, lined a single that scored Lee Thomas from second to put across the winning run.

In Baltimore, they lost the first three games before coming up with a 9 to 6 win on June 21st. Dick Stuart banged out four hits, knocking in four runs and Yaz rapped out three straight hits.

The Sox (32-36) only won 3 of the 10 games they played in New York, Baltimore and Chicago, limping back to Fenway Park, 10 1/2 games behind the first place Orioles.

At one point the Red Sox had a chance to sign Lou Brock, but Mike Higgins, who had only made the one trade for Lee Thomas in two years, didn't make the move. Instead Brock went to the Cardinals. Exasperated that the front office wouldn't help him get any quality players, Johnny Pesky contemplated resigning.

Dick Radatz had been a workhorse appearing in 36 of the Sox 68 games, striking out 83 batters in 69 innings. His career record was 389 strikeouts in 324 innings thus far.

Tony C. was a hard-nosed player who always hustled, but that also came with a price. On June 24th at Comiskey Park in Chicago, he ran hard after a line drive down the foul line, missed the catch, careened into the concrete wall and toppled into the seats. The batter, Ron Hansen, legged out an inside-the-park homer, and Tony C. hurt his back, knees and hand. He would miss the next nine days.

On June 26th, Russ Nixon came through in the last of the ninth inning to give the Sox a walk-off win over the Cleveland Indians. With two outs and Felix Mantilla on first base, the Red Sox were trailing 2 to 1, and Nixon took Tommy John deep into the right field grandstand for the game winner, 3 to 2.

While replacing an injured Tony Conigliaro in the lineup, Mantilla blasted three homers in two games against the Cleveland Indians starting with one on June 27th. One of Bob Heffner's better efforts was working eight innings of three-hit, one-run relief, but the game had already been lost, 4 to 2, in the first inning before he came in.

RADATZ, MALZONE, MANTILLA

Mantilla next hit two home runs in the first game of a June 28th doubleheader the next day, and Frank Malzone hit two homers in the second game. The Sox beat the Indians 8-5 and 4-3, winning three games of their four game series. Dick Radatz saved both ends of the twin bill.

In the next game, on June 29th, Radatz did his job splendidly. He pitched 2 1/3 innings, getting the Sox out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh inning, and allowing just two hits and shutting out the Athletics during the last two innings for another 4 to 3 win.

Tony C., who had been out for two weeks, belted an eighth inning, two-run homer that tied the score against the Angels. But Joe Adcock and Lou Clinton homered off Radatz in the 10th inning, to give the Angels a 5-3 triumph over the Sox on July 3rd.

On July 4th, the Sox shelled the Angels, 13 to 5. The big bang came in the first inning when the Sox exploded for nine runs and was highlighted by a grandslam homer off the bat of Lee Thomas. Earl Wilson pitched the full game, striking out 11 batters. The Sox beat the Angels again the next day, 9-6. Carl Yastrzemski had four hits in five at bats and Tony C. (.293 BA) slugged his 15th homer.

Dick Stuart homered on July 5th to tie the game with the Angels in the seventh inning, 6 to 6. Then in the eighth, Tony C. belted a three-run homer to win the game, 9 to 6.

The Sox (38-41) entered the All Star break in 6th place, 11 1/2 games out of first. The pitching had been atrocious, but the Sox were leading the league with a .264 BA. The only team that had given up more runs than the Sox was the Senators.

The 35th All Star game was played at Shea Stadium. Dick Stuart, who in spite of leading the league with 61 RBIs, again hadn't been selected and instead the firstbaseman spot went to Joe Pepitone. Johnny Callison's three-run walk-off homer off Dick Radatz in the 9th inning, gave the National League a 7 to 4 victory. Eddie Bressoud was named to the American League All-Star team by manager Al Lopez, because Luis Aparicio was out with an injury. Frank Malzone had also made the AL All Star team, but he and Bressoud didn't play.

The Sox were off to Detroit after the break where on July 10th, they split a doubleheader. In the first game Dalton Jones pinch-hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to give the Sox a 7-6 win. But in the second game, Dick Stuart permitted an easy grounder to get through his legs and it opened the floodgates for four unearned runs against Dave Morehead and sent the Sox to an 8-3 defeat.

In Washington, the Sox split another doubleheader on July 12th. Dick Radatz made his 44th appearance in the 84th Sox game to save the first game, 5-3.

The next day on July 13th, Bill Monbouquette (4-8) mowed down the Nats, winning 7 to 0. He allowed only four scattered hits, retiring 16 straight at one point.

At home on July 15th, Stuart carried the Sox to an 11 to 2 victory over the White Sox. He cracked a pair of three-run homers. Since the beginning of the month, Arnold Earley had an ERA of 1.88 and earned himself the opportunity to try again as a starter. He pitched the complete game, scattering four hits.

Then two nights later, on July 17th, Stuart did it once again. He belted two more homers, both with a man on, to lead the Sox to a 5-0 win over the Senators. It was his 21st and 22nd homers and had belted six homers in his last five games and boosting his league leading RBI total to 77. Tony C. was 4-for-4 in this game, including his 16th homer. Monbouquette pitched his second consecutive shutout, giving him 19 consecutive scoreless innings. He gave up four scattered singles and did not walk a batter for two straight games.

EARL WILSON

Earl Wilson led the Sox to a 12 to 6 victory in the next game against Washington on July 18th. He had nine strikeouts and cracked a two-run homer, his fourth of the season, 10 rows into the centerfield bleachers. Only one pitcher in Red Sox history had hit more home runs in a season than Wilson and his name was Babe Ruth (Wes Ferrell holds the Sox record for a pitcher with seven homers in 1935). Bob Tillman had a homer also. It was a grandslam, the fifth for the Sox this season.

On the next day, in the first game of a doubleheader against the Senators on July 19th, the Sox knocked out five homers. In the first three games of the series, they had blasted 12 home runs. Unfortunately, when Arnold Earley got another start, he hurt his elbow and was knocked out for the rest of the season.

On July 21st at Fenway, the Tigers had come from behind and tied the score. But then Dick Stuart stepped up in the seventh inning, and belted a three-run homer, his 24th of the season, and the Red Sox triumphed, 7 to 5.

Felix Mantilla (15 HRs), who had been averaging a home run in every ten at-bats, had a game winning home run against the Tigers on July 23rd. He led off the sixth inning with his 15th homer, his fourth during the homestand.

The Sox ended the homestand winning six of the eleven games and were in 7th place, 13 games behind the first place Orioles.

The Indians beat the Sox, 6 to 1 in Cleveland, behind the excellent pitching of a rookie named Luis Tiant on July 24th. Mantilla homered again to give the Sox a 1-0 lead, but that was it. Against Tiant, the Sox struck out six times and had six hits, but only two baserunners made it to third base after Mantilla's home run.

TONY C

In the next game, on July 25th, Eddie Bressoud's ninth inning homer broke a 3-3 tie and gave Radatz his ninth win, 4-3. Dick Stuart also blasted his 25th and 26th homers.

In 1964 the fabulous sixties really kicked in with the popularity of the Beatles. Baby boomers had come of age with plenty of time and money on their hands. Fast women and fast cars fit right into Tony C.'s lifestyle. Under Tom Yawkey, who himself had grown up as a rich young man, the Red Sox had become a country club. Fast women, fast cars, the city of Boston and this team, were a perfect fit for the brashness of Tony Conigliaro. That nite, he was fined $250 for breaking curfew and not leaving Johnny Pesky, a message saying that he'd be late.

To some, Pesky was too soft, but one of the things  he had learned, was that the rules applied to everyone and that he had to follow-up on his discipline. Dissension continued to grow however, when shortstop Eddie Bressoud had words with pitching coach Bob Turley. Turley had accused Bressoud of being partly responsible for the team's pitching problems, because of his fielding.

The Sox swept a costly doubleheader the next day, on July 26th. In the first game, which the Sox won, 6-1, Tony C. slammed his 20th homer. He was on a pace to break the rookie record for home runs set by Wally Berger of the Braves in 1930. But his next time up, he had his arm broken by an inside fastball from Pedro Ramos. It was the fourth time he had been hit by a pitch this season, Earl Wilson won the game, allowing only five batters to reach first base and striking out eleven. Rookie Ed Connolly after a shaky start, won the nite cap, 3 to 1. Dick Stuart, meanwhile had run a hitting streak to 16 games.

In Kansas City, on July 29th, Yaz homered to break a 2-2 tie and Dick Radatz won his 10th game, facing only ten hitters over the last three innings.

To finish the month, Bill Monbouquette won his fourth straight game, 4-3 in Los Angeles. Radatz shut out the Angels over the last two innings to preserve the win.

The Sox had climbed back and reached the .500 mark with a 52-52 record, to finish the month of July. But since the All Star break, Dalton Jones had only 11 hits in 83 trips, for a .113 BA and Frank Malzone had just seven hits in 48 at bats for a .166 BA.

Tony Horton had hit well for Reading, and by June was named to the Eastern League All-Star team. He was called up made his Red Sox debut, filling in for Tony Conigliaro and hit safely in nine of his first ten games. He hit .395 over that stretch, but it didn't help the Sox.

The Sox started the month of August by losing seven straight games. Rookie pitcher, Jay Ritchie made his major-league debut on August 4th against the Minnesota Twins at Metropolitan Stadium, in a game the Sox lost 12-4, relieving Bill Monbouquette to start the third inning. He limited the Twins to two hits over four scoreless innings.

Monbouquette stopped the losing streak by beating the White Sox, 6-3, in the first game of a doubleheader on August 9th. Monbo banged out a triple to drive in the eventual winning run, then Dick Stuart bombed a two-run homer to ice it. Then the Sox lost four more games to finish their road trip and fell 19 1/2 games behind the first place Orioles.

After losing 12 of their last 13 games, the Sox beat the White Sox at Fenway, 5 to 2, on August 15th. Felix Mantilla's 20th homer, with two men on, gave his team the win. Mantilla had three hits and knocked in three runners.

Jay Ritchie was in the Sox bullpen alongside Dick Radatz. After replacing Monbouquette on August 18th and blanking the Orioles for two innings, Ritchie's ERA was 0.00. He had yet to give up an earned run in 31 1/3 innings.

On August 19th, Tony Horton's double to left in the last of the 10th inning, scored Yaz all the way around from first base, to give the Red Sox a 4 to 3 walk-off win over the first place Baltimore Orioles.

Dave Morehead beat the Orioles in the next game on August 20th. For six innings, he was superb, eventually giving upo three runs, winning 4 to 3. Bob Tillman homered and Morehead followed with a double, scoring on Dalton Jones' triple to grab an early 4-0 lead.

Bob Heffner pitched a shutout against the Yankees at Fenway on August 21st, winning 7 to 0.

The Sox had won four straight and split a doubleheader with the Yankees on August 22nd. In the first game, the Sox came from behind and won 5-3, thanks to Lee Thomas' dramatic two-run homer in the 8th inning. It gave Radatz his 12th victory. But then they lost the final two games to the Yankees and three straight to the Tigers, before heading on the road.

The Sox beat the Yankees again, in New York, on August 28th. The Yanks had a 3-1 lead in the 7th inning. With two men on base via walks, Mantilla homered into the left field grandstand to put the Sox ahead. Dick Stuart's homer gave them some insurance and they won, 5 to 3.

But August was a disaster for the Red Sox and Johnny Pesky started to worry about losing his job. The team was in free-fall and won only seven of their twenty nine games played and found themselves 21 games out of first. Malzone had batted .184 for the month and Stuart had batted .198, and Tony C. had been out of the line-up with the broken arm.

The Sox took two of three in Kansas City to start September. Felix Mantilla's bat remained hot as he slammed two home runs in a 7 to 5 win on September 3rd.

Mantilla slugged his 25th homer to start a series with the Twins in Minnesota on September 4th, but the Sox were buried 14 to 3 and lost all three games.

Tony C., in his first game back, on September 5th, hurt his arm making a throw from right field and was out again for five days.

The bad luck that plagued the team was personified in the series finale. The Twins beat Monbouquette 2 to 1 on September 6th. Monbo pitched a one-hitter and lost the game. Rich Rollins reached on an error and Zoilo Versalles slugged a homer into the left field seats.

Johnny Pesky's battle with Stuart continued on. Stuart had been benched for the first two games in Kansas City after batting under .200 in August. Then Pesky benched him for not running out a pop fly, with two men on base, in a game with Minnesota.

In a Labor Day doubleheader in Los Angeles, on September 7th, the Sox just couldn't win a game they should have. In the first game, three Sox pitchers had a no-hit game going until there was one down in the eighth inning, yet ever since the third inning, they were losing to the Angels. Dave Morehead walked seven batters in two innings, without giving up a hit, and the Sox were down 2-0. Joe Adcock broke up the no-hitter against Radatz in the eighth Then Buck Rodgers followed with an inside-the-park homer for the Angels second hit and the Sox lost 4 to 1.

In the second game, the Sox were leading 3-0 through seven innings, but Radatz couldn't hold the lead and the Sox lost again, 4 to 3. In two successive games Sox pitchers gave up a total of three hits and they lost both games. Stuart had been benched in favor of Tony Horton in the first game, but played in the second game. He had three hits but dropped a foul pop fly.

Yaz blasted a tenth inning two-run homer in Cleveland, that carried the Sox to a 6-5 win on September 9th.

In the next game, on September 10th, Tony C. came off the bench and pinch-hit a two run homer in the eighth inning, but it was not enough to rescue the Sox as they lost 5 to 4 on September 10th. The Sox lost 10 of the 15 games on the road trip and were 23 1/2 games back.

On September 11th, Bill Monbouquette out-dueled Dean Chance and shut out the Angels, 3 to 0. Dick Stuart knocked in the first two runs, bringing his RBI total to 101, with his 24th double and first triple.

But there was an existing rift between Pesky and Carl Yastrzemski. Pesky benched Yaz for loafing and not running out a ground ball. Yaz had been critical for the past two seasons about not feeling Pesky was doing a good job managing the Red Sox and being too easy on his teammates.

A pinch-hit single in the bottom of the ninth inning by Dalton Jones, scored Eddie Bressoud to give Dick Radatz his 15th win in relief against the Angels on September 13th.

On September 14th, attendance had really fallen off, as only 2056 fans saw the Kansas City A's beat the Sox, 7 to 6.

FELIX MANTILLA

Rookie Ed Connolly struck out 12 A's batters en route to an 8 to 0 shutout on September 15th. Sox batters, led by Felix Mantilla, who knocked out his 26th home run, beat on four K.C. pitchers.

The Sox clobbered the A's again the next day on September 16th, by a 10-1 score. Tony C.'s (23 HRs) two home runs led the Sox batters and Dick Stuart homered and knocked in another run, to tie him for the American League lead with 106 RBIs.

Against the Minnesota Twins on September 18th, Felix Mantilla opened the Sox first inning with another home run. Then in the fourth inning he knocked out another. Jay Ritchie picked up his first of eight big-league victories when he took the mound at with two outs and two runners on in the fifth inning with a 6-4 lead. He struck out Harmon Killebrew to end the threat and then fanned six more over four innings before tiring in the final frame, having surrendered two runs. The Sox won the game, 7 to 6 and Radatz earned his 24th save.

Mantilla homered again, his 29th of the season, the next night, September 19th and the Sox won, 7 to 2.

In Washington, Bill Monbouquette pitched a 3-0 shutout on September 22nd, his second in his last three starts. He allowed just five hits and in his last four games gave up only two earned runs. It would be the last win for the Sox in September, because they lost the next six games.

Rumors had swirled around for most of the season that Johnny Pesky would be fired. Not only had he fallen out with Yaz and Dick Stuart, but also annoyed his coaching staff. Stuart, was considered a selfish ball player but had never been criticized by Higgins or Tom Yawkey, because he was an attraction for the fans by slugging home runs and that was more important to Sox management than backing their manager.

Mike Higgins also felt that he was not consulted enough and not asked for advice on decisions that affected the team. He thought Pesky panicked, expressing his innermost feelings and talked too much to the press, making explanations when he should have kept his mouth shut.

So a victim of club politics, Johnny Pesky was finally let go, and third base coach, Billy Herman, who was in solidly with Higgins, was named as Sox manager. Sadly, Pesky wasn't even offered a job elsewhere in the Red Sox organization.

On the field, Dick Stuart was battling Harmon Killebrew and Brooks Robinson for the RBI lead. On October 1st, in front of only 306 fans, the smallest crowd in Fenway Park history, the Sox beat the Indians, 4 to 2. Stuart knocked in two runs.

On October 2nd, the All-Star catcher for the Sox minor league team in Reading, Mike Ryan had come back home around midnight after spending a full day at New Hampshire’s Hampton Beach, when the Red Sox called him. X-rays on Bob Tillman revealed that he had suffered a fractured thumb on a foul tip in the previous night’s game. As a result, the Sox needed another catcher to back up Russ Nixon.

So Mike Ryan made his major-league debut on October 3rd, on the next to last day of the season. Bill Monbouquette was the pitcher, and Ryan was the starting catcher. He singled in the third, driving in both Frank Malzone and Al Smith. He was walked intentionally in the sixth. Then as Steve Ridzik threw a wild pitch, and Ken Retzer threw the ball wildly into center field, Ryan motored all the way around from first to home, but was tagged out at the plate trying to score. Unfortunately, he tore a ligament in his knee in the collision at the plate.

Dick Stuart got five hits in the game, and Monbo pitched his fourth consecutive shutout, winning 7-0. The Sox season finale was a 14-8 win over Washington on October 4th. Stuart drove in two more runs to finish with 114 RBIs, finishing second to Brooks Robinson, who had 118 RBIs.

Stuart had done well, with 33 homers and 114 RBIs to go with his .279 average. He also cut his errors to 24 but still led the American League. For his efforts, he was named the first baseman on The Sporting News’ American League All-Star Team. But he was wearing out his welcome in Boston, primarily because of his fielding and his inability to get along.

Tony Conigliaro didn't have a complete year. He spent too many days on the DL, but when he was in the lineup, he was pounding out homers. Having missed a month in the second half, he finished the season with 24 homers and a .290 average. The injuries cost him a shot at several rookie awards.

The rest of the Red Sox did more than their share with the bat. As a team, they lead the American League with a .258 BA and 253 doubles. Their 186 homers were a franchise record, but they gave up more runs than they scored. Unfortunately, the individual accomplishments were all the Sox had.

Dick Radatz established a new record for pitching appearances, with 75, eclipsing Jim Konstanty of the pennant winning Phillies in 1950. He received his second "Fireman of the Year" award for his league-leading 29 saves with a 16-9 record and a 2.29 ERA in 79 games. He fanned 181 batters in 157 innings, setting a record that still stands for most strikeouts by a relief pitcher in a single season.

Eddie Bressoud's batting average was .293, the best of his career and the highest on the Red Sox. His 86 runs scored also led the team and stand as a personal career-best. He was sewcond in the league with 41 doubles.

Felix Mantilla came out of nowhere and delivered a home run barrage. By mid-August he had 20 home runs. He finished the season with 30 home runs in 425 at-bats, an amazing performance considering that he had clubbed only 35 home runs in his previous eight seasons in the majors. He drove in 64 runs, batted .294, and was honored by the Boston Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association, as the "Comeback Player of the Year".

Dalton Jones was hitting over .300 late in May but then saw his average drop to as low as .218 in early August, before settling at .230 for the year. He scored 37 runs and batted in 39 in 118 games. Frank Malzone hit .264 and drove in, what was at that point, a career-low 56 runs.

Bob Tillman had his best year offensively. He hit .278 with 17 home runs and 61 RBIs in 131 games. His 17 home runs were a Red Sox record for a catcher until Carlton Fisk hit 22 in 1972. To further put his performance in perspective, Tillman in 1964 was tied with Tim McCarver for fourth in the majors for catchers in runs created, behind Joe Torre, Elston Howard, and Bill Freehan. He ranked fifth in runs created per game, behind Howard, Freehan, and Torre.

Though he got into 81 games, catcher Russ Nixon suffered a collision with Dick Stuart in the springtime resulting in a groin pull. He was used often as a pinch-hitter and was batting .400 at the end of May, and .338 at the end of June, finishing with a .233 BA.

On a team that had no starting pitcher with a winning percentage over .500, Bill Monbouquette had a 13-14 record, with a 4.04 ERA. He allowed 258 base hits, again leading the league. The Red Sox record for home runs allowed was 31, and Monbo would have set the new record, giving up 34 homers, except that Earl Wilson gave up 37. Wilson compiled a 11–12 record with a 4.49 ERA. He once again had more than 200 innings of work.

Dave Morehead’s numbers slipped in 1964. He was 8-15 with a 4.97 E.R.A. In 30 starts, he struck out 139 and walked 112, and allowed 156 hits in 166 2/3 innings.

By mid-June, Jack Lamabe's ERA climbed over 4.00 and by mid-July, it was over 5.00 and he was 8-8. For the next month, he worked out of the bullpen before returning to the starter’s role in late August. He finished at 9-13 with a 5.89 ERA.

Bob Heffner got in a full year’s work, pitching in 55 games (including 10 as a starter and 21 games finished as a reliever). He ended the season at 7-9, despite an improved ERA of 4.08. During August, he put together a 19-inning scoreless streak, but homers hurt him, giving up 20 home runs in 158 2/3 innings.

The team’s busiest reliever not named Dick Radatz. Jay Ritchie appeared in 21 games, logged 46 innings, and posted a 2.74 ERA, trailing only Radatz and Arnold Earley.

Over a span of 60 years, left-hander Bill Spanswick served the Red Sox as a pitcher, and as a “rookie usher” wiping down seats at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, the team’s future spring training home. By year’s end in '64, he had worked in 29 games, struck out 55 and walked 44, and finished with a year-end ERA of 6.89 to go with his 2-3 record.

Pitcher Pete Charlton’s time in the big leagues was brief. He pitched in 25 games for the Red Sox in 1964, having worked just one season in the minors beforehand. His once-a-month work improved to three calls in June and five in July, all closing games in which the Red Sox were already losing. But professional baseball did not hold the attraction he had hoped for and before long, he pursued life as a college professor.

It was during a game in June, that rookie Dave Gray had his only big-league plate appearance. He was the second batter up in the top of the seventh, and singled to left field. He was also presented with three fielding chances, one in that game and one each in the two July games, picking up an assist each time. And so, Dave Gray sported a career batting average of 1.000 and a career fielding percentage of 1.000.