Baseball and Me

By Dennis Coxe

In 1964, this boy…

…fell in love with this team…

…and learned how baseball can break your heart.

The 1964 season started well, with a home opener victory

over the New York Mets.

By the end of May, the Phillies were in first place by .5 game

On Father’s Day, Jim Bunning pitched his 2nd no-hitter, a perfect game against the New York Mets

On Aug. 9, the boy turned 7 and the Phillies won again

The Phillies had a 2.5 game lead on the San Francisco Giants.

By the time school reopened, the Phillies’ lead was 6.0

gamesThe Phillies split a Labor Day doubleheader with the Los Angeles Dodgers

Winning the first game 5 to 1, but losing the nightcap 3 to 1

Then the bottom fell out…

• On Sunday, Sept. 20th the Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to build a 6.5 game lead.

• Only 15 games remained.

• The collapse that followed was monumental.

When it was over, they lost 12 of their last 15 games

• They were swept by Milwaukee, Cincinnati and St. Louis.

• World Series tickets and programs went unused

• The moment in the sun had passed.

It would be 15 years before the Phillies again became competitive

• In 1980, the Phillies finally won the franchise’s only World Series

• The boy had grown up and was away at college when it happened

But the memories of 1964 still linger.