1964 Chicago White Sox season

March 2026 November 2013 Chicago White Sox 1964 American League White Sox Park Chicago 98 64 y 2nd Arthur Allyn, Jr., John Allyn Ed Short Al López WGN-TV(Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd) WCFL(Bob Elson, Milo Hamilton) The 1964 Chicago White Sox season was the team's 64th season in the major leagues, and its 65th season overall. They finished with a record of 98–64, good enough for second place in the American League, just one game behind the first-place New York Yankees. Offseason December 2, 1963: Rudy May was drafted by the White Sox from the Minnesota Twins in the 1963 first-year draft.Rudy May https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mayru01.shtml 2024-09-07 Baseball-Reference.com en February 25, 1964: Jim Brosnan was released by the White Sox.Jim Brosnan https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brosnji01.shtml 2024-09-07 Baseball-Reference.com en March 18, 1964: Don Mossi was purchased by the White Sox from the Detroit Tigers.Don Mossi https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mossido01.shtml 2024-09-07 Baseball-Reference.com en Regular season Notable transactions April 8, 1964: Minnie Miñoso was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.Minnie Miñoso https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/minosmi01.shtml 2024-09-07 Baseball-Reference.com en April 23, 1964: Charley Smith was traded by the White Sox to the New York Mets for Chico Fernández, Bobby Catton (minors), and cash.Charley Smith https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/smithch04.shtml 2024-09-07 Baseball-Reference.com en July 13, 1964: Joe Cunningham and a player to be named later were traded by the White Sox to the Washington Senators for Bill Skowron and Carl Bouldin. The White Sox completed the deal by sending Frank Kreutzer to the Senators on July 28.Bill Skowron https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/skowrbi01.shtml 2024-09-07 Baseball-Reference.com en July 17, 1964: Minnie Miñoso was released by the White Sox. Opening Day lineup Jim Landis, CF Don Buford, 2B Floyd Robinson, RF Dave Nicholson, LF Joe Cunningham, 1B Ron Hansen, SS Charley Smith, 3B J. C. Martin, C Gary Peters, P The White Sox could have won the American League flag in 1964. That year saw a great pennant race in the American League, with the New York Yankees finishing first by winning 99 games, the Sox only one game behind with 98, and the Baltimore Orioles third with 97, only one game behind the Sox. A key statistic is that the Sox were a woeful 6–12 against the Yankees that year, so literally if the Sox had just won one of those 12 losses against the Bombers, the Sox would have finished first. A 4–3 loss on June 14 could have been that victory, as the Sox were up 3–1 at Yankee Stadium in the ninth inning of the second game of a doubleheader, but the Yanks made a comeback and won in the tenth inning with future Hall of Fame reliever Hoyt Wilhelm taking the loss in relief. In the first game, Sox star pitcher Juan Pizarro was expected to beat Yankee bottom of the barrel spot-starter and journeyman Bud Daley, but the Yanks won that one, too. Another heartbreaker was a 1–0 loss to the Yankees on June 20, a game that had been scoreless until the 11th inning, when the New Yorkers finally pushed a run across when with two outs, Elston Howard drove in Pedro Gonzales, who was pinch running for Mickey Mantle. Then the very next day, the Sox lost to the Yankees again 2–1 in a game that went an incredible 17 innings. A day later, the Sox lost another one-run game to the Yanks. This time the Sox scored five runs, but ended up losing 6–5. Any one of those games could have been a pennant-winning victory. The Sox were generally a light-hitting club, with a team batting average of .247, good only for sixth in the ten-team American League. But their pitching was great. They ranked first in the league in shutouts, walks, and in fewest hits, runs, earned runs, and walks given up. Outfielder Jim Landis, a veteran of the 1959 pennant winners, said that there was even more of a feeling on the 1964 club than on the 1959 club that the Sox were going to win, because the '64 squad had better pitching. The Sox were in first place as late as September 6, and only ½ game back two weeks before the end of the season before the Yanks made their move. The Sox had a strong September at 18–10, but the Yanks were even better, winning 21 of 25. By the end of the season, leading off was centerfielder Mike Hershberger, who batted .230 that year. Hershberger despite his light hitting, would be a starter with the Sox and the Kansas City and Oakland A's for seven straight years. Batting second was the Sox' leading hitter, right fielder Floyd Robinson, who batted .301 in 1964 and got some votes for MVP. Two years earlier, he had led the league with 45 doubles. Next was shortstop Ron Hansen. Known as a good-field, no stick type of guy in later years, Hansen had his best batting average of his career in 1964 with a .261 average, so Manager Al Lopez had him batting third, and sometimes even cleanup earlier in the season. Hansen got a few votes for MVP that year too. Veteran first baseman Bill Skowron was the Sox' cleanup hitter. The Sox got him from the Washington Senators that July, and Skowron gave the Sox some needed pop by batting .293 since the trade. Next was Pete Ward, the Sox' Steady Eddy at third base. He batted .282 and was a slick fielder, so he got some MVP votes that year too. Young Tom McCraw in only his second year in the bigs was the Sox' left fielder and sixth-place hitter. He batted .261 that year. Al Weis became the Sox' second baseman that year after Nellie Fox was traded in the offseason. He batted a respectable .247 and established career highs with 81 hits and 22 stolen bases, a theft total second in the American League. Weis is better known for his later time with the New York Mets, and he would later get the game-winning RBI in game 2 of the 1969 World Series. Not too well remembered was Sox catcher Camilo Carreon, who batted eighth. Carreon played only 37 games in the 1964 regular season with J.C. Martin doing most of the backstop duties that year, but Carreon played a lot down the stretch. Sox 1964 starting pitchers were Gary Peters, Juan Pizarro, Joel Horlen, and John Buzhardt, and the team's top relievers were future National Baseball Hall of Fame member Hoyt Wilhelm, and Eddie Fisher. Season standings Chicago White Sox Record vs. opponents CWS Roster 1964 Chicago White Sox Roster Pitchers 18 Fritz Ackley 38 Frank Baumann 30 John Buzhardt 28 Eddie Fisher 21 Ray Herbert 20 Joe Horlen 19 Bruce Howard 29,49 Frank Kreutzer 41 Don Mossi 43 Gary Peters 32 Juan Pizarro 35 Fred Talbot 31 Hoyt Wilhelm Catchers 45 Cam Carreon 12 J. C. Martin 15 Jerry McNertney Infielders 24 Don Buford  5 Joe Cunningham  4 Ron Hansen 18 Jeoff Long 14 Tommy McCraw  5 Bill Skowron 27 Charley Smith  8 Pete Ward  6 Al Weis Outfielders 17 Ken Berry 40 Mike Hershberger  1 Jim Landis  9 Minnie Miñoso 11 Dave Nicholson  3 Floyd Robinson 26 Gene Stephens Other batters 49 Smoky Burgess 44 Jim Hicks 23 Dick Kenworthy  7 Charlie Maxwell 29 Marv Staehle Manager 10 Al López Coaches 37 Ray Berres 34 Johnny Cooney 33 Tony Cuccinello 39 Don Gutteridge Player stats Batting Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG SB Ken Berry, CF 12 32 4 12 1 0 1 4 5 3 .375 0 Don Buford, 2B, 3B 135 442 62 116 14 6 4 30 46 62 .262 12 Smoky Burgess, PH 7 5 1 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 .200 0 Cam Carreon, C 37 95 12 26 5 0 0 4 7 13 .274 0 Joe Cunningham, 1B 40 108 13 27 7 0 0 10 14 15 .250 0 Ron Hansen, SS 158 575 85 150 25 3 20 68 73 73 .261 1 Mike Hershberger, RF, CF 141 452 55 104 15 3 2 31 48 47 .230 8 Jim Hicks, PR 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 Dick Kenworthy, PH 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 0 Jim Landis, CF 106 298 30 62 8 4 1 18 36 64 .208 5 Jeoff Long, LF, 1B 23 35 0 5 0 0 0 5 4 15 .143 0 J. C. Martin, C 122 294 23 58 10 1 4 22 16 30 .197 0 Charlie Maxwell, PH 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 Tommy McCraw, 1B, OF 125 368 47 96 11 5 6 36 32 65 .261 15 Jerry McNertney, C 73 186 16 40 5 0 3 23 19 24 .215 0 Minnie Miñoso, LF 30 31 4 7 0 0 1 5 5 3 .226 0 Dave Nicholson, LF 97 294 40 60 6 1 13 39 52 126 .204 0 Floyd Robinson, RF, LF 141 525 83 158 17 3 11 59 70 41 .301 9 Bill Skowron, 1B 73 273 19 80 11 3 4 38 19 36 .293 0 Charley Smith, 3B 2 7 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 .143 0 Marv Staehle, PH 6 5 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 .400 1 Gene Stephens, OF 82 141 21 33 4 2 3 17 21 28 .234 1 Pete Ward, 3B 144 539 61 152 28 3 23 94 56 76 .282 1 Al Weis, 2B, SS 133 328 36 81 4 4 2 23 22 41 .247 22 Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG SB Fritz Ackley, P 3 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1.000 0 Frank Baumann, P 22 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .000 0 John Buzhardt, P 31 54 3 11 1 1 0 6 2 22 .204 0 Eddie Fisher, P 59 18 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 6 .167 0 Ray Herbert, P 20 36 2 5 0 0 0 3 1 10 .139 0 Joe Horlen, P 32 69 2 11 0 0 0 5 2 11 .159 0 Bruce Howard, P 3 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .000 0 Frank Kreutzer, P 17 8 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 .125 0 Don Mossi, P 34 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .167 0 Gary Peters, P 54 120 9 25 7 0 4 19 2 29 .208 0 Juan Pizarro, P 33 90 6 19 1 0 3 15 1 34 .211 0 Fred Talbot, P 18 19 5 5 2 0 0 3 4 6 .263 0 Hoyt Wilhelm, P 73 21 2 3 0 0 0 3 1 7 .143 0 Team totals 162 5491 642 1356 184 40 106 586 562 902 .247 75 Pitching Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB K Fritz Ackley 0 0 8.53 3 2 0 6.1 10 6 6 2 4 6 Frank Baumann 0 3 6.19 22 0 1 32.0 40 22 22 4 24 19 John Buzhardt 10 8 2.98 31 25 0 160.0 150 60 53 13 39 97 Eddie Fisher 6 3 3.02 59 2 9 125.0 86 43 42 13 35 74 Ray Herbert 6 7 3.47 20 19 0 111.2 117 50 43 14 19 40 Joe Horlen 13 9 1.88 32 28 0 210.2 142 54 44 11 59 138 Bruce Howard 2 1 0.81 3 3 0 22.1 10 2 2 0 9 17 Frank Kreutzer 3 1 3.35 17 2 1 40.1 37 15 15 1 21 32 Don Mossi 3 1 2.93 34 0 7 40.0 37 16 13 9 9 36 Gary Peters 20 8 2.50 37 36 0 273.2 217 89 76 20 113 205 Juan Pizarro 19 9 2.56 33 33 0 239.0 193 78 68 23 60 162 Fred Talbot 4 5 3.70 17 12 0 75.1 83 31 31 7 20 34 Hoyt Wilhelm 12 9 1.99 73 0 27 131.1 94 35 29 7 31 95 Team totals 98 64 2.72 162 162 45 1467.2 1216 501 444 124 443 955 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Indianapolis Indians Pacific Coast League Les Moss AA Lynchburg White Sox Southern League George Noga A Tidewater Tides Carolina League Allen Jones A Sarasota Sun Sox Florida State League Ira Hutchinson A Clinton C-Sox Midwest League Don Bacon and Hugh Mulcahy Rookie SRL White Sox Sarasota Rookie League Frank Parenti LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: LynchburgJohnson Lloyd The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball Wolff Miles Baseball America 1997 978-0-96-371897-6 2nd Durham, North Carolina Notes 2 References 1964 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference Category:Chicago White Sox seasons Chicago White Sox season Chicago