1964 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1964 Season

The 1964 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1964 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1964

I calculate Player won-lost records two ways: pWins, which tie to team wins and eWins, which control for context and the ability of one's teammates. For players with more pWins than eWins, their Player wins contributed to more team wins than one might expect; for players with more eWins than pWins, just the opposite is true: their Player wins translated into fewer team wins than expected. Or more briefly: a player with more pWins than eWins was better in context, a player with more eWins than pWins was worse in context.

The top 10 players in pWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Willie Mays	26.2	16.3	9.1	11.2	1	Willie Mays	26.2	16.3	9.1	11.2
2	Dean Chance	19.7	11.7	8.9	11.1	2	Dean Chance	19.7	11.7	8.9	11.1
3	Larry Jackson	20.6	14.6	7.1	9.4	3	Larry Jackson	20.6	14.6	7.1	9.4
4	Frank Robinson	26.4	17.7	7.0	9.2	4	Frank Robinson	26.4	17.7	7.0	9.2
5	Mickey Mantle	21.2	13.5	7.0	8.7	5	Dick Allen	25.2	17.7	6.8	8.9
6	Dick Allen	25.2	17.7	6.8	8.9	6	Mickey Mantle	21.2	13.5	7.0	8.7
7	Juan Marichal	18.4	12.8	6.6	8.6	7	Juan Marichal	18.4	12.8	6.6	8.6
8	Whitey Ford	17.1	11.2	6.6	8.5	8	Whitey Ford	17.1	11.2	6.6	8.5
9	Brooks Robinson	24.1	17.6	5.8	7.9	9	Brooks Robinson	24.1	17.6	5.8	7.9
10	John 'Boog' Powell	19.7	13.0	5.7	7.4	10	Ken Boyer	25.3	18.9	5.7	7.9

The top 10 players in eWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		eWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						eWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL		Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
1	Willie Mays	25.7	16.8	8.2	10.3	1	Willie Mays	25.7	16.8	8.2	10.3
2	Dean Chance	18.5	12.8	7.3	9.5	2	Dean Chance	18.5	12.8	7.3	9.5
3	Larry Jackson	20.2	15.0	6.6	8.9	3	Larry Jackson	20.2	15.0	6.6	8.9
4	Ron Santo	24.0	17.5	5.8	7.9	4	Ron Santo	24.0	17.5	5.8	7.9
5	Mickey Mantle	20.3	14.3	5.4	7.1	5	Frank Robinson	25.7	18.5	5.4	7.6
6	Frank Robinson	25.7	18.5	5.4	7.6	6	Mickey Mantle	20.3	14.3	5.4	7.1
7	Bob Allison	18.4	12.2	5.2	6.8	7	Whitey Ford	16.1	12.2	5.0	6.9
8	Joe Horlen	14.0	9.8	5.2	6.7	8	Brooks Robinson	23.7	18.1	4.8	6.9
9	Whitey Ford	16.1	12.2	5.0	6.9	9	Dick Allen	24.3	18.6	4.8	6.9
10	Brooks Robinson	23.7	18.1	4.8	6.9	10	Bob Allison	18.4	12.2	5.2	6.8

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1964 at the end of this article.

1964 World Series

The 1964 World Series pitted the New York Yankees, making their 14th appearance in 16 seasons, against the St. Louis Cardinals, the fifth different NL pennant winner in as many years (and sixth in seven years), making their first World Series appearance in 18 years. In retrospect, it was a passing of the guard. The 1964 World Series was the Yankees' last World Series appearance in 12 years, while the Cardinals' appearance was their first of 3 World Series appearances in 5 seasons.

The Cardinals won the series 4-3, behind World Series MVP Bob Gibson's 3.00 ERA over 27 innings across 3 starts (including 2 CG) with 31 Ks in 27 IP.

The next table presents the top performers in the 1964 World Series as measured by Player won-lost records. Interestingly, the top two performers, even putting their records in context, as measured by pWins over replacement level, played for the losing side. Jim Bouton won both of his starts with a 1.56 ERA in 17.1 IP, while Mickey Mantle batted .333/.467/.792 (OPS of 1.258) with 3 home runs, 8 runs scored, and 8 RBI (including a game-winning home run leading off the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 3, in which Bouton picked up a complete-game 2-1 victory).

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1964 World Series

Mickey Mantle	NYA	1.6	0.8	0.8
Jim Bouton	NYA	1.4	0.7	0.7
Tim McCarver	SLN	1.0	0.4	0.6
Ken Boyer	SLN	1.3	0.7	0.6
Ron Taylor	SLN	0.5	0.1	0.5

Best of 1964 by Factor and Position

Next, let's look at the top players in various aspects of the game.

Best by Factor: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, Fielding

There are four basic factors for which players earn Player won-lost records: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, and Fielding. The top players in 1964 in wins over positional average (WOPA) by factor were as follows.


Batting
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Willie Mays	17.4	10.6	6.4	1	Mickey Mantle	16.6	8.4	7.9
2	Mickey Mantle	15.7	9.3	6.0	2	Willie Mays	17.9	10.1	7.4
3	Harmon Killebrew	17.4	11.1	5.9	3	Frank Robinson	17.9	10.4	7.1
4	Ron Santo	17.0	11.3	5.3	4	Harmon Killebrew	17.8	10.8	6.6
5	John 'Boog' Powell	13.4	7.9	5.2	5	John 'Boog' Powell	13.9	7.3	6.3
6	Frank Robinson	16.9	11.4	5.0	6	Dick Allen	17.1	11.2	5.5
7	Dick Allen	16.9	11.4	5.0	7	Ken Boyer	18.0	12.5	5.0
8	Bob Allison	13.6	8.4	4.9	8	Brooks Robinson	18.0	12.6	4.9
9	Orlando Cepeda	14.5	9.9	4.3	9	Orlando Cepeda	14.6	9.8	4.5
10	Brooks Robinson	17.5	13.1	3.9	10	Ron Santo	16.5	11.8	4.2

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Willie Mays	2.2	1.1	1.0	1	Don Buford	2.1	0.9	1.2
2	Luis Aparicio	2.6	1.7	0.9	2	Luis Aparicio	2.7	1.6	1.0
3	Zoilo Versalles	1.8	1.0	0.8	3	Jim Fregosi	1.5	0.8	0.7
4	Don Buford	2.0	1.1	0.8	4	Willie Mays	2.0	1.3	0.7
5	Willie Davis	2.2	1.4	0.8	5	Willie Smith (1963)	1.4	0.7	0.7
6	Dick Howser	2.0	1.3	0.6	6	Tommy McCraw	1.7	1.0	0.7
7	Floyd Robinson	1.6	1.0	0.5	7	Floyd Robinson	1.6	1.0	0.6
8	Ron Hansen	1.3	0.8	0.5	8	Julian Javier	1.2	0.6	0.6
9	Denis Menke	1.3	0.8	0.5	9	Vada Pinson	1.6	1.0	0.6
10	Tom Tresh	1.4	0.9	0.5	10	Willie Davis	2.1	1.5	0.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Dean Chance	17.3	11.0	6.3	1	Dean Chance	18.8	9.5	9.2
2	Larry Jackson	17.4	12.9	4.5	2	Juan Marichal	16.8	10.3	6.5
3	Joe Horlen	12.3	8.3	4.1	3	Whitey Ford	15.9	9.7	6.2
4	Whitey Ford	14.6	11.0	3.7	4	Larry Jackson	18.2	12.1	6.0
5	Juan Marichal	15.2	11.9	3.4	5	Sandy Koufax	14.8	9.3	5.6
6	Bob Veale	16.4	13.4	3.0	6	Jim Bunning	16.3	11.5	4.8
7	Jim O'Toole	12.8	9.9	2.9	7	Bob Gibson	18.3	13.6	4.7
8	Bob Bruce	12.4	9.6	2.8	8	Dick Radatz	12.3	7.7	4.6
9	Bob Lee	9.2	6.5	2.8	9	Jim O'Toole	13.6	9.1	4.6
10	Dick Radatz	11.3	8.6	2.7	10	Juan Pizarro	14.4	10.1	4.3

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Don Drysdale	0.9	0.5	0.4	1	Larry Jackson	0.8	0.3	0.5
2	Larry Jackson	0.7	0.4	0.4	2	Mudcat Grant	0.5	0.1	0.4
3	Claude Osteen	0.5	0.2	0.3	3	Claude Osteen	0.5	0.1	0.4
4	Ken McBride	0.3	0.1	0.2	4	Juan Pizarro	0.3	0.1	0.2
5	Mudcat Grant	0.4	0.2	0.2	5	Harvey Haddix	0.2	0.0	0.2


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Buck Rodgers	2.0	1.5	0.5	1	Elston Howard	1.8	1.2	0.6
2	Elston Howard	1.7	1.3	0.4	2	Buck Rodgers	2.0	1.5	0.5
3	J.C. Martin	1.2	0.9	0.3	3	Johnny Edwards	1.9	1.5	0.4
4	Dick Bertell	1.3	1.1	0.2	4	J.C. Martin	1.2	0.9	0.3
5	Ed Bailey	0.9	0.7	0.2	5	Dick Bertell	1.4	1.1	0.3


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Deron Johnson	1.9	1.4	0.5	1	Norm Siebern	2.6	1.9	0.8
2	Norm Siebern	2.5	2.0	0.4	2	Deron Johnson	2.0	1.3	0.6
3	Norm Cash	2.0	1.6	0.3	3	Joe Pepitone	2.8	2.3	0.5
4	Frank J. Thomas	1.2	0.9	0.3	4	Ernie Banks	3.0	2.6	0.4
5	Bill DeKova White	2.7	2.5	0.2	5	Bill DeKova White	2.8	2.5	0.4


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Bobby Knoop	7.3	5.9	1.4	1	Bobby Knoop	7.6	5.7	1.9
2	Dick Green	4.4	3.9	0.5	2	Jerry Adair	6.5	5.1	1.4
3	Jerry Adair	6.0	5.6	0.4	3	Al Weis	3.8	3.2	0.6
4	Dick Tracewski	1.7	1.4	0.3	4	Hiraldo 'Chico' Ruiz	1.5	1.0	0.5
5	Larry L. Brown	3.6	3.4	0.2	5	Bill Mazeroski	7.5	7.0	0.5


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ken Boyer	6.0	5.1	0.9	1	Don Wert	4.3	3.1	1.3
2	Brooks Robinson	5.1	4.4	0.7	2	Dick Allen	6.6	5.4	1.2
3	Pete Ward	4.2	3.6	0.7	3	Eddie Mathews	4.2	3.2	1.0
4	Eddie Mathews	4.0	3.4	0.5	4	Brooks Robinson	5.2	4.3	0.9
5	Don Wert	3.9	3.5	0.4	5	Pete Ward	4.2	3.5	0.7


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ron Hansen	7.4	6.1	1.3	1	Ron Hansen	7.4	6.0	1.4
2	Bobby Wine	4.2	3.4	0.7	2	Luis Aparicio	6.7	5.2	1.4
3	Luis Aparicio	6.3	5.6	0.6	3	Bobby Wine	4.4	3.1	1.3
4	Denis Menke	6.0	5.4	0.5	4	Dick Groat	7.2	6.7	0.5
5	Eddie Kasko	6.3	5.9	0.4	5	Jim Fregosi	6.3	5.8	0.5


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Chuck Hinton	5.7	4.5	1.3	1	Gates Brown	4.4	3.1	1.3
2	H. Tommy Davis	7.6	6.4	1.2	2	Tommy Harper	3.9	2.7	1.2
3	Sam Bowens	1.0	0.4	0.6	3	Lou Brock	4.2	3.3	0.9
4	Jim Piersall	1.6	1.1	0.5	4	Don Demeter	1.3	0.5	0.9
5	Tommy Harper	3.5	3.1	0.5	5	Frank Robinson	2.7	1.8	0.8


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Willie Davis	6.6	4.5	2.1	1	Willie Davis	6.9	4.2	2.7
2	Carl Yastrzemski	5.8	5.0	0.8	2	Jackie Brandt	6.2	4.3	1.8
3	Jimmie Hall	4.9	4.2	0.8	3	Curt Flood	6.9	5.3	1.6
4	Ken L. Hunt	1.5	0.9	0.6	4	Willie Mays	6.2	4.9	1.3
5	Curt Flood	6.4	5.9	0.5	5	Jimmie Hall	5.1	4.0	1.0


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Johnny Callison	8.0	7.0	1.1	1	Roger Maris	4.4	2.6	1.8
2	Lou Brock	3.0	2.1	1.0	2	Johnny Callison	8.3	6.7	1.6
3	Al Kaline	5.7	4.7	1.0	3	Mike Shannon	3.4	2.2	1.2
4	Roger Maris	4.0	3.0	0.9	4	Al Kaline	5.6	4.8	0.9
5	Frank Robinson	4.3	3.6	0.7	5	Mike Hershberger	2.6	1.7	0.8

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1964 Major-League leaders by position. The figures shown here only include Player decisions earned while playing this particular position.


Catcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Bill Freehan	14.6	12.0	2.9	1	Elston Howard	16.0	11.4	4.8
2	Joe Torre	10.5	8.2	2.4	2	Joe Torre	10.9	7.8	3.2
3	Elston Howard	14.8	12.7	2.4	3	Johnny Edwards	12.1	9.4	2.8
4	Tom Haller	11.4	9.7	2.0	4	Tom Haller	11.4	9.7	1.9
5	Jim Pagliaroni	7.8	6.4	1.5	5	Bill Freehan	14.0	12.5	1.8


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Orlando Cepeda	18.1	13.4	3.6	1	Orlando Cepeda	18.0	13.4	3.4
2	Bob Allison	11.3	7.5	3.2	2	Bill DeKova White	19.7	15.2	3.2
3	Bill DeKova White	19.2	15.7	2.1	3	Ron Fairly	15.7	11.5	3.2
4	Norm Siebern	15.9	12.8	2.0	4	Norm Siebern	16.2	12.5	2.5
5	Norm Cash	15.9	12.8	2.0	5	Deron Johnson	13.3	10.3	2.1


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Don Buford	11.7	10.4	2.1	1	Don Buford	12.0	10.0	2.8
2	Felix Mantilla	6.7	5.0	2.1	2	Julian Javier	17.9	16.5	2.5
3	Ron Hunt	14.7	13.7	1.9	3	Jerry Adair	18.1	16.9	2.4
4	Woodie Held	5.5	4.5	1.3	4	Woodie Held	6.0	4.0	2.2
5	Dick Green	12.8	12.6	1.1	5	Bobby Richardson	19.1	18.6	1.8


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ron Santo	23.7	17.8	5.2	1	Dick Allen	25.2	17.7	6.8
2	Brooks Robinson	23.5	18.2	4.6	2	Brooks Robinson	24.1	17.6	5.8
3	Dick Allen	23.9	18.9	4.3	3	Ken Boyer	25.3	18.9	5.7
4	Ken Boyer	24.2	20.0	3.4	4	Pete Ward	20.4	15.8	3.9
5	Jim Ray Hart	19.3	15.7	2.9	5	Ron Santo	22.9	18.6	3.6


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ron Hansen	22.7	19.3	3.5	1	Ron Hansen	23.1	18.9	4.3
2	Jim Fregosi	20.3	16.9	3.4	2	Jim Fregosi	20.7	16.5	4.3
3	Denis Menke	17.6	14.3	3.3	3	Luis Aparicio	21.0	17.5	3.5
4	Eddie Bressoud	19.4	17.3	2.1	4	Denis Menke	17.0	14.9	2.1
5	Luis Aparicio	20.1	18.4	1.7	5	Dick McAuliffe	20.2	19.0	1.2


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	John 'Boog' Powell	18.3	12.9	4.3	1	John 'Boog' Powell	19.2	12.9	6.2
2	Harmon Killebrew	23.7	18.7	3.4	2	Frank Robinson	12.2	7.6	4.9
3	Frank Robinson	11.3	7.6	3.0	3	Rico Carty	17.9	13.6	3.9
4	Rico Carty	17.2	13.6	2.3	4	Wes Covington	12.3	9.5	3.2
5	Billy Williams	22.9	19.2	1.8	5	Lou Brock	15.1	12.3	2.5


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie Mays	24.9	17.0	7.1	1	Willie Mays	25.7	16.1	8.8
2	Mickey Mantle	14.9	10.4	4.0	2	Mickey Mantle	15.6	9.6	5.5
3	Willie Davis	22.3	17.7	3.7	3	Willie Davis	22.3	17.7	3.7
4	Jimmie Hall	16.8	13.5	2.6	4	Vada Pinson	22.8	19.1	2.8
5	Carl Yastrzemski	18.3	15.5	2.1	5	Tony Gonzalez	14.0	10.8	2.7


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Tony Oliva	20.2	16.0	2.5	1	Johnny Callison	25.3	19.0	4.5
2	Al Kaline	19.6	15.6	2.4	2	Roger Maris	16.1	10.6	4.3
3	Hank Aaron	20.7	16.8	2.3	3	Floyd Robinson	14.7	10.9	2.6
4	Roger Maris	15.1	11.7	2.1	4	Frank Robinson	14.2	11.1	2.1
5	Frank Robinson	14.2	11.1	2.0	5	Hank Aaron	20.5	16.9	2.0


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dean Chance	16.4	10.5	5.9	1	Dean Chance	17.8	9.0	8.9
2	Larry Jackson	17.9	13.1	4.9	2	Larry Jackson	18.8	12.2	6.7
3	Joe Horlen	12.5	8.2	4.4	3	Juan Marichal	17.2	10.8	6.4
4	Whitey Ford	14.9	11.1	3.9	4	Whitey Ford	16.1	9.8	6.3
5	Juan Marichal	15.7	12.3	3.4	5	Sandy Koufax	14.6	9.5	5.2
6	Bob Veale	16.8	13.7	3.1	6	Jim O'Toole	14.0	9.3	4.8
7	Jim O'Toole	13.1	10.1	3.0	7	Bob Gibson	18.0	13.5	4.6
8	Don Drysdale	17.3	14.4	3.0	8	Jim Bunning	16.3	11.7	4.6
9	Bob Friend	15.3	12.6	2.7	9	Juan Pizarro	14.7	10.2	4.5
10	Bob Bruce	12.2	9.6	2.7	10	Wally Bunker	12.7	8.8	3.9


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Bob Lee	8.0	5.4	2.6	1	Dick Radatz	12.4	8.0	4.3
2	Dick Radatz	11.5	8.9	2.5	2	Bob Lee	8.4	4.9	3.4
3	Hoyt Wilhelm	8.7	6.7	2.0	3	Hoyt Wilhelm	9.1	6.3	2.8
4	Al McBean	5.8	3.9	1.8	4	Al McBean	6.3	3.4	2.8
5	Al Worthington	6.2	4.6	1.5	5	Sammy Ellis	5.1	2.5	2.6
6	Dick Hall	4.7	3.2	1.5	6	Dick Hall	5.2	2.7	2.4
7	Harvey Haddix	4.5	3.0	1.5	7	Pete Mikkelsen	5.5	3.6	1.9
8	Sammy Ellis	4.5	3.1	1.4	8	Don McMahon	6.4	4.5	1.9
9	Pedro Ramos	2.7	1.5	1.2	9	Stu Miller	7.4	5.5	1.9
10	Stu Miller	7.1	5.8	1.2	10	Eddie Fisher	5.4	3.5	1.9

Finally, here are the best at three oft-forgotten positions that can nevertheless matter: pitcher offense, pinch hitting, and pinch running.


Pitcher Offense
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Earl Wilson	1.9	1.7	1.0	1	Earl Wilson	2.4	1.2	1.8
2	Jim Kaat	1.7	1.8	0.8	2	Sonny Siebert	1.5	0.8	1.0
3	Sonny Siebert	1.3	1.0	0.7	3	Dick Donovan	1.4	0.9	0.9


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ty Cline	1.7	1.2	0.7	1	Dalton Jones	1.8	0.8	1.2
2	Dalton Jones	1.5	1.1	0.6	2	Ty Cline	1.9	1.1	1.0
3	Billy Bryan	1.4	1.0	0.5	3	Frank J. Thomas	1.1	0.3	0.8


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dick A. Smith	0.4	0.1	0.3	1	Dick A. Smith	0.3	0.1	0.3
2	Al Weis	0.2	0.1	0.2	2	Bob Saverine	0.4	0.2	0.2
3	Bob Saverine	0.3	0.2	0.1	3	Willie Smith (1963)	0.1	0.0	0.1

Noteworthy Players of 1964

Willie Mays

The best position player in major-league baseball in 1964, as measured by Player won-lost records, was one of the greatest players in major-league history, Willie Mays. His 1964 season was arguably his best, but only really "arguably" so, which perhaps suggests just how consistently great he was.

Willie Mays's career, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Willie Mays Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1951	NY1	20	121	15.6	12.9	2.1	3.6	15.1	13.5	0.9	2.4
1952	NY1	21	34	5.7	3.3	2.2	2.7	5.1	3.9	1.2	1.7
1954	NY1	23	151	24.6	16.5	6.6	9.0	24.4	16.8	6.2	8.5
1955	NY1	24	152	27.2	17.4	8.5	10.8	26.8	17.8	7.7	10.1
1956	NY1	25	152	23.4	17.9	4.3	6.5	23.7	17.5	4.9	7.1
1957	NY1	26	152	24.5	18.5	4.7	6.8	24.6	18.4	4.9	7.1
1958	SFN	27	152	26.0	18.4	6.4	8.6	25.5	18.9	5.2	7.3
1959	SFN	28	151	25.0	16.0	7.9	9.9	23.7	17.3	5.3	7.3
1960	SFN	29	153	25.5	19.1	5.0	7.3	24.9	19.7	3.8	6.1
1961	SFN	30	154	26.1	17.3	7.6	10.1	25.0	18.3	5.4	7.8
1962	SFN	31	162	29.6	18.1	10.6	13.1	27.2	20.5	5.8	8.2
1963	SFN	32	157	24.7	19.1	4.7	6.8	25.0	18.8	5.2	7.3
1964	SFN	33	157	26.2	16.3	9.1	11.2	25.7	16.8	8.2	10.3
1965	SFN	34	157	26.5	17.6	7.9	10.1	26.1	18.1	7.0	9.2
1966	SFN	35	152	26.1	16.6	8.3	10.3	24.5	18.2	5.1	7.1
1967	SFN	36	141	17.9	14.6	2.6	4.2	17.9	14.6	2.6	4.2
1968	SFN	37	148	24.1	16.8	6.2	8.2	23.6	17.3	5.2	7.3
1969	SFN	38	117	14.9	12.7	1.6	3.1	14.7	13.0	1.1	2.6
1970	SFN	39	139	17.6	14.7	2.0	3.7	18.7	13.6	4.5	6.1
1971	SFN	40	136	18.1	11.8	5.5	7.0	17.5	12.5	4.3	5.8
1972	NYN	41	88	9.7	7.7	1.5	2.4	9.5	8.0	1.0	1.9
1973	NYN	42	66	6.1	6.4	-0.7	-0.1	6.1	6.4	-0.8	-0.2
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,992	465.3	329.8	114.8	155.2	455.3	339.9	94.8	135.2
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			25	3.2	3.0		0.3	3.1	3.0		0.2
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			3,017	468.5	332.8		155.5	458.4	342.9		135.4

Dean Chance

The best pitcher in major-league baseball in 1964 was not one of the greatest players in major-league history. But Dean Chance did have one of the best seasons of the past 60 years. The next table shows the top 25 seasons since 1961 in pWins over replacement level.

		pWins over Replacement Level (Top Seasons since 1961)
	Player	Season	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Barry Bonds	2001	28.3	15.2	12.1	14.4
2	Sandy Koufax	1965	25.0	14.5	11.7	14.1
3	Steve Carlton	1972	25.0	14.9	11.0	13.4
4	Barry Bonds	2004	23.7	11.4	11.5	13.3
5	Barry Bonds	1993	27.5	15.4	11.1	13.3
6	Willie Mays	1962	29.6	18.1	10.6	13.1
7	Barry Bonds	2002	24.5	12.6	11.1	13.0
8	Dwight Gooden	1985	21.1	11.0	11.1	13.0
9	Mickey Mantle	1961	26.0	14.6	10.5	12.7
10	Roger Maris	1961	27.2	15.3	10.1	12.4
11	Sandy Koufax	1963	22.5	13.3	10.2	12.4
12	Joe L. Morgan	1972	25.7	16.1	10.2	12.3
13	Jim Edmonds	2004	24.1	13.8	10.0	11.9
14	Joe L. Morgan	1973	26.8	17.2	9.7	11.9
15	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	2002	19.0	10.5	9.6	11.5
16	Greg Maddux	1995	16.5	7.4	10.0	11.4
17	Pedro J. Martinez	1999	16.3	6.5	9.9	11.4
18	Juan Marichal	1966	22.6	14.3	9.2	11.3
19	Willie Mays	1964	26.2	16.3	9.1	11.2
20	Derek Jeter	1999	26.1	18.1	9.1	11.2
21	Darryl Strawberry	1988	26.7	16.2	9.1	11.2
22	Dick Allen	1972	23.3	12.1	9.4	11.1
23	Dean Chance	1964	19.7	11.7	8.9	11.1
24	Alex Rodriguez	2000	23.5	15.1	9.3	11.1
25	Joe L. Morgan	1976	23.2	14.4	9.2	11.0

Unfortunately, Dean Chance was unable to sustain the brilliance of his 1964 season. Dean Chance's career, as measured by Player won-lost records, is shown in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Dean Chance Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1961	LAA	20	5	1.1	1.4	-0.3	-0.1	1.2	1.3	-0.0	0.2
1962	LAA	21	50	13.7	13.4	0.9	2.9	14.3	12.8	2.6	4.6
1963	LAA	22	45	15.6	17.0	-0.6	1.6	16.9	15.7	2.2	4.4
1964	LAA	23	46	19.7	11.7	8.9	11.1	18.5	12.8	7.3	9.5
1965	CAL	24	36	15.1	13.2	2.7	4.5	14.2	14.2	1.0	2.8
1966	CAL	25	41	15.5	17.5	-1.3	0.8	15.9	17.0	-0.1	1.9
1967	MIN	26	41	18.3	16.9	2.3	4.4	17.9	17.3	1.9	4.0
1968	MIN	27	43	16.6	17.1	0.4	2.2	17.8	15.9	3.1	4.9
1969	MIN	28	20	4.6	4.6	0.2	0.8	4.5	4.6	0.2	0.7
1970	CLE	29	48	9.4	10.6	-0.8	0.5	8.9	11.2	-1.8	-0.5
1971	DET	30	31	4.7	5.9	-0.9	-0.2	4.7	5.9	-1.0	-0.4
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			406	134.2	129.4	11.7	28.4	134.8	128.8	15.2	32.0
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			1	0.0	0.0		-0.0	0.0	0.0		-0.0
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			407	134.2	129.5		28.3	134.8	128.9		31.9

Year of the Third Baseman

In 1964, both MVPs and one of the two Rookie-of-the-Year awards were won by third basemen: AL MVP Brooks Robinson, NL MVP Ken Boyer, and NL Rookie of the Year Dick Allen.

Yet, the best third baseman in the major leages in 1964, as measured by (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins over either positional average or replacement levle, is none of these three players. Neutralizing context, the best third baseman in the major leagues in 1964 was Chicago Cubs third baseman Ron Santo.

The next table compares the 1964 season for these four men.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Brooks Robinson	163	24.1	17.6	0.578	5.8	7.9	23.7	18.1	0.567	4.8	6.9
Ken Boyer	162	25.3	18.9	0.572	5.7	7.9	24.4	19.8	0.553	3.9	6.1
Dick Allen	162	25.2	17.7	0.587	6.8	8.9	24.3	18.6	0.566	4.8	6.9
Ron Santo	161	22.9	18.6	0.552	3.6	5.7	24.0	17.5	0.578	5.8	7.9

All four of these players have been elected to the Hall of Merit. The career records of the four players, as measured by Player won-lost records, are compared in the next table.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Brooks Robinson	2895	352.3	310.6	0.532	32.2	65.0	343.8	319.1	0.519	14.7	47.6
Ken Boyer	2034	257.8	226.4	0.532	23.4	47.7	258.8	225.4	0.535	25.6	50.0
Dick Allen	1748	237.7	181.4	0.567	42.2	62.8	236.0	183.0	0.563	39.5	60.1
Ron Santo	2243	293.3	259.0	0.531	25.7	53.3	297.6	254.7	0.539	35.4	63.0

Notable Debuts

The 1964 season saw the major-league debuts of two players who would go on to both play into their mid-40s, playing a combined 47 seasons, both of whom would eventually be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Phil Niekro and Tony Perez. Their careers are compared in the next table, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Phil Niekro					Tony Perez
1964	10	0.2	0.3	-0.1	-0.0	12	0.3	0.8	-0.5	-0.5
1965	42	3.4	3.2	0.2	0.8	103	8.1	7.1	0.4	1.2
1966	28	2.1	1.9	0.2	0.6	97	7.1	7.9	-1.6	-0.9
1967	46	13.5	12.4	1.7	3.5	156	19.4	16.0	2.6	4.3
1968	37	15.3	14.3	1.8	3.4	160	20.3	18.6	1.3	3.3
1969	40	20.3	15.8	5.4	7.6	160	23.2	17.4	5.4	7.5
1970	34	14.2	17.6	-2.5	-0.7	158	23.5	16.2	6.3	8.3
1971	42	15.7	16.0	0.5	2.3	158	22.1	17.9	3.3	5.2
1972	38	17.8	14.5	4.3	6.3	136	16.2	11.2	3.1	4.4
1973	42	13.4	13.4	0.8	2.4	151	19.5	13.3	4.7	6.3
1974	41	18.3	16.8	2.5	4.3	158	19.1	15.3	2.3	3.9
1975	39	16.9	17.7	0.2	2.2	137	17.2	13.1	2.5	3.9
1976	38	17.2	15.5	2.7	4.4	139	15.3	12.8	1.1	2.5
1977	44	21.5	21.4	1.6	4.2	154	17.1	14.7	1.1	2.7
1978	45	21.9	18.9	4.2	6.4	148	14.5	13.3	-0.0	1.3
1979	44	20.2	21.4	0.4	2.7	132	14.3	12.9	0.1	1.4
1980	40	17.2	18.8	-0.4	1.5	151	15.2	15.6	-1.2	0.3
1981	22	8.6	9.3	-0.1	1.1	84	7.5	6.7	0.7	1.5
1982	35	12.5	11.2	2.3	3.5	69	4.8	4.4	0.3	0.8
1983	34	11.6	14.3	-1.6	-0.2	91	7.8	7.2	0.0	0.7
1984	32	13.4	9.8	3.7	5.1	71	3.2	3.7	-0.6	-0.2
1985	33	13.9	14.4	-0.3	1.5	71	6.4	4.8	1.3	1.8
1986	34	11.7	13.2	-1.4	0.1	77	4.9	5.2	-0.7	-0.2
1987	26	8.4	10.8	-2.3	-1.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	866	329.1	322.8	23.9	62.0	2,773	307.1	256.0	31.7	59.6

Last Hurrahs

Finally, 1964 was the final season for outfielders Duke Snider and Minnie Minoso (not counting 10 token plate appearances by Minoso in 1976 and 1980).

Duke Snider was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980. Minnie Minoso has not yet made the Hall of Fame, but he was elected to the Hall of Merit in their "1987" election.

Snider's and Minoso's careers are compared in the next table as measured by Player won-lost records. The final row of the table compares their Player won-lost records through their common prime of 1951 - 1961.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Duke Snider					Minnie Minoso
1947	40	1.9	2.5	-0.7	-0.5
1948	53	4.7	4.9	-0.6	-0.1
1949	146	21.1	12.9	7.4	9.3	9	0.6	0.7	-0.2	-0.1
1950	152	21.1	17.0	3.3	5.3
1951	150	20.4	15.8	3.9	5.7	146	19.0	15.7	2.3	4.1
1952	144	19.7	15.0	4.1	5.9	147	20.5	18.0	1.3	3.4
1953	153	23.4	13.2	9.3	11.4	151	24.5	15.9	7.1	9.4
1954	149	23.6	14.8	7.4	9.7	153	27.9	17.9	8.8	11.4
1955	148	24.1	14.4	8.6	10.6	139	20.1	17.8	1.2	3.2
1956	151	22.8	15.0	6.7	8.7	151	23.8	18.7	3.5	5.7
1957	139	18.9	15.2	2.5	4.3	153	25.7	18.8	4.5	6.7
1958	106	9.9	10.4	-1.2	-0.2	149	23.2	19.4	1.6	3.6
1959	126	15.5	11.0	3.7	5.0	148	23.7	16.8	6.0	7.9
1960	100	9.0	7.5	1.1	1.9	154	22.4	18.5	2.0	4.2
1961	83	10.0	6.6	2.9	3.9	152	22.2	17.8	3.5	5.7
1962	80	6.3	4.7	1.3	1.9	39	2.6	2.9	-0.5	-0.2
1963	129	12.9	12.4	-0.4	0.9	109	9.1	11.5	-3.2	-2.2
1964	89	5.0	5.4	-0.6	-0.0	30	0.8	1.0	-0.2	-0.0
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,138	270.3	198.7	58.9	83.8	1,830	265.9	211.4	37.8	62.8
1951 - 1961	1,449	197.3	138.9	49.1	67.0	1,643	252.8	195.2	41.8	65.3

Article last updated: November 20, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1964 season. Positional averages for starting pitching and relief pitching are calculated using single-year data for all starting pitchers and all relief pitchers.

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

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