1964 World Series - Background

Background

The 1964 World Series, and the season leading up to it, later became the subject for the David Halberstam New York Times bestseller October 1964. The Series is seen as a bellwether point in baseball history as it was the last hurrah for the 1950s Yankee Dynasty of Mantle, Maris, Ford and Berra, among others, and it demonstrated that the National League's growing enthusiasm to sign black and Latino players (such as those of the '64 Cardinals) was a permanent paradigm shift in fielding a championship team. The Yankees would be in last place by 1966, and they did not appear in another World Series until 1976.

The Series featured the brother-against-brother match-up of Ken Boyer of the Cardinals and Clete Boyer of the Yankees, both of whom started at third base for their respective teams.

For the first time in Series history, all six umpires rotated through their positions. In all Series from 1947 through 1963, only the four infield umpires had rotated, with the last two umpires working only in the outfield throughout the Series.

As of 2008, the Cardinals are the only one of the "classic eight" National League teams to hold a winning edge over the Yankees, winning three (1926, 1942, 1964) while losing only two (1928, 1943). The expansion Arizona Diamondbacks and Florida Marlins have single Series wins over the Yankees, in 2001 and 2003 respectively.

Mickey Mantle, playing in his last Series, hit three home runs, raising his total to a record-setting 18, surpassing Babe Ruth's mark of 15.

Utility infielder Chet Trail, who had no prior major league experience, appeared on the Yankees' World Series roster to fill the opening created by an injury to Tony Kubek. Trail did not play in the series (Phil Linz played in place of Kubek), and Trail never appeared in a major league game during his career.