The 1964

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

season consisted of the Reds finishing in a tie for second place in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. Both teams finished at 92–70, one game behind the NL and World Series Champion

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. The Reds' home games were played at

Crosley Field Crosley Field was a Major League Baseball park in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals football team, members of the second (1937) an ...

. The Reds began the season with

Fred Hutchinson Frederick Charles Hutchinson (August 12, 1919 – November 12, 1964) was an American professional baseball player, a major league pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, and the manager for three major league teams. Born and raised in Seattle, Washing ...

as manager, but he had to give way to acting manager

Dick Sisler Richard Alan Sisler (November 2, 1920 – November 20, 1998) was an American player, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball. The son of Hall of Fame first baseman and two-time .400 hitter George Sisler, Dick Sisler's younger brother Dave was ...

in August due to health issues with a record of 60–49. Sisler finished the season, guiding the team to a record of 32–21. After formally resigning as manager in October, Hutchinson died of lung cancer at age 45 on November 12, 1964; he was the first Reds member to have his number retired. The 1964 season will long be remembered as one of the most exciting in MLB history, as both the National League and the American League saw multiple teams have chances to win the pennant in the last two weeks. The National League had three teams: the Cardinals, the Reds, and the Phillies, within a single game down the stretch, while the fourth-place Giants (3 games) and the fifth-place Braves (5) were within striking distance in the last month. The Phillies had double-digit lead with a month to go, but suffered a major collapse. But Philadelphia regained some momentum late by winning two games from the then first-place Reds including the last game of the year, to open the door for the Cardinals to win the pennant by one game over the Reds and the Phillies. Reds players wore their last names on their uniform backs; the numbers were moved up and the names were below the numbers.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* August 23, 1964:

Jimmie Coker Jimmie Goodwin Coker (March 28, 1936 – October 29, 1991) was an American professional baseball catcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (, –), San Francisco Giants (), and Cincinnati Reds (–). A nativ ...

was purchased by the Reds from the

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bost ...

for $35,000.

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

''Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Awards and honors

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

* Johnny Edwards, catcher1964 National League Awards, All-Stars and Other Leaders at Baseball Reference
/ref>

All-Stars

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

* Johnny Edwards, reserve *

Leo Cárdenas Leonardo Lazaro Cárdenas Alfonso (born December 17, 1938) is a Cuban former professional baseball shortstop, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to for the Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota Twins, California Angels, Cleveland Indians, an ...

, reserve

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: San DiegoJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition''. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

External links

1964 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference
{{Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati Reds seasons Cincinnati Reds season