The Chico Ruiz steal of home vs. Phillies, 1964

Remember Chico Ruiz? Quite likely you do not, even if you are an inveterate long-time baseball fan. Ruiz enjoyed his slice of fame even though that slice ended up meteoric. I assure you it was not insignificant. You needn't just pay heed to this blog post re. this. There was an actual historical novel written about his episode. It can still be purchased. It's called "64 Intruder" by Gregory T. Glading.
Yes, the year was 1964. I was nine years old. It was a big year for my family as we went to the New York World's Fair with the University of Minnesota-Morris men's chorus. UMM was only three years old, quite the energetic youngster. Our Minnesota Twins were only in their fourth year.
But out East, the Philadelphia Phillies were quite the story. The Phillies looked for most of that summer like they were virtually destined to take the National League pennant. Their fans were exuberant and felt it was about time. Chico Ruiz? He was a mere utility player for the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds with Frank Robinson, the recently-deceased Hall of Famer, were a quality team, capable of contending to be sure. But the Phils seemed to have the momentum.
The Philly manager was Gene Mauch, later to become manager of the Twins. He had a career-long reputation of being snakebit. Baseball historians seem to have concluded that Mauch kept getting gigs because, even though snakebit, he got more out of teams than if they had played without him. So Mauch led the Phils through a '64 campaign that seemed charmed for so long. They stayed near or in first place.
Their fortunes surged. Beginning in early August, they built a substantial lead over a two-week period. By August 20, their bulge over the closest challenger was 7 1/2 games! You could envision uncorking the champagne. They had a spell of going 12-4. All-star Johnny Callison was in right field. He was a favorite of future Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. Callison hit a walk-off game-winning home run in the 1964 All-Star Game in New York City. Jim Bunning highlighted the pitching staff. There was spectacular rookie Richie Allen, later to be called "Dick" by his preference - what a pure slugger. Chris Short was a pitching stalwart.
 
The pivotal, historic moment
The totally fateful day was September 21. Those blessed Phils owned a 90-60 record.
The blessing was going to be cursed by a play that took mere seconds and came out of the blue. Little did fans know that the one fleeting play would turn into a hex, according to legend. The Reds were no slouch as they owned an 83-66 record, 17 games over .500. Their manager was Dick Sisler. A young Pete Rose was on the team.
Fate entered the picture in the top of the sixth inning with the score 0-0. First Pete Rose grounded out to second baseman Tony Taylor. Ruiz came to bat and singled to right. Vada Pinson - remember him? - then hit a long single that advanced Ruiz to third. Callison threw out Pinson who was trying for a double. Here's Frank Robinson at the plate. He sported a .306 average with 27 home runs. Quite formidable. The Phillies had Art Mahaffey on the mound. There were two outs. Ruiz had an instinct to steal home, quite the exotic play. Would this be wise with the Reds' best hitter at bat?

Mahaffey seemed instantly distracted and disrupted. He threw a wild pitch. The Reds won this game 1-0. More significantly, the Phillies were never the same over the rest of the campaign. The legend grew of a hex that the little guy, Ruiz, had appeared to impose. Thus we got the Gregory T. Glading book "64 Intruder." The reviews I read online indicate the book could have used better editing, but it's fundamentally good and inspired, a must-read for those inveterate baseball fans.
Maybe the problem for the Phils was that Mauch lost his cool following the game. He lashed out with profanities. It was just one game. Had the Phillies won the pennant, which they should have, the Ruiz play would surely have gotten buried in total obscurity. Maybe the Phillies could have looked back later and laughed about the whole thing. But the legendary "hex" absolutely sank them. Vic Power, ending his career with Philadelphia at the time, later recalled that "it seemed we played a close game every day and lost."
The Phillies went into a ten-game tailspin. The final 12 games saw the Phillies go 2-10. St. Louis went 9-3 and eked out the pennant. The Cardinals with a young Lou Brock, formerly a member of the St. Cloud MN "Rox," beat the Yankees in the World Series.
Samuel Alito and his fellow Philadelphia fans could close their eyes and imagine their team basking in the glory, so easy. Just like Minnesota Twins fans immediately following the 1967 season. I know exactly how it feels.
Ruiz's steal of home seemed an unlikely strategy at the time. That apparent conventional wisdom has given way to sabermetrics which instructs us that the play did not go against the percentages at all. There is a detailed sabermetric analysis of the Ruiz play called "In defense of Chico Ruiz's mad dash." I have never forgotten the drama of the Ruiz play and the "jinx" of legend it applied.
So, I have written a song called "He Stole Home, Ballad of Chico Ruiz." Perhaps I'll have it recorded and placed on YouTube, we'll see. In the meantime I'm pleased to share the lyrics here. The melody is strophic. Here we go:
 
"He Stole Home, Ballad of Chico Ruiz"
by Brian Williams

He stole home in autumn of '64
And unleashed a hex upon the Phils
To this day it has its place in Phillies' lore
The score was one to nil

There he was, a little guy no superstar
Perched at third and missing not one beat
He could sense a way to play his winning card
With fans on edge of seats

But no one envisioned what was in store
As the Reds and Phillies played their game
They would see that little guy break down the door
And grab his piece of fame

For the Reds, he was just utility
Not a name that stands out in the stats
Never mind, he had a sense to run and steal
To win without his bat

For the Phils, the game was a harbinger
Of a drought that burst their bubble true
Up 'til then their fans were feeling self-assured
Their team was coming through

Leaves were brown as fans came to Connie Mack
With the host in first and looking good
They could yawn and feel no need for looking back
No need to knock on wood

So they watched a duel of pitching arms
For the Phils, Mahaffey was the guy
And he looked just like a golfer under par
The bats he did defy

But the Reds were not going to fade away
On this night with season's end so close
So they fought and found a way to win the game
The home team sure felt hosed

After that, the Phils were a sinking ship
All the air had gone out from their sails
All because that little guy was into it
And made his team prevail

To this day, the mem'ry just casts a pall
For the Phils, the sadness will not cease
Just because a guy named Chico wowed them all
His last name was Ruiz

In a flash, he made baseball history
No one saw it coming, that's for sure
With a steal of home he shook obscurity
So fast it seemed a blur

He showed balls the way heroes often do
With no mind for what the odds suggest
And it was not long before the legend grew
Of how the Phils were hexed

With Gene Mauch, the Phils were a staggered crew
As the end of season came along
He could not pull strings to get a winning brew
Their bats would not go long

Looking back, we could say it was a choke
That their run was nothing but a tease
But we knew the truth was with that common bloke
His name Chico Ruiz

Was it all a matter of destiny
With the fans in Philly left to moan?
All because one little guy would aim to please
By gamely stealing home

He was on a team with Frank Robinson
And Pete Rose, a who's who that's for sure
And compared to them he only played for crumbs
And yet his drive was pure

What a scrum the race for the pennant was
In that year with LBJ in charge
There were five teams with their eye on No. 1
The pennant looming large

In the end it was not the Philly crew
Nor the Reds with Chico in the ranks
No instead it was the Cardinals coming through
They were not firing blanks

With Lou Brock, the Redbirds were on their way
And Curt Flood - the winning mix was sure
And the World Series would be on their plate
Against the Yankee crew

He stole home - it might seem like yesterday
'Cause it lives in annals of the game
For the Phillies fans it sure was hell to pay
When Chico won the day

He stole home. . .he stole home (fade)


- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com