Remember when...July 4, 1964

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July 4, 1964
County Stadium
Milwaukee, WI


Independence Day in Beer City, and a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon found 21,000-plus entering County Stadium for a game between the Braves and Cubs.

Milwaukee, managed by Bobby Bragan, had moved into a tie for sixth with Chicago by virtue an 8-2 win the night before over the Cubs. The Braves relied on a lineup hell-bent on scoring runs, and would end the season with five players hitting 20 or more homers. Henry Aaron, Lee Maye and Rico Carty manned the outfield, with Eddie Mathews and Denis Menke forming a strong tandem on the left side of the infield. Young Joe Torre, two weeks from his 24th birthday, was coming into his own as he split time behind the plate and at first base.

Pitching was the Achilles for Milwaukee as young hurlers Tony Cloninger, Denny Lemaster, Wade Blasingame and Hank Fischer were trying to find their way in the majors while a 43-year-old Warren Spahn was in the twilight of his long and illustrious career. Lemaster would be Bragan’s starter for this game. It was his 16th start of the season, along with four relief outings, and the lefty entered the contest with an 8-5 record, 4.58 ERA.

Managed by Bob Kennedy, the Cubs were 35-37 and percentage points behind the Braves in the tie for sixth at the time. They had a veteran mound and a lineup built around the long ball. Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ron Santo were the big sticks in the lineup. Larry Jackson, Chicago’s starting pitcher in this one, anchored a staff that included Bob Buhl, Lou Burdette, Dick Elsworth and Lindy McDaniel.

Jackson came into the contest with a 3.12 ERA and10-5 record, and was coming off a complete game 1-hitter against the Reds on the last day of June.

Joey Amalfitano led off the game with a double against Lemaster, and came home one out later on Billy Williams’ two-bagger to give Chicago an early 1-0 lead. But the advantage was short lived when Eddie Mathews, batting leadoff, singled to open the bottom of the first off Jackson, moved to second on a sac bunt by Menke and then scooted home an out later on Maye’s double. Milwaukee threatened to blow it open when Torre walked and Carty singled behind Maye’s double to load the bases. But Jackson struck Ed Bailey out to end the first with a 1-1 score.

The score remained that way until the bottom of the third. Aaron doubled to lead things off for the Braves, and Torre doubled him home an out later. Carty advanced Torre to third with a single, bringing Bailey up against Jackson. Bailey’s hard smash caromed off Banks’ glove at first to Amalfitano at second. Amalfitano had but one play at second, forcing Carty while Torre scored to make it 3-1, Milwaukee.

Jackson flirted with trouble a couple more times, but kept the Braves from increasing their lead. Armed with that lead, Lemaster seemed in full control as he set the Cubs down in order from the fourth through the eighth, retiring 17 Cubs in order at one stretch. Leo Burke was called on to pinch hit for Jackson leading off the top of the ninth, and he became Lemaster’s 17th-straight out with a grounder to Menke at short.

Amalfitano followed with a single to stop the string, just the third hit off Lemaster and first since the top of the opening inning. Lemaster collected himself and quickly retired Cubs shortstop Jimmy Stewart on a lazy fly to Aaron in right. Needing just one more out, Lemaster walked Williams to bring Santo to the plate. The Chicago third baseman had grounded out in the first before being caught looking at strike three in the fourth and lining to Mathews at third in the seventh.

Santo would not have an oh-for-four in the boxscore as he took Lemaster deep and over the left field fence for a 3-run homer to give the Cubs their first lead since 1-0 in the top of the first.

Kennedy called on McDaniel to pitch the ninth, and he made quick work of the Braves. Mathews went down swinging and Menke was caught staring at a third strike. Up 4-3, the dangerous Aaron came to the plate. McDaniel coaxed a grounder to Santo who threw over to Banks at first to give the Cubs a surprising 4-3 win over Milwaukee.

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The dramatic win would do nothing to turn Chicago’s season around; in fact, the Cubs would go 40-49 the rest of the way to finish in eighth in the NL. Bob Kennedy, in his second full season as the North Side’s field boss, would be fired less than 60 games into the 1965 season, but returned to an MLB dugout three years later as the first manager for the Athletics after their move from Kansas City to Oakland. That would be his final season at their helm.

Originally signed by the White Sox in 1937 while working as a teen popcorn vendor at Comiskey Park, Kennedy returned to the Cubs in 1976 as their director of baseball operations. He would also serve as general manager for the Astros. At the time this game was played in 1964, his son Terry was but 8-years-old. The future 4-time All-Star catcher would spend 14 seasons in the big leagues from 1978-91, banging 113 homers in nearly 1,500 games.

The loss did help to ignite a fire under Bobby Bragan’s Braves. Milwaukee won 10 of their next 12 after this game and went 51-34 the rest of the season, including a 13-2 record at the end of the year to finish in fifth in the NL, just five games behind St. Louis in one of the tightest NL races ever.

Another 5th-place finish in 1965 and a 52-59 record in August of 1966, with Milwaukee in fifth once again, led to the brash Bragan’s dismissal from his last MLB managerial job. But he never left the game. Bragan, a former president of the old Texas League, would serve as minor league president for a while, write books and help with fundraising for underprivileged youth leagues. Bragan, who will be 89 this fall, can still be seen at LaGrave Field in Ft. Worth on occasion where the independent Ft. Worth Cats have been reborn.

Denny Lemaster, the tough-luck loser in this one, would end up setting career highs in 1964 with 17 wins and three shutouts. But persistent arm trouble followed after that season, though he continued to pitch until his release from Montreal in July 1972 with a career record of 90-105 and a 3.58 ERA.

Larry Jackson, the lucky winner in the game on July 4, 1964, would also go on to set career highs in 1964, including 24 wins, 19 complete games and almost 298 innings pitched. He would be the lone bright spot on the Cubs’ mound the last six weeks of the ’64 season, winning 10 of his last 12 starts with one no-decision. Chicago dealt him, along with Bob Buhl, to the Phillies early in 1966 in a swap that sent Fergie Jenkins to the Cubs. Jackson retired in 1968 after being selected by the Montreal Expos in the expansion draft. He went on to be a sportswriter and served in the Idaho state legislature after his playing days were over. His career stats included 194 wins, a 3.40 ERA and over 3200 innings logged.

Ron Santo, whose homer won the game for the Cubs in the ninth, was in the midst of arguably his best single season ever. The homer was his 16th for that season and #90 for his career. He would hit 252 more homers before retiring after the 1974 season. In 1964, Santo batted .312, a figure he would match in 1966, poked 30 HR, drove home 114 and scored 94 times. It would be first of 4-straight 30-HR seasons for the Chicago third baseman. He would follow up with hits in his next 12 games after the home run to give him a 14-game streak overall, the longest of his career until he hits safely in 28 during the 1966 season, a streak that ironically ended on July 4th that season. Santo would play in his second of nine All-Star Games just three days after this contest, and he would win the first of 5-straight NL Gold Gloves in 1964.

Santo works as a broadcaster for the Cubs now in their radio booth and his exclusion from Cooperstown is one of the most glaring omissions in the hallowed Hall’s history.