1964 New York Yankees season


The 1964 New York Yankees season was the 62nd season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 99–63, winning their 29th pennant, finishing 1 game ahead of the Chicago White Sox. New York was managed by Yogi Berra. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series, they were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals in 7 games. It would also be their last playoff appearance until 1976.
Yogi Berra, taking over as manager from Ralph Houk, who in turn moved up to general manager, had a difficult early season, with many veterans missing games due to injury. Doubts about his ability to manage his former teammates were brought into the open with the Harmonica Incident in late August, in which he clashed with utility infielder Phil Linz on the team bus following a sweep by the Chicago White Sox that appeared to have removed the Yankees from pennant contention. The team rallied behind Berra afterwards, and won the pennant. However the incident may have convinced the team's executives to replace Berra with Johnny Keane, manager of the victorious Cardinals, after the season.
This season is considered to be the endpoint of the "Old Yankees" dynasty that had begun with the Ruppert-Huston partnership and then continued with the Topping-Webb partnership. The Yankees would soon undergo ownership changes and front office turmoil, and would not be a serious factor in the pennant chase again until the mid 1970s. For television viewers and radio listeners, the sudden removal of Mel Allen following that season marked the end of an era of Yankees television and radio broadcasts.

Offseason

On September 26, Mel Stottlemyre went 5 for 5, drove in two runs, and threw a two hit shutout.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

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
PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C150550172.3131584
1B160613154.25128100
2B159679181.267450
3B147510111.218852
SS10641595.229831
LF153533131.2461673
CF143465141.30335111
RF141513144.2812671

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
11236892.250525
12728574.2601034
7716141.255728
8011231.27705
31234.17401
361.16700
451.20000
550.00000
162.33300
1110.00000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
38271.118133.02125
39244.21762.13172
372441383.47217
1396932.0649

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
271147114.5477
19102.1523.6157
2182153.8454
1335324.6316

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGWLSVERASO
5074123.5663
416493.1238
315042.6739
307233.2849
131081.2521
70304.9112

1964 World Series

With this 4–3 World Series victory, the Cardinals gained a 3–2 edge in overall Series wins over the Yankees, the first time any team had an overall edge against the Yankees since the 1920s. As of 2009, the Cardinals remain the only one of the "classic eight" National League teams to hold an edge over the Yankees.

Awards and honors

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Fort Lauderdale, Johnson City