Member-only story
Dream World Series Could Have Happened for Chicago — in 1964
If Cub second baseman Ken Hubbs had lived, and if the White Sox had beaten the Yankees one more time…
By William S. Bike
The year 1964 was a year that Chicago could have seen both of its teams in the World Series.
It’s easy to see why I say that the White Sox could have won the American League flag in 1964. That year saw a great pennant race in the American League, with the New York Yankees finishing first by winning 99 games, the Sox only one game behind with 98, and the Baltimore Orioles third with 97, only one game behind the Sox.
A key statistic is that the Sox were a woeful 6–12 against the Yankees that year, so literally if the Sox had just won one of those 12 losses against the Bombers, the Sox would have finished first.
A 4–3 loss on June 14 could have been that victory, as the Sox were up 3–1 at Yankee Stadium in the ninth inning of the second game of a doubleheader, but the Yanks made a comeback and won in the tenth inning with future Hall of Fame reliever Hoyt Wilhelm taking the loss in relief. In the first game, Sox star pitcher Juan Pizarro was expected to beat Yankee bottom of the barrel spot-starter and journeyman Bud Daley, but the Yanks won that one, too.
