# 1964 Cleveland Indians season

The 1964 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished in a tie for sixth place in the American League with the Minnesota Twins, while winning 79 and losing 83, 20 games behind the AL champion New York Yankees.

## Offseason

* Prior to 1964 season: Dave Nelson was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.

## Regular season

In 1964, Vernon Stouffer became an investor in the Cleveland Indians due to the threat of the franchise relocating.
Manager Birdie Tebbetts suffered a heart attack during the offseason. George Strickland served as the Indians' acting manager during his convalescence. Tebbetts returned to the team on July 3.

### 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 | — |

### Notable transactions

* September 5, 1964: Pedro Ramos was traded by the Indians to the New York Yankees for players to be named later and $75,000. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Ralph Terry to the Indians on October 21 and Bud Daley to the Indians on November 27.

### Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters :
| # | Name | Position |
| 18 | Dick Howser | SS |
| 25 | Vic Davalillo | CF |
| 27 | Leon Wagner | LF |
| 10 | Max Alvis | 3B |
| 15 | Fred Whitfield | 1B |
| 24 | Tito Francona | RF |
| 7 | Johnny Romano | C |
| 12 | Woodie Held | 2B |
| 33 | Mudcat Grant | P |

### Roster
## 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 | Johnny Romano | 106 | 352 | 85 | .241 | 19 | 47 |
| 1B | Bob Chance | 120 | 390 | 109 | .279 | 14 | 75 |
| 2B | Larry Brown | 115 | 335 | 77 | .230 | 12 | 40 |
| 3B | Max Alvis | 107 | 381 | 96 | .252 | 18 | 53 |
| SS | Dick Howser | 162 | 637 | 163 | .256 | 3 | 52 |
| LF | Leon Wagner | 163 | 641 | 162 | .253 | 31 | 100 |
| CF | Vic Davalillo | 150 | 577 | 156 | .270 | 6 | 51 |
| RF | Tito Francona | 111 | 270 | 67 | .248 | 8 | 24 |

#### 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 |
| Woodie Held | 118 | 364 | 86 | .236 | 18 | 49 |
| Fred Whitfield | 101 | 293 | 79 | .270 | 10 | 29 |
| Chico Salmon | 86 | 283 | 87 | .307 | 4 | 25 |
| Joe Azcue | 83 | 271 | 74 | .273 | 4 | 34 |
| Billy Moran | 69 | 151 | 31 | .205 | 1 | 10 |
| Al Smith | 61 | 136 | 22 | .162 | 4 | 9 |
| Jerry Kindall | 23 | 25 | 9 | .360 | 2 | 2 |
| Al Luplow | 19 | 18 | 2 | .111 | 0 | 1 |
| George Banks | 9 | 17 | 5 | .294 | 2 | 3 |
| Tony Martínez | 9 | 14 | 3 | .214 | 0 | 2 |
| Tommie Agee | 13 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Dicken | 11 | 11 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Wally Post | 5 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Duke Sims | 2 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Vern Fuller | 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 |
| Jack Kralick | 30 | 190.2 | 12 | 7 | 3.21 | 119 |
| Sam McDowell | 31 | 173.1 | 11 | 6 | 2.70 | 177 |
| Dick Donovan | 30 | 158.1 | 7 | 9 | 4.55 | 83 |
| Luis Tiant | 19 | 127.0 | 10 | 4 | 2.83 | 105 |

#### 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 |
| Sonny Siebert | 41 | 156.0 | 7 | 9 | 3.23 | 144 |
| Pedro Ramos | 36 | 133.0 | 7 | 10 | 5.14 | 98 |
| Tommy John | 25 | 94.1 | 2 | 9 | 3.91 | 65 |
| Lee Stange | 23 | 91.2 | 4 | 8 | 4.12 | 78 |
| Mudcat Grant | 13 | 62.0 | 3 | 4 | 5.95 | 43 |

#### 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 |
| Don McMahon | 70 | 6 | 4 | 16 | 2.41 | 92 |
| Ted Abernathy | 53 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 4.33 | 57 |
| Gary Bell | 56 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 4.33 | 89 |
| Jerry Walker | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.66 | 5 |
| Tom Kelley | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.59 | 7 |
| Gordon Seyfried | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Portland Beavers | Pacific Coast League | Johnny Lipon |
| AA | Charleston Indians | Eastern League | Bob Nieman |
| A | Burlington Indians | Carolina League | Bill Herring |
| A | Dubuque Packers | Midwest League | Walt Novick |

## Awards

* Vic Davalillo, Gold Glove Award