1964 Milwaukee Braves season

The 1964 Milwaukee Braves season was the team's 12th season in Milwaukee while also the 94th season overall. The fifth-place Braves finished the season with a 88–74 (.543) record, five games behind the National League and World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals.[1]

1964 Milwaukee Braves
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Location
Milwaukee County Stadium (since 1953) Milwaukee, Wisconsin (since 1953)
Results
Record	88–74 (.543)
League place	5th
Other information
Owner(s)	William Bartholomay (chairman)
General manager(s)	John McHale
Manager(s)	Bobby Bragan
Local television	WTMJ-TV (Bill Mazer, Blaine Walsh)
Local radio	WEMP (Merle Harmon, Tom Collins, Blaine Walsh)
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Milwaukee finished the season with ten wins in the final eleven games; the season's home attendance was 910,911,[2] their highest since 1961, and the highest of the last four seasons in Milwaukee (1962–65).

It was the franchise's penultimate season in Milwaukee. The franchise had attempted to move to Atlanta shortly after this season;[3][4] it was delayed a year,[5][6] and the team relocated for the 1966 season.

Offseason

• October 10, 1963: Claude Raymond was drafted from the Braves by the Houston Colt .45s in a 1963 special draft.[7]
• December 2, 1963: Lou Jackson was drafted from the Braves by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1963 Rule 5 draft.[8]
• March 22, 1964: Cito Gaston was signed as an amateur free agent by the Braves.[9]
• Prior to 1964 season: Skip Guinn was signed as an amateur free agent by the Braves.[10]

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	93	69	0.574	—	48–33	45–36
Philadelphia Phillies	92	70	0.568	1	46–35	46–35
Cincinnati Reds	92	70	0.568	1	47–34	45–36
San Francisco Giants	90	72	0.556	3	44–37	46–35
Milwaukee Braves	88	74	0.543	5	45–36	43–38
Pittsburgh Pirates	80	82	0.494	13	42–39	38–43
Los Angeles Dodgers	80	82	0.494	13	41–40	39–42
Chicago Cubs	76	86	0.469	17	40–41	36–45
Houston Colt .45s	66	96	0.407	27	41–40	25–56
New York Mets	53	109	0.327	40	33–48	20–61

Record vs. opponents

1964 National League Records Sources:
Team	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MIL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Chicago	—	6–12	11–7	10–8	8–10	11–7	6–12	9–9	9–9	6–12
Cincinnati	12–6	—	12–6	14–4–1	9–9	11–7	9–9	8–10	7–11	10–8
Houston	7–11	6–12	—	7–11	12–6	9–9	5–13	5–13	7–11	8–10
Los Angeles	8–10	4–14–1	11–7	—	8–10	15–3–1	8–10	10–8	6–12	10–8
Milwaukee	10–8	9–9	6–12	10–8	—	14–4	10–8	12–6	9–9	8–10
New York	7–11	7–11	9–9	3–15–1	4–14	—	3–15	6–12	7–11	7–11
Philadelphia	12-6	9–9	13–5	10–8	8–10	15–3	—	10–8	10–8	5–13
Pittsburgh	9–9	10–8	13–5	8–10	6–12	12–6	8–10	—	8–10	6–12
San Francisco	9–9	11–7	11–7	12–6	9–9	11–7	8–10	10–8	—	9–9
St. Louis	12–6	8–10	10–8	8–10	10–8	11–7	13–5	12–6	9–9	—

Notable transactions

• April 9, 1964: Bob Uecker was traded by the Braves to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jimmie Coker and Gary Kolb.[11]
• May 12, 1964: Gus Bell was released by the Braves.[12]
• June 3, 1964: Len Gabrielson was traded by the Braves to the Chicago Cubs for $40,000. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Merritt Ranew to the Braves on June 8.[13]
• August 8, 1964: Dennis Ribant and cash were traded by the Braves to the New York Mets for Frank Lary.[14]
• August 14, 1964: Carl Morton was signed as an amateur free agent by the Braves.[15]
• August 23, 1964: Jimmie Coker was purchased from the Braves by the Cincinnati Reds for $35,000.[16]

Roster

1964 Milwaukee Braves
Roster
Pitchers 36 Wade Blasingame 38 John Braun 32 Cecil Butler 20 Clay Carroll 40 Tony Cloninger 39 Dave Eilers 34 Hank Fischer 26 Billy Hoeft 22 Dick Kelley 17 Frank Lary 23 Denny Lemaster 35 Phil Niekro 30 Chi-Chi Olivo 37 Bob Sadowski 25 Dan Schneider 45,53 Jack Smith 21 Warren Spahn 18 Bobby Tiefenauer 46 Arnold Umbach		Catchers  9 Ed Bailey  8 Merritt Ranew 19 Phil Roof 15 Joe Torre Infielders 16 Sandy Alomar  2 Frank Bolling  7 Mike de la Hoz 39 Len Gabrielson 11 Lou Klimchock 41 Eddie Mathews 11 Roy McMillan 19 Denis Menke 12 Gene Oliver 47 Bill Southworth 14 Woody Woodward		Outfielders 44 Hank Aaron 29 Felipe Alou 42 Ethan Blackaby 43 Rico Carty 31 Ty Cline 27 Gary Kolb 24 Lee Maye Other batters 20 Gus Bell		Manager 10 Bobby Bragan Coaches  3 Ken Silvestri  6 Dixie Walker  4 Jo-Jo White  5 Whit Wyatt

Player stats

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	Joe Torre	154	601	193	.321	20	109
1B	Gene Oliver	93	279	77	.276	13	49
2B	Frank Bolling	120	352	70	.199	5	34
3B	Eddie Mathews	141	502	117	.233	23	74
SS	Denis Menke	151	505	143	.283	20	65
LF	Rico Carty	133	455	150	.330	22	88
CF	Lee Maye	153	588	179	.304	10	74
RF	Hank Aaron	145	570	187	.328	24	95

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
Felipe Alou	121	415	105	.253	9	51
Ed Bailey	95	271	71	.262	5	34
Mike de la Hoz	78	189	55	.291	4	12
Ty Cline	101	116	35	.302	1	13
Woody Woodward	77	115	24	.209	0	11
Gary Kolb	36	64	12	.188	0	2
Sandy Alomar	19	53	13	.245	0	6
Len Gabrielson	24	38	7	.184	0	1
Lou Klimchock	10	21	7	.333	0	2
Merritt Ranew	9	17	2	.118	0	0
Roy McMillan	8	13	4	.308	0	2
Ethan Blackaby	9	12	1	.083	0	1
Bill Southworth	3	7	2	.286	1	2
Gus Bell	3	3	0	.000	0	0
Phil Roof	1	2	0	.000	0	0

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
Tony Cloninger	38	242.2	19	14	3.56	163
Denny Lemaster	39	221	17	11	4.15	185
Hank Fischer	37	168.1	11	10	4.01	99
Arnold Umbach	1	8.1	1	0	3.24	7

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
Warren Spahn	38	173.2	6	13	5.29	78
Bob Sadowski	51	166.2	9	10	4.10	96
Wade Blasingame	28	116.2	9	5	4.24	70
Dan Schneider	13	36.1	1	2	5.45	14
Frank Lary	5	12.1	1	0	4.38	4

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
Bobby Tiefenauer	46	4	6	13	3.21	48
Billy Hoeft	42	4	0	4	3.80	47
Chi-Chi Olivo	38	2	1	5	3.75	45
Jack Smith	22	2	2	0	3.77	19
Clay Carroll	11	2	0	1	1.77	17
Phil Niekro	10	0	0	0	4.80	8
Dave Eilers	6	0	0	0	4.70	1
Cecil Butler	2	0	0	0	8.31	2
Dick Kelley	2	0	0	0	18.00	2
John Braun	1	0	0	0	0.00	1

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Toronto Maple Leafs	International League	Sparky Anderson
AAA	Denver Bears	Pacific Coast League	Bill Adair
AA	Austin Senators	Texas League	Buddy Hicks
A	Binghamton Triplets	New York–Penn League	Andy Pafko
A	Yakima Bears	Northwest League	Hub Kittle
A	Greenville Braves	Western Carolinas League	Bill Steinecke and Jimmy Brown
Rookie	SRL Braves	Sarasota Rookie League	Paul Snyder

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Yakima, SRL Braves
Toronto affiliation shared with Washington Senators

Notes

1. "Major Leagues". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (final standings). October 5, 1964. p. 30.
2. "Bucs drop final game of '64 to Braves, 6-0". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. October 5, 1964. p. 30.
3. "Braves directors request transfer of club to Atlanta". Milwaukee Journal. October 21, 1964. p. 1, part 1.
4. "Braves ask to move, County obtains writ". Milwaukee Sentinel. October 22, 1964. p. 1, part 1.
5. "League orders Braves to stay here". Milwaukee Journal. November 7, 1964. p. 1, part 1.
6. "Stay at home, Braves told". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. November 8, 1964. p. 7, sports.
7. Claude Raymond page at Baseball Reference
8. Lou Jackson page at Baseball-Reference
9. Cito Gaston page at Baseball Reference
10. Skip Guinn page at Baseball Reference
11. Bob Uecker page at Baseball Reference
12. Gus Bell page at Baseball Reference
13. Len Gabrielson page at Baseball Reference
14. Dennis Ribant page at Baseball Reference
15. Carl Morton page at Baseball Reference
16. Jimmie Coker page at Baseball Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1964 Milwaukee Braves season at Baseball Reference