The '64 Phillies

At the beginning of the 1964 baseball season, I was finishing my freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.  As I wanted to get ahead of my graduation requirements, I stayed at Penn for summer school during the baseball season's "dog days."  At the end of the season, I was beginning my sophomore year.  Thus, I had an opportunity to view up close the ups and downs of the Philadelphia Phillies' entire momentous 1964 season.

From its first day in April until the final two weeks in September, the '64 Phillies, led by Johnny Callison, Dick Allen, Chris Short and Jim Bunning, were in first place at the top of the National League.  They had a record of 90 wins and 60 losses.  The Phillies led the second place Cincinnati Reds by 6 & 1/2 games with only 12 to play.  Their fans were ready to celebrate the team's first championship in fourteen years.  

However, the Phillies lost their next ten games, including the first seven at home.  They finished the season tied for second place (with the Reds) one game behind the National League pennant winner and World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals.

Those ten losses in a row (known as the "phold" in Philadelphia) are considered to be one of the greatest collapses in sports history.  What happened?  Some point the finger at Phillies Manager Gene Mauch who seemed to panic when he decided to start some of his best pitchers on short rest during this final stretch run.  It didn't work.  In a 26 year career as a baseball manager, his teams never won a league championship (pennant).  

I did not go to any of the final seven home games, but I followed the Phillies with close attention by reading the Evening Bulletin, a now defunct local newspaper.  However, I did go to numerous games in 1964, especially during the summer.  I remember getting off the Broad Street Subway at Lehigh Avenue and walking about ten blocks through an African American neighborhood to arrive at Connie Mack Stadium, named for a Philadelphia baseball icon, then home of the Phillies.

At one point, I came up with an idea.  I had the habit of always buying a program when I went to baseball games in order to keep score using my own system.  Why not try to get a job selling programs at Connie Mack?  I could make some money and see games for free.  No downside.  

So, one day when the Phillies were on the road, I went to the stadium and spoke to the person responsible for hiring vendors.  In spite of my youth (18 years-old) and experience (none), he hired me to sell programs.  Maybe, he said, I could eventually work my way up to selling hot dogs, the best money maker.  I would earn a commission for each program I sold and after a few innings, when there were no more customers or no more programs, I could find an empty seat and watch the rest of the game.  I was not required to come to all the games, only those I could.  He gave me an identity card which gave me access to the stadium and the beginning of my first real job (not working for my father).

I went to some games afterward, but I never went back to Connie Mack to work as a program vendor.  I have been puzzled over the years as to why I didn't.  It was still a good idea, so why did I not follow through?

One reason I didn't was fear.  It was a pattern during this period of my life, letting fear control my behavior.  Instead of enjoying the excitement of a new experience, I dreaded the worst case scenario.

Another reason I believe was a kind of attitude, perhaps coming from my upbringing (What would my parents think?), that I was "too good" to sell programs at a ball park, that I was lowering myself.  I am ashamed to think this was why.  

Forty-three years later I took a job as a customer service representative, earning minimum wage, at Kohl's Department Store in Durham, North Carolina.  I was not "too good" any longer.  I am proud of that experience.