The 1964 Cincinnati Reds season consisted of the Reds finishing in a tie for second place in the National League with the Philadelphia Phillies. Both teams were at 92–70, one game behind the NL and World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. The Reds' home games were played at Crosley Field.
Fred Hutchinson had managed the Reds since July 1959, but his fight with lung cancer caused him to step aside in August with their record at . Coach Dick Sisler was named acting manager, and guided the team to a record, but lost the final two games, both at home, to the Phillies. After formally resigning as manager in October, Hutchinson died several weeks later at age 45 on November 12; 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 was purchased by the Reds from the Milwaukee Braves for $35,000.Jimmie Coker page at Baseball Reference
Roster 1964 Cincinnati Reds Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
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 Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C 126 423 119 .281 7 55 1B 140 477 130 .273 21 79 2B 136 516 139 .269 4 34 3B 117 370 95 .257 2 31 SS 163 597 150 .251 9 69 LF 102 317 77 .243 4 22 CF 156 625 166 .266 23 84 RF 156 568 174 .306 29 96
Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI 77 311 76 .244 2 16 109 276 71 .257 9 28 89 198 48 .242 5 27 48 95 19 .200 2 12 40 93 17 .183 2 6 34 91 22 .242 5 11 32 66 8 .121 0 3 25 59 13 .220 3 5 11 32 10 .313 1 4 12 25 2 .080 0 1 6 3 0 .000 0 0 2 1 0 .000 0 0
Pitching
Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 30 220.0 17 7 2.66 145 31 216.0 15 10 2.71 214 34 195.2 11 9 3.04 78
Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 34 183.0 11 11 3.39 134 37 175.1 9 13 3.80 146 32 154.2 9 8 4.07 111
Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO 52 10 3 14 2.57 125 40 6 5 7 2.42 87 37 2 2 6 0.87 28 26 0 2 1 2.89 39 6 1 0 0 10.29 6 4 1 0 0 7.20 6 3 0 0 0 6.00 3
Awards and honors Gold Glove Award Johnny Edwards, catcher1964 National League Awards, All-Stars and Other Leaders at Baseball Reference
All-Stars All-Star Game Johnny Edwards, reserve Leo Cárdenas, 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