1964 June 20

Saturday – June 20

1964 image

General William Westmoreland replaced General Paul Harkins as head of the U.S. forces deployed in Vietnam.

joe christopher imageBack to the Action – The Mets took the lead with three runs in the third:

  • With one out, Dennis Bennett gave up a home run (#6) to Joe Christopher.
  • Charley Smith followed with a double.
  • One out later, Hawk Taylor homered (#1) to make it 3-0.

The Phillies chipped away in the fifth and sixth innings to pull even.

Phillies Fifth:

  • With one out – in a surprising move – Gene Mauch sent Cookie Rojas to the plate to pinch-hit for Bobby Wine – and Rojas doubled.
  • Mauch completed the double-switch by sending Wes Covington up to pinch-hit for Dennis Bennett. When Covington flied out to right, Rojas tagged and moved to third.
  • Tony Taylor singled to score Rojas and trim the deficit to 3-1.

Phillies Sixth:

  • With two outs, John Herrnstein singled and scored when Roy Sievers followed with a home run (#4) to tie the score 3-3.

But as soon as the Phillies tied it up, the Mets took back the lead in the bottom of the sixth:

  • Hawk Taylor and Amado Samuel started the inning with back-to-back singles.
  • After Jack Fisher struck out trying to bunt the runners along, Dallas Green walked Jim Hickman to load the bases.
  • Ed Kranepool singled to score Samuel and retake the lead at 4-3.

1964 imageAnd the Mets spread the icing in the seventh:

  • Joe Christopher led off with his second home run (#7) of the game – this one off of Jack Baldschun – the fourth pitcher used by Gene Mauch.
  • One out later, Dick Smith singled, stole second, and scored on Hawk Taylor’s second home run (#2) of the game.

That ended the scoring at 7-4 Mets – and ended the Phillies three-game winning streak.

Jack Fisher (5-5) pitched well enough to win – with a save (#1) by Al Jackson.

Dennis Bennett gave up three runs on seven hits – but didn’t take the loss. He was removed after four innings complaining of tendonitis is his pitching elbow. Dallas Green (1-1) gave up only one run on four hits – but he took the loss.


Around the League – The Giants clobbered the Cardinals 14-3 to pick up a game in the standings to close to within 1½ games of the Phillies.


In addition to being the official Eagles Outsider for BlameMyFather.comBarry Bowe is also the author of:

Written by Barry Bowe
Former sportswriter - first to put Timmy Duncan's name on the sports page.