Down The 1964 Stretch

Returning home from an 8,000-mile road trip that ended in Los Angeles on a Sunday afternoon, the Phillies hosted a Monday night game against Cincinnati.

With 12 games remaining on the schedule the Phils had a 6.5 game lead.

On this date the Phillies historic losing streak started, a spin that would cost them the pennant.

Rookie Chico Ruiz shocked everyone by stealing home with two out in the sixth inning and All-Star slugger Frank Robinson at-bat, a 1–0 loss.

Art Mahaffey was on the mound. His pitch to Clay Dalrymple was wide and Ruiz was safe. Dalrymple was charged with a passed ball.

“Over the years I’ve often been asked, ‘Didn’t you know he would try to steal?’ Never. Frank Robinson was at bat,” says the 86-year-old Mahaffey. “If he had swung, he might have taken Ruiz’s head off.”

“The ball went by me before he reached the plate,” Robinson was quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer the next morning. “I think he would have been out. Sure, he surprised me when he started coming. I guess he surprised all of us.”

Two games earlier, the Phillies lost, 4–3, in LA when Willie Davis stole home with two out in the 16th inning.

Three days, three games, two steal-of-home losses, over 10 hours of tense baseball in two different time zones.