U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. told the United Nations that America was committed to staying in South East Asia and helping those who wished to remain free of communist rule for as long as it took.

The date was May 20, 1964.

Escalation of U.S. involvement in the War in Viet Nam would soon follow.

In the world of sports, Buster Mathis beat Joe Frazier in the Olympic trials. The outcome wasn’t viewed as an upset because Mathis had a better record as an amateur than Frazier and had already beaten him once before.

But Mathis broke his thumb during that fight and was eventually replaced on the U.S. Olympic Team by Frazier. Ironically, Frazier broke his own thumb in the Olympic semi-finals. Since he saw what happened to Mathis, he kept it a secret, taped the thumb, and won the gold medal fighting with just one hand.

I remember attending the Eagles game at Franklin Field on Sunday, November 1st. The Eagles lost 21-10 to the Redskins. But at halftime, Joe Frazier got a standing ovation as he was introduced to the crowd of 60,658 and driven around the track in a top-down convertible.

The Phillies – hoping to rebound from yesterday’s loss to the Giants and fall from first place – were going with Art Mahaffey (2-2). The Giants were sending ace Juan Marichal (6-0) out to face the Phillies in the second game of the series.

Marichal was coming off a 25-8 season with a 2.41 ERA in 1963. This season, he already recorded wins over the Braves, Reds, Cubs, and Colts – and he beat the Dodgers twice. His ERA was a sparkling 1.75 with eight complete games and two shutouts.

Art Mahaffey was struggling with a 6.98 ERA and he’d given up 37 hits in 34 innings. Gene Mauch skipped Mahaffey on his last scheduled start because the right-hander was complaining about arm problems.

Juan Marichal kept the Phillies off the board in the first.

Jesus Alou led off the bottom of the first with a single; moved to second on a sacrifice by Chuck Hiller; moved to third when Willie Mays flew out to deep right; and scored on Willie McCovey’s single to make it 1-0 Giants.

Both pitchers were sharp and the score remained 1-0 after four innings.

With two outs in the top of the fifth, Richie Allen hit a home run to tie the score 1-1 ─ the rookie’s eighth home run and 16th RBI. It was the fourth home run allowed by Marichal in 71 innings.

Johnny Callison singled.

Wes Covington followed with a home run to put the Phils on top 3-1. It was Covington’s fourth home run and boosted his RBI total to 16 ─ impressive numbers for a part-time player.

Jesus Alou led off the bottom of the fifth with a single. Chuck Hiller walked to put runners on first and second with nobody out.

Willie Mays flew out to center for the first out.

Willie McCovey singled and Alou scored to cut the Phillies lead to 3-2. Hiller advanced to third. It was McCovey’s 17th RBI.

With runners on first and third and one out, Gene Mauch made a trip to the mound. When Mahaffey admitted that his arm was bothering him, Mauch replaced him with Jack Baldschun (1-0). It was Baldschun’s 11th outing of the year.

Baldschun hit Orlando Cepeda to load the bases with one out.

But then Baldschun induced Jim Ray Hart to ground into 6-4-3 double-play that ended the inning with the Phillies still on top 3-2

In the top of the sixth, Clay Dalrymple walked with one out.

After Bobby Wine flew out to right for the second out, Mauch let Jack Baldschun bat for himself – and Baldschun singled to put runners on first and second.

Tony Taylor singled to load the bases with two outs.

With Richie Allen due up, Giants manager Al Dark walked to the mound to confer with his ace. Marichal convinced Dark to let him remain in the game and pitch to Allen. It turned out to be a mistake for the Giants.

Richie Allen singled and the runners moved up a base with Dalrymple scoring to make it 4-2. It was Allen’s 18th RBI.

The bases remained loaded with two outs.

With the left-handed Johnny Callison due up, Giants manager Al Dark replaced Marichal with lefty Billy O’Dell (0-1).

The strategy failed when Callison hit a two-run single to make it 6-2 Phillies.

Baldschun sailed through the sixth.

O’Dell was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the sixth, and lefty Billy Pierce (1-0) came in to pitch the seventh. Pierce ─ a 20-game winner with the Chicago White Sox in 1956 and 1957 ─ had no problems with the Phillies in the seventh.

Baldschun sailed through the seventh.

With two outs in the top of the eighth, Johnny Callison homered off of Billy Pierce. It was Callison’s fifth hit of the day ─ his third home run of the season and 16th RBI.

Jack Baldschun (2-0) gave up just three hits over the final 4 2/3 innings to hold the Giants at bay and pick up the win. Juan Marichal (6-1) absorbed his first loss of the season

The Phillies moved back into a virtual tie for first place tie with the Giants – .008 percentage points separated them. The Cards remained one game behind in third place.

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