Tag Archive for "1964"

Tag Archives: 1964

Philadelphia Phillies – Awards: Sacrifice Flies.

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Bill Zeltman in Sports | Comments are closed

Since it was made an official offensive statistic in 1954, a Phil had led the National League in hitting sacrifice flies seven times. It would be accomplished by six different Phils.

The first Phil to win the honor was Don Demeter, who did it in 1962, as he hit eleven sac flies. The next Phil to lead the NL in sac flies would be Clay Dalrymple, who, in 1964, the year of the infamous late season collapse, hit eight sac flies. The third Phil to be the league's leader in sac flies would be Willie Montanez, who would hit thirteen of them in 1971. The fourth Phil would be Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, who, in 1979, would finish the season in a three-way tie with Cesar Cedeno of the Houston Astros and Dave Parker of the Pittsburgh Pirates, as all three would hit nine sac files. Schmidt would then lead the league by himself in 1980, the year that the...

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Bill Zeltman in Uncategorized | Comments are closed

They were the best of times, they were the worst of times. A Tale of Two Ball Clubs. The Philadelphia Phillies are the best team in baseball between the first and eighth innings, they are the worst in the ninth inning. While fans should be celebrating their team being on the verge of returning to the postseason for the third consecutive year, they are in fear of a collapse or quick elimination in the playoffs.

Let me offer some solace. I read posts that Jenn and I wrote during the last week of the season in 2008. Doom and gloom! Enjoy a couple of these and consider as bad as things looked then, we had a parade down Broad Street as the World Champions of baseball!

The posts below were written between September 20 to 25, 2008.

Phillies Loss Sets Them Up To Lose Ground in the NL East

Missed Opportunities

Time To...

Relax Fans It is NOT 1964!

Posted on September 7, 2009 by Bill Zeltman in Uncategorized | Comments are closed

1964. The year the Philadelphia Phillies could not possibly lose...but did. The 1964 Phillies began their season with low expectations. The city was as surprised as the baseball world when the team took over first place in July and gained a sizeable lead. Little known players like Johnny Callison, Richie Allen, Ruben Amaro, and Cookie Rojas became local heroes overnight. Manager Gene Mauch built a solid reputation at the young age of 38. By mid-September, the pennant was theirs and Philadelphia was abuzz in anticipation of the rarest of events, a World Series appearance.

Then it all began to unravel. On September 21, the Phillies held a comfortable 6.5-game margin in the standings and faced the second-place Reds. In the sixth inning of a tie game, Cincinnati rookie Hiraldo â€œChicoâ€ Ruiz inexplicably broke for home from third base with his teamâ€™s best hitter at bat. Philadelphia...

10 Blown Saves? Lidge Needs to Go!

Posted on September 6, 2009 by Bill Zeltman in Uncategorized | 2 comments

"He is my closer" is no longer an acceptable response when asked about Brad Lidge being the Philadelphia Phillies closer. I do not remember a closer blowing 10 saves and I have lived through some of the worst! Trevor Hoffman was available. Brett Myers is available. Other options were on the table. There is no excuse. There is no time to waste.

The Phillies need to try Myers in the closers role to see if he can handle closing after his injury. They can not wait for Lidge to try to get his act together.

If Manuel continues to use Lidge, it will be as bad as Grady Little pitching Pedro Martinez in the eighth inning against the Yankees in 2003. There is no excuse. Period. LIDGE NEEDS TO GO!

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It’s September Baseball and The Phillies Have A 7.5 Game Lead!

Posted on September 1, 2009 by Bill Zeltman in Uncategorized | Comments are closed

Why am I smiling? Just look at the standings. Barring and epic collapse like we saw in 1964 or by the 2007 Mets, it looks to be a much more relaxed September for the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans.

TEAM	W	L	%	GB
Philadelphia	75	53	.586	-
Atlanta	69	62	.527	7.5
Florida	68	63	.519	8.5
NY Mets	59	72	.450	17.5
Washington	46	86	.348	31.0

In my lifetime, every Phillies pennant race has come down to the last week, if not the last day of the season. 1980 ended with a final series in Montreal. While in 1983 and 1993 we had a little breathing room, 2007 took until the last day with the Phillies having to win and the Mets having to lose. 2008 took until the second to last day of the year. And don't we deserve this? Even before my time, it took the 1950 Phillies until the tenth inning of the last game of the season before Dick Sisler put the finishing touches on the...