RetroSimba

(Updated Dec. 24, 2018)

Dennis Bennett played a role in the drama that enabled the Cardinals to overcome the Phillies in the final two weeks of the regular season and win the 1964 National League pennant.

Bennett was a member of the Phillies’ starting rotation in 1964. Before the season, he predicted he’d win 20. His record through July 5 was 9-5, but he lost his next seven decisions.

In early September, Bennett began to regain his winning form, giving Phillies manager Gene Mauch hope for a reliable starter to join stalwarts Jim Bunning and Chris Short. Crediting a sidearm delivery with giving him better control and enabling him to keep his pitches low in the strike zone, Bennett told The Sporting News, “My ball is moving much more. The curve is really breaking off now.”

A left shoulder ailment knocked Bennett off track again.

Bennett, who lost to the Cardinals on May 4 Boxscore and again on July 25 Boxscore, made his last start of the 1964 season on Sept. 29 at St. Louis.

The Cardinals and Phillies were headed in opposite directions. St. Louis had won six in a row and Philadelphia had lost eight in a row. The Cardinals began the day a game behind the first-place Reds and a half-game ahead of the Phillies.

According to the David Halberstam book “October 1964,” Bennett had tendinitis in his left shoulder, resulting in “a dead arm.” Pitching in pain, Bennett was no match for the red-hot Cardinals. They scored a run in the first on a Dick Groat RBI-double and scored twice in the second on a Tim McCarver RBI-single and a Curt Flood RBI-groundout. Bennett was lifted after giving up three runs, five hits and a walk in 1.1 innings.

The Cardinals won, 4-2, and, paired with the Pirates’ 2-0 victory over the Reds, moved into a tie with Cincinnati for first place. The Associated Press reported the defeat was “a near-fatal blow to the Phillies’ slim pennant hopes.” Boxscore

St. Louis went on to win the pennant and the World Series title. Bennett, who finished 12-14 in 1964, was 0-3 with a 15.83 ERA in four games against the Cardinals that season. On Nov. 29, 1964, Bennett was traded to the Red Sox for first baseman Dick Stuart.

Boston, which had a 4.50 team ERA in 1964, was desperate for pitching and was hopng Bennett would become their best left-handed starter since Mel Parnell, who retired after the 1956 season.

Bennett never developed into a big winner. He pitched for the Red Sox, Mets and Angels, appearing in his final big-league game in 1968. He was 43-47 with a 3.69 ERA in seven major-league seasons.

Bennett did get a measure of revenge against the Cardinals. His final big-league win came against them at St. Louis in the first game of a doubleheader on July 16, 1967. Starting for the Mets, Bennett held the Cardinals to one run in seven innings and New York won, 2-1, on Ed Kranepool’s two-run home run against Ray Washburn in the seventh. Boxscore

In 14 career appearances against the Cardinals, Bennett was 2-7 with a 5.95 ERA.

Previously: Ryne Duren threw roadblock at 1964 Cardinals