Description
The 1964 New York Yankees season was the 62nd season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 99–63, winning their 29th pennant, finishing 1 game ahead of the Chicago White Sox. New York was managed by Yogi Berra. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series, they were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals in 7 games.
Yogi Berra, taking over as manager from Ralph Houk, who in turn moved up to general manager, had a difficult early season, with many veterans missing games due to injury. Doubts about his ability to manage his former teammates were brought into the open with the Harmonica Incident in late August, in which he clashed with utility infielder Phil Linz on the team bus following a sweep by the Chicago White Sox that appeared to have removed the Yankees from pennant contention. The team rallied behind Berra afterwards, and won the pennant. However the incident may have convinced the team’s executives to replace Berra with Johnny Keane, manager of the victorious Cardinals, after the season.
This season is considered to be the endpoint of the “Old Yankees” dynasty that had begun with the Ruppert–Huston partnership and then continued with the Topping–Webb partnership. The Yankees would soon undergo ownership changes and front office turmoil, and would not be a serious factor in the pennant chase again until the early 1970s.
