60 years ago, the Phillies had a season that spanned the baseball globe, bringing the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Throughout 2024, I’ll write a series of stories about the 1964 season, which painfully ended without a trip to a World Series.

10-2 and 2-10.

Those numbers, unmatched in franchise history, were bookends for the 1964 Phillies, a season of cheers that ended with jeers.

Fresh from back-to-back winning seasons, the Phillies’ first since 1952 and 1953, manager Gene Mauch’s club began the 1964 season by winning 10 of their first 12 games -- the best 12-game start since the franchise’s first pennant in 1915 (11-1).

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Leading by 6.5 games with 12 left, a sure pennant vanished during a 2-10 finish. Those 10 losses were consecutive (the longest losing streak up to then had been four games). Dreams of a World Series turned into a nightmare that plagued generations. Details of that infamous losing streak will come in the September summary later this year.

Over the course of the season, the Phillies were in first place for 132 days. A win on July 16 (game No. 84) in Pittsburgh put them in first place (50-34) until a Sept. 27 (game No. 157) loss to Milwaukee, the final home game. That was loss No. 7 of the 10. Game No. 162 (Oct. 4) was a win in Cincinnati that ended the bitter season in a tie for second place. Yes, 92 wins were the most in club history since 94 in 1899. It didn’t matter.

The year before they won 87 games while finishing fourth. Much of the same young nucleus returned. The two biggest additions were 32-year-old right-hander Jim Bunning, a six-time All-Star acquired in a trade with the Detroit Tigers, and a 22-year-old rookie, Richie Allen, playing at third base, a position he never played in his four-year Minor League career. Third base had been a revolving door -- 25 different players since 1959.

Returning from a tough 12-game road trip (St. Louis, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, June 26-July 5) the Phillies were in first place, 1.5 games up. Prior to the trip (June 21) Bunning threw the first perfect game in Phillies history. After the trip (July 7), Johnny Callison’s three-run walk-off homer in the All-Star Game won it for the National League. Both were major national headline stories.

The Phillies made the cover of Sports Illustrated on Aug. 10, an action photo of Callison with a headline: “Philadelphia’s Johnny Callison. Pennant Fever After 14 Years.” SI, by the way, sold for 30 cents then. Over the magazine’s history a cover story was often considered a jinx. Did that jinx begin 60 years ago?

The town was buzzing about the Phillies for the first time since 1950. Would this be another World Series, finally? There were no division winners or Wild Card teams back then, just the top team from each league making it.

The team played sound fundamental baseball. Everything Mauch did worked. Double switches, platooning, pinch-hitters, defensive replacements, hit-and-run, squeeze plays. He loved to bunt early and get on the scoreboard first. Allen and Callison provided the long ball. Bobby Wine, Ruben Amaro, Tony Taylor and Cookie Rojas anchored the middle infield. Bunning was a sensation. Chris Short was a solid No. 2 starter and Jack Baldschun closed games.

Heading down the stretch, the buzzing intensified. But now, everything that had gone right on the field, started to go wrong. Fundamentals turned sloppy. “For 150 games I could stumble over home plate, and it would turn into two runs,” Mauch said.

Going into the final 12 games, knowing they needed just one win, Mauch started Bunning and Short on two days’ rest, but they couldn’t pick up a win. Prior to the streak, Bunning and Short had combined for a 35-12 record and 2.15 ERA. In the streak they were 0-5, 7.89 (Dave Smith, Retrosheet).

One other note about Mauch’s pitching decision, the Phillies had a day off in Pittsburgh on Aug. 27 and didn’t have one again until Oct. 1 in Cincinnati. In between those dates, they played 34 games in 35 days, which was very taxing on the rotation, which also included Art Mahaffey (12-9), Dennis Bennett (12-14) and Ray Culp (8-7). Mahaffey’s last win was Aug. 29; Bennett’s, Sept. 15, and Culp’s, July 22.

Offensively, the Phillies scored 4.3 runs per game, while posting a .260 average and a .771 OPS before the streak. Then, 3.4 runs per game, a .217 average and .630 OPS in the streak. Allen was the only one who performed better, with a .425 average and a 1.076 OPS. Callison, hit .275 with a .902 OPS. Callison had four homers during the streak, Alex Johnson had three and Allen one (Dave Smith, Retrosheet).

Defensively, 13 errors and five passed balls helped lead to eight unearned runs. For the entire season, the Phils' 157 errors were fourth fewest in N.L.

One other nugget: A 4-3 loss on Saturday night in LA (Sept. 19) came on a steal of home by Willie Davis in the 16^th inning. A 5-hour, 13-minute marathon. The Phils won on Sunday afternoon, 3-2, and headed east to play the Reds the next night at Connie Mack Stadium. A steal of home by rookie Chico Ruiz with Frank Robinson at-bat in the sixth inning produced a 1-0 loss that began the fatal 10-game fold. Three days, three games, two steal-of-home, over 10 hours of tense baseball in two different time zones.

Critics blamed Mauch for losing the pennant. It was more than starting Bunning and Short on short rest. It was a total team effort, unfortunately.

Going into the last day of the season (Sunday, Oct. 4) the Cardinals (first place) were home to face the woeful Mets while the Phils (third place) were in Cincinnati (second place). A St. Louis loss and Phillies win would create an unprecedented three-team round-robin playoff scenario (double elimination). Game 1 would be the next day, with the Reds at the Phillies, followed by the Cardinals at Reds on Tuesday and the Phillies at Cardinals on Wednesday. We were told to report to the stadium on Sunday night and be prepared to work all night. Details were to come on a phone call.

St. Louis rallied for a pennant-clinching win over the Mets. Our phone call never came.

Weeks were spent planning for a World Series that would start on Oct. 7 at Connie Mack Stadium. The four-color World Series cover was printed. (Don’t tell anyone but we used that cover for the 1966 Yearbook.) Tickets were printed and press pins were produced. A bulldozer stood by waiting to move ground by both dugouts to make room for additional field level seats.

Sadly, the Phillies headed home. So did the bulldozer.