# 1964 Boston Red Sox season

The 1964 Boston Red Sox season was the 64th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished eighth in the American League (AL) with a record of 72 wins and 90 losses, 27 games behind the AL champion New York Yankees. The Red Sox attracted 883,276 fans to Fenway Park, fifth in the Junior Circuit and 11th in MLB, reflecting a six percent turnstile decline from 1963.
Former Boston infielder Johnny Pesky, in his second season as manager, led the team to a 70–90 mark before he was dismissed on October 1. Third-base coach Billy Herman, 55, succeeded Pesky; he signed a two-year contract and directed the Red Sox to two victories in the season's final two games.

## Offseason

* October 14, 1963: The Red Sox release veteran right-hander Bob Turley and appoint him their pitching coach for 1964, replacing Harry Dorish. Earlier in October, the Red Sox had released infielder Billy Gardner (October 2) and left-hander Chet Nichols Jr. (October 4).
* February 4, 1964: Third baseman Carmen Fanzone is signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.
* Prior to 1964 season: Outfielder Bobby Gene Smith is released by the Red Sox.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 99 | 63 | .611 | — | 50‍–‍31 | 49‍–‍32 |
| Chicago White Sox | 98 | 64 | .605 | 1 | 52‍–‍29 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 97 | 65 | .599 | 2 | 49‍–‍32 | 48‍–‍33 |
| Detroit Tigers | 85 | 77 | .525 | 14 | 46‍–‍35 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 82 | 80 | .506 | 17 | 45‍–‍36 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Cleveland Indians | 79 | 83 | .488 | 20 | 41‍–‍40 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Minnesota Twins | 79 | 83 | .488 | 20 | 40‍–‍41 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 72 | 90 | .444 | 27 | 45‍–‍36 | 27‍–‍54 |
| Washington Senators | 62 | 100 | .383 | 37 | 31‍–‍50 | 31‍–‍50 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 57 | 105 | .352 | 42 | 26‍–‍55 | 31‍–‍50 |

### Record vs. opponents

1964 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | LAA | MIN | NYY | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 11–7 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 13–5–1 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 13–5 |
| Boston | 7–11 | — | 4–14 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 12–6 |
| Chicago | 8–10 | 14–4 | — | 12–6 | 11–7 | 16–2 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 12–6 |
| Cleveland | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–12 | — | 11–7 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 10–8–1 | 3–15–1 | 11–7 |
| Detroit | 7–11 | 13–5 | 7–11 | 7–11 | — | 11–7 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 8–10–1 | 11–7 |
| Kansas City | 5–13–1 | 6–12 | 2–16 | 8–10 | 7–11 | — | 6–12 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 8–10 |
| Los Angeles | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 12–6 | — | 12–6 | 7–11 | 10–8 |
| Minnesota | 8–10 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 8–10–1 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 6–12 | — | 8–10 | 11–7 |
| New York | 8–10 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 15–3–1 | 10–8–1 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 10–8 | — | 12–6 |
| Washington | 5–13 | 6–12 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 6–12 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

| 2 | Chuck Schilling | 2B |
| 1 | Ed Bressoud | SS |
| 8 | Carl Yastrzemski | LF |
| 11 | Frank Malzone | 3B |
| 7 | Dick Stuart | 1B |
| 6 | Lou Clinton | RF |
| 25 | Tony Conigliaro | CF |
| 10 | Bob Tillman | C |
| 27 | Bill Monbouquette | P |

### Notable transactions

* April 21, 1964: The Red Sox release veteran right-handed starting pitcher Gene Conley, 33.
* June 4, 1964: The Red Sox trade outfielder Lou Clinton, 26, to the Los Angeles Angels for outfielder/first baseman Lee Thomas, 28.
* August 5, 1964: The Red Sox sign free-agent outfielder Al Smith, 36, released today by the Cleveland Indians.
* September 6, 1964: Left-hander Wilbur Wood, 22, is purchased from the Red Sox by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### 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 | Bob Tillman | 131 | 425 | 118 | .278 | 17 | 61 |
| 1B | Dick Stuart | 156 | 603 | 168 | .279 | 33 | 114 |
| 2B | Dalton Jones | 118 | 374 | 86 | .230 | 6 | 39 |
| 3B | Frank Malzone | 148 | 537 | 142 | .264 | 13 | 56 |
| SS | Ed Bressoud | 158 | 566 | 166 | .293 | 15 | 55 |
| LF | Tony Conigliaro | 111 | 404 | 117 | .290 | 24 | 52 |
| CF | Carl Yastrzemski | 151 | 567 | 164 | .289 | 15 | 67 |
| RF | Lee Thomas | 107 | 401 | 103 | .257 | 13 | 42 |

#### 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 |
| Felix Mantilla | 133 | 425 | 123 | .289 | 30 | 64 |
| Russ Nixon | 81 | 163 | 38 | .233 | 1 | 20 |
| Chuck Schilling | 47 | 163 | 32 | .196 | 0 | 7 |
| Tony Horton | 36 | 126 | 28 | .222 | 1 | 8 |
| Lou Clinton | 37 | 120 | 31 | .258 | 3 | 6 |
| Roman Mejias | 62 | 101 | 24 | .238 | 2 | 4 |
| Dick Williams | 61 | 69 | 11 | .159 | 5 | 11 |
| Al Smith | 29 | 51 | 11 | .216 | 2 | 7 |
| Gary Geiger | 5 | 15 | 5 | .385 | 0 | 1 |
| Bobby Guindon | 5 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Ryan | 1 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 2 |

### 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 |
| Bill Monbouquette | 36 | 234.0 | 13 | 14 | 4.04 | 120 |
| Earl Wilson | 33 | 202.1 | 11 | 12 | 4.49 | 166 |
| Dave Morehead | 31 | 166.2 | 8 | 15 | 4.97 | 139 |

#### 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 |
| Jack Lamabe | 39 | 177.1 | 9 | 13 | 5.89 | 109 |
| Bob Heffner | 55 | 158.2 | 7 | 9 | 4.08 | 112 |
| Ed Connolly | 27 | 80.2 | 4 | 11 | 4.91 | 73 |
| Bill Spanswick | 29 | 65.1 | 2 | 3 | 6.89 | 55 |
| Pete Charton | 25 | 65.0 | 0 | 2 | 5.26 | 37 |

#### 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 |
| Dick Radatz | 79 | 16 | 9 | 29 | 2.29 | 181 |
| Arnold Earley | 25 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2.68 | 45 |
| Jay Ritchie | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.74 | 35 |
| Dave Gray | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 17 |
| Wilbur Wood | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.47 | 5 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Seattle Rainiers | Pacific Coast League | Edo Vanni |
| AA | Reading Red Sox | Eastern League | Eddie Popowski |
| A | Winston-Salem Red Sox | Carolina League | Bill Slack |
| A | Waterloo Hawks | Midwest League | Matt Sczesny |
| A | Wellsville Red Sox | New York–Penn League | Larry Lee Thomas |
| A | Statesville Colts | Western Carolinas League | Dave Philley and Rudy York |
Statesville affiliation shared with the Houston Colt .45s
Source: