July 16, 1964

National Convention

The Republican Party held its National Convention at the Cow Palace in San Francisco from July 13 thru Juy 16 in 1964.

barry goldwater imageSenator Margaret Chase Smith, from Maine, was one of the nominations – marking the first time a female was nominate as a potential candidate for President of the United States. However, Senator Barry Goldwater, of Arizona, and Governor Nelson Rockefeller, of New York, were the two prime candidates.

Rockefeller’s wife – whom he’d recently married, had just given birth, which drew attention to Rockefeller’s private life and family history and hurt his chances.

As a result, Barry Goldwater – who was known as “Mr. Conservative” and “Mr. Republican” – won the Republican Party’s nomination to run for President in the upcoming election in November.

The date was July 16, 1964.

Art Mahaffey into the Breech

Having lost six out of the last seven games, Phillies manager Gene Mauch was sending out Art Mahaffey (7-4) to face Joe Gibbon (6-2) and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Gibbon lost to the Phillies 4-3 on June 9th. But since that loss, he won his last three starts.

This was Mahaffey’s second start since coming off the Disabled List. He lost the first one 6-2 to the Braves. He already made three starts versus the Pirates, winning two without a loss, including a four-hit shutout on May 27th.

1964 imageBoth Gibbon and Mahaffey pitched scoreless first innings.


In the top of the second, Richie Allen singled to center. After Danny Cater flew out, Ruben Amaro hit a ground ball to short that Gene Alley couldn’t handle. He was safe at first on the error and the Phillies had runners on first and second with one out.

After Bobby Wine flew to center, Allen tagged after the catch and advanced to third. Clay Dalrymple then followed with a double that sent both Allen and Amaro across the plate to make it 2-0 Phillies.


Mahaffey retired the Pirates in the bottom of the second.


In the top of the third, Cookie Rojas singled to left, advanced to second on a sacrifice by Johnny Callison, and moved to third on a fly to deep right.

Richie Allen then walked to put runners on first and third with two outs.

Danny Cater doubled and Cookie Rojas scored to make it 3-0 Phillies – with Allen stopping at third. But two pitches later, Allen scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0 Phillies.


With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Bill Mazeroski reached first on Richie Allen’s 16th error of the season. Jim Pagliaroni followed with his fifth home run of the season to cut the Phillies lead in half at 4-2. The home run upped his average to .350 against Phillies pitching thus far, with two home run and eight RBIs.


In the top of the fifth, Cookie Rojas doubled to left and advanced to third on Johnny Callison’s infield single.

Danny Murtaugh replaced Joe Gibbon with Roy Face (2-3) ─ his fourth appearance against the Phillies. So far, he’d given up one earned run in four innings.

Face struck out Tony Taylor, but he walked Richie Allen to load the bases with still just the one out.

John Herrnstein batted for Danny Cater and moved the runners up a base on a groundout. Rojas scored on the play to make it 5-2 Phillies.

Ruben Amaro then cleared the bases with a single to right-center to up the lead the Phillies lead to 7-2.


With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Jim Pagliaroni picked up another hit with a double to left. One out later, pinch-hitter Willie Stargell drove Pagliaroni home with a single to trim the lead to 7-3.


Nothing for the Phils in the top of the seventh.


In the bottom of the seventh, Bill Virdon and Roberto Clemente led off with back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second.

Fearing that Mahaffey was tiring, Gene Mauch replaced him with Jack Baldschun (3-3) ─ his 35th relief appearance and third against the Pirates. He had a win on April 23rd, a loss on May 28th, and a no-decision.

Jerry Lynch greeted Baldschun with a two-run double to cut the lead to 7-5. Lynch was another Pirate feasting off Phillies pitching ─ batting .350 with two doubles, two home runs, and 10 RBIs.


But that’s as close as the Pirates got. Baldschun shut the door the rest of the way to pick up his ninth save.


Art Mahaffey (8-4) got the win and Joe Gibbon (6-3) took the loss.

Giants Lose Again

At County Stadium in Milwaukee, Hank Fischer (7-5) shut out the Giants 6-0 on four hits.

Hank Aaron (#13), Joe Torre (#13), and Dennis Menke (#8) all homered for the Braves.

That loss made it three straight for the Giants and dropped them into a virtual first-place tie with the Phillies.

1964 image(Excerpted from 1964 – The Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant by Barry Bowe.)

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

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