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.

Another heartbreaker was a 1-0 loss to the Yankees on June 20, a game that had been scoreless until the 11^th inning, when the New Yorkers finally pushed a run across when with two outs, Elston Howard drove in Pedro Gonzales, who was pinch running for Mickey Mantle.

Then the very next day, the Sox lost to the Yankees again 2-1 in a game that went an incredible 17 innings.

A day later, the Sox lost another one-run game to the Yanks. This time the Sox scored five runs, but ended up losing 6-5. That was a series that must have had Sox fans tearing out their hair. Any one of those could have been a pennant-winning victory.

The Sox were generally a light-hitting club, with a team batting average of .247, good only for sixth in the ten-team American League. But their pitching was great. They ranked first in the league in shutouts, walks, and in fewest hits, runs, earned runs, and walks given up.

Outfielder Jim Landis, a veteran of the 1959 pennant winners, said that there was even more of a feeling on the 1964 club than on the 1959 club that the Sox were going to win, because the '64 squad had better pitching.

The Sox were in first place as late as September 6, and only ½ game back two weeks before the end of the season before the Yanks made their move. The Sox had a strong September at 18-10, but the Yanks were even better, winning 21 of 25.

But for the purposes of our 1964 World Series that should have been, let's assume that the White Sox won one of those one-run nailbiters in June and ended up American League pennant winners.

Some may wonder why I think the Cubs could have won the pennant in 1964. Because in real life, they finished ten games under .500.

But right before the season started the Cubs lost their superstar second baseman Ken Hubbs, who died in a plane crash. Hubbs had been National League rookie of the year only two years before and his fielding was incredible. He was the first rookie in baseball history to win a Gold Glove Award and set several fielding records in his short career.

In fact, his fielding was so good that he was more like a short center, a position with which Chicago softball players are familiar. Anything hit to the right side of the infield or shallow right or center field was going to be caught by Hubbs.

The Cubs in 1963 were a team that had arrived, finishing over .500 for the first time since 1946.

They had a great nucleus with Hubbs, Ron Santo, Billy Williams, Ernie Banks, pitchers Dick Ellsworth and Larry Jackson, and outfielder Lou Brock. In '63, the Cubs finished second in the league in ERA and second in giving up the fewest runs, earned runs, and walks.

With Hubbs on the team in '64, there is no way the Cubs would have pushed the panic button and traded Lou Brock in June in the absolute worst trade in baseball history. With Brock batting first, Hubbs second, followed by Williams, Santo, and Banks in '64, the Cubs would have been a scoring machine.

Would the Cubs have improved on their '63 record enough to win the pennant? There is no reason to think they wouldn't. The team played the entire '64 season demoralized by the death of the popular Hubbs. That cloud would not have been hanging over them had Hubbs lived.

The St. Louis Cardinals won the National League flag with only 93 victories that year, a pretty low total for those days. With Brock in the Cub lineup instead of in the Cardinal lineup, they wouldn't have won even that many.

So let's assume that in the 1964 season, with Brock leading off and Hubbs batting right behind him, the Cubs win the pennant too, and Chicago gets what New York had most years in the 1950s—a city series.

To find out what the results of that 1964 Sox-Cubs series would have been, I ran the lineups through What If Sports, a website that allows you to run simulation games in a variety of sports. They are located at www.whatifsports.com.

For my book The Forgotten 1970 Chicago Cubs: Go and Glow I ran a simulated 1970 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles through What If Sports, and the website showed that the Cubs would have beaten the Birds in that series four games to one.

In 1964, the Sox would have been favored in the World Series. They would have won 98 or 99 games and had a good mix of youngsters and veterans who had been through myriad pennant races in the 1950s and early 1960s, plus four strong starting pitchers and a good bullpen. The Cubs were a young team that would have taken the pennant with only about 93 or 94 victories, but several of those youngsters were future hall of famers.

So let's go to the 1964 World Series that should have been!

Game 1

Game 1 was held at beautiful Wrigley Field on Oct. 7, 1964. Temperature at game time—1:30 p.m. as all World Series were day games then--was a comfortable 64 degrees, with a cloudy sky and 29 mile per hour wind. This would have been the first World Series game at Wrigley field in 19 years, since Oct. 10, 1945, and the first World Series game between the Cubs and White Sox since Oct. 14, 1906—58 years before.

With Cub starter Dick Ellsworth on the mound, a lefty, Sox manager Al Lopez played his typical lineup against lefthanders.

Leading off was centerfielder Mike Hershberger, who batted .230 that year. Hershberger despite his light hitting was a starter with the Sox and the Kansas City and Oakland A's for seven straight years.

Batting second was one of the Sox' better hitters, right fielder Floyd Robinson who batted .301 in 1964 and got some votes for MVP. Two years earlier, he had led the league with 45 doubles.

Next was shortstop Ron Hansen. Known as a good-field, no stick type of guy in later years, Hansen had his best batting average of his career in 1964 with a .261 average, so Manager Al Lopez had him batting third, and sometimes even cleanup earlier in the season. Hansen got a few votes for MVP that year too.

Veteran first baseman Bill Skowron was the Sox' cleanup hitter. The Sox got him from the Washington Senators that July, and Skowron gave the Sox some needed pop by batting .293 since the trade.

Next was Pete Ward, the Sox' Steady Eddy at third base. He batted .282 and was a slick fielder, so he got some MVP votes that year too.

Young Tom McCraw in only his second year in the bigs was the Sox' leftfielder and sixth-place hitter. He batted .261 that year.

Al Weis became the Sox' second baseman that year after Nellie Fox was traded in the offseason. He batted a respectable .247 and established career highs with 81 hits and 22 stolen bases, a theft total second in the American League. Weis is better known for his later time with the New York Mets, and he would later get the game-winning RBI in game 2 of the 1969 World Series.

Not too well remembered was Sox catcher Camilo Carreon, who batted eighth. Carreon played only 37 games in the 1964 regular season with JC Martin doing most of the backstop duties that year, but Carreon played a lot down the stretch and would have gotten the nod in this game with his .274 average as opposed to Martin's anemic .197.

Starting pitcher for the Sox would have been ace Gary Peters, a 20-game winner that year with a 2.50 ERA.

For the Cubs, without the disastrous Brock-for Broglio trade, leading off and playing right field would have been Sweet Lou, who batted .315 in 1964 and stole 43 bases, good for finishing 10^th in MVP voting.

If Ken Hubbs had lived instead of perishing in a pre-season plane crash, he would have batted second and played second base.

Next came three future Hall of Famers. Billy Williams batted .312 that year with 33 homers and 98 RBI, and garnered some MVP votes.

Ron Santo batted cleanup, with a .313 average, a major league leading 13 triples, a National League high 86 walks, and a league leading .398 on-base percentage.

First baseman Ernie Banks batted fifth. He batted only .264 that year, but had 23 homers and 95 RBI.

After that the quality at the plate fell off. Catcher Dick Bertell was in the number 6 slot, batting .238. Centerfielder Ellis Burton was even worse, batting only .190 and in the lineup for his glove. So was shortstop Andre Rodgers, who was from the Bahamas and batted .239 and would be a Pittsburgh Pirate the next year.

The Cubs called Manager Bob Kennedy their "Head Coach," a leftover from the bizarre College of Coaches days. Kennedy started lefty pitcher Dick Ellsworth, who had made the all-star team that year for the only time in his career.

So the first batter up in the top of the first inning of the first World Series game between the Sox and Cubs since 1906, Sox centerfielder Mike Hershberger singled to right, but then Ellsworth retired the next three batters with no harm done.

In the bottom of the first, Cub Lou Brock did exactly what he was supposed to do: got a base hit to right and then stole second, with Sox catcher Carreon's errant throw sailing into center, with Brock taking third. After Hubbs and Williams made outs, Sox pitcher Peters threw a wild pitch and Brock scored. The rattled Peters then gave up a triple to Santo. After intentionally walking Banks, Peters hit Bertell in the leg by a pitch to load the bases. The light-hitting Burton then singled to left center scoring Santo and Banks, and the Cubs had a surprising 3-0 first inning lead off Peters.

The Sox would get their hits, such as two singles in the top of the second, but would strand runners all day long.

In the bottom of the third, the Cubs struck again, with Williams and Santo walking, Banks hitting an RBI single scoring Williams, Burton doubling to score Santo, and Rodgers singling to score Burton for a 6-0 Cub lead.

Once again in the top of the fifth, Carreon and Robinson singled for the Sox, but were left stranded.

In the bottom of the seventh, Williams singled and the moment that Cub fans had waited all of their lives happened: Ernie Banks smacked a two-run homer over the leftfield foul pole for an unbelievable 8-0 Cub lead.

And the Cubs weren't done yet. In the bottom of the eighth, that top-of-the lineup combo of Brock and Hubbs did the job again. Brock reached first on an error by Sox second baseman Al Weis, and Hubbs followed with a single to drive Brock to third. Billy Williams singled Brock in, and then Santo singled Hubbs in. Finally, Bertell hit a double to centerfield, scoring Williams and Santo.

The result was a 12-0 shellacking by the Cubs over the Sox—totally unexpected since the Sox were known for their stingy pitching, but not unlike the 11-0 Sox victory over the pitching-rich Dodgers in game one of the 1959 World Series. Dick Ellsworth pitched one of the sloppiest shutouts in World Series history by giving up ten hits, but cruised to an easy victory nonetheless.

Game 2

For Game 2, Thursday Oct. 8, the weather was slightly cooler at 55 degrees and less windy at game time and the skies continued to be cloudy over Wrigley Field. With righthander Larry Jackson starting for the Cubs, manager Al Lopez shook up his lineup a little, playing the order he generally used against righties.

Leftfielder McCraw led off. Second baseman Don Buford, who hit .262 in 1964, batted second and could give the White Sox a little more pop than Weis. Robinson moved down to the third slot, Ward moved up to cleanup, Skowron moved down to fifth, Hansen moved down to sixth, and Hershberger moved down to seventh. Carreon, who went four for four the day before, stayed in the lineup and kept catcher JC Martin on the bench. Lefty Juan Pizarro, 19-9 and an All-Star, got the start.

Head Coach Bob Kennedy wasn't going to mess with the lineup that scored 12 runs the day before, with the only change being pitcher Larry Jackson. Jackson led the majors with 24 victories in 1964.

After an uneventful first, first baseman Bill Skowron led off the second inning with a solo homer for the White Sox' first run of the series. After Hansen grounded out, Hersberger hit a double to center. Carreon grounded out, but Pizarro kept the inning alive by getting hit by a pitch. McCraw then smoked a line drive single to right, scoring Hershberger, and the Sox had a 2-0 lead.

In the fifth inning, the Cubs staged a small comeback, as Burton walked, Rogers followed with a single to drive Burton to third, and pitcher Jackson hit a sacrifice fly down the leftfield line to score Burton. After five innings, the score was Sox 2, Cubs 1.

But in the top of the sixth, the Sox got the run right back. After Hansen singled, Hershberger hit a double to right to score Hansen, and the Sox had their two-run lead back.

In the bottom of the sixth Cub third baseman Ron Santo, on fire at the plate in the early going, hit a solo homer to left to make it a one run game with the Sox up 3-2.

In the bottom of the seventh, Head Coach Bob Kennedy pinch hit for pitcher Jackson with Len Gabrielson, but the journeyman outfielder hit into a double play to end the inning.

In the top of the eighth, reliever Don Elston came in. Elston was the classic middle reliever before that term even existed, appearing 48 regular season games, starting zero, and racking up only one save.

Manager Al Lopez pinch hit for pitcher Pizarro in that frame with Dave Nicholson, who reminded the fans why his nickname sometimes was "Swish" just like Cub

Bill Nicholson from the 1940s, as he struck out.

Eddie Fisher came in to pitch for the Sox in the eighth. Fisher had a good season in 1964 with a 6-3 record, 3.02 ERA, and nine saves, but 1965 would be his career year when he led the American league with 82 pitching appearances, finishing 60 games and racking up 24 saves.

In the top of the ninth, Tom McCraw put the icing on the cake for the Sox by hitting a solo homer to right for 4-2 lead.

Closer Hoyt Wilhelm came in for the Sox in the bottom of the ninth. The future Hall of Famer had a great year in '64 with 12 wins, 27 saves, and a 1.99 ERA. Other than Banks getting on base via a Pete Ward error, Wilhelm had no problem with the Cubs in the ninth and earned the game two save as the Sox won 4-2.

This was a classic 1964 White Sox game, with all three pitchers being effective. The Cubs, after pounding out 14 hits the day before, got only six in Game 2.

Game 3

The World Series moved south to Comiskey Park on Saturday, Oct. 10. The weather was cloudy, and cool at 47 degrees. The Cubs' and Sox' lineups remained the same, other than the pitchers.

Veteran righthanded pitcher Bob Buhl, a 15-game winner in 1964, started for the Cubs. The veteran had World Series experience, having played in the Fall Classic in 1957 and 1958 for the Milwaukee Braves. Righthander Joe Horlen and his 1.88 ERA started for the Sox. Horlen was so good he got some votes for MVP that year.

Once again, the Brock-Hubbs combo that Cub fans should have seen throughout the decade came through in the top of the first, with Brock singling to center and then stealing second base. A Hubbs grounder to second moved Brock to third, and Billy Williams drove him in with a double for a 1-0 Cub lead. But in the bottom of the frame, Sox second baseman Don Buford smacked a solo homer to center to tie the game.

In the bottom of the second. catcher Camilo Carreon hit a single to left, and then pitcher Joe Horlen, who batted only .159 for the year, surprised everyone with a single as well. In those days, sometimes pitchers hit surprisingly well in the World Series, as the opposing pitchers generally hadn't seen them before.

Horlen's hit brought up the top of the order with two men on, and the Sox didn't waste the opportunity. Mc Craw hit a groundball single to right to score Carreon, and the hot Buford hit a single to left to score Horlen for a 3-1 Sox lead.

In the third, third baseman Pete Ward, the Sox' leading home run hitter that year with 23, smacked one out down the right field line for a 4-1 Sox lead.

The Cubs tightened it to 4-2 thanks to their strong top of the order. Ken Hubbs walked, and Billy Williams doubled down the leftfield line to drive him in.

The Sox got an insurance run in the seventh when manager Lopez pinch hit for Horlen with lefty Gene Stephens to face the righty Buhl. Stephens had been a starter with the Boston Red Sox in the mid 1950s, and 1964 would be his last year in the majors. Stephens walked, McCraw singled, and Floyd Robinson singled to drive in Stephens.

With a 5-2 lead, closer Hoyt Wilhelm came in in the ninth to face center fielder Ellis Burton, who hit a hot grounder that Hansen fumbled at short for an error. Shortstop Rodgers then doubled to left to drive in Burton to make it 5-3.

Len Gabrielson, an outfielder acquired from the Milwaukee Braves on June 3, then pitch hit and singled, driving Rodgers to third. After Brock struck out, Hubbs hit into a 4-6 fielder's choice, scoring Rodgers and bringing the lead run to the plate in Billy Williams.

Williams almost hit one out, with McCraw catching a long Williams fly at the warning track in left field.

Final: Sox 5, Cubs 4, with the Sox taking a two games to one lead in the series.

Game 4

The series continued at Comiskey on Sunday, Oct. 11, with John Buzhardt, the White Sox's fourth starter, on the mound for the South Siders, while the Cubs went back to lefty Dick Ellsworth, their game one starter. Sox Manager Lopez could have come back with Gary Peters, but he figured that the former Cub Buzhardt would know a thing or two about pitching to his former teammates. The Cubs kept the same lineup they had throughout the series, while the Sox went back to their game one lineup with Weis spelling Buford at second base. The temperature was 54 degrees, with some clouds in the sky but generally a sunny day.

In the bottom of the third, Cub Ron Santo made an error on a groundball from Buzhardt, but with no harm done as the Sox left him stranded at first.

The game was scoreless until the top of the fourth, when the Cubs' Billy Williams hit a flyball double to right field. Buzhardt then drilled Santo in the left leg with a pitch. Banks got his second hit of the day, singling to left field and scoring Williams. Bertell flied out to right field, with Santo tagging up and going to third on a close play. Burton hit an infield single to short with Santo scoring. After Rodgers lined out to third baseman Pete Ward, Ellsworth, who had hit only .046 in 1964, lined a single to left scoring banks for a 3-0 Cub lead.

In the sixth, Don Buford, batting .444 in the series so far, pinch hit for Buzhardt and got hit by an Ellsworth pitch in the knee to become the Sox's second baserunner. After a Hershberger popup to the second baseman, Robinson walked for the Sox's third baserunner of the day. But the Sox failed to score again.

In the seventh, Ellsworth hit McCraw with a pitch for the Sox's fourth baserunner of the day, but the Sox stranded him, too.

So going into the bottom of the ninth, Ellsworth had a no-hitter going. Would it be only the second no-hitter in World Series history? Robinson led off and grounded out to second base. Hansen then popped out to Santo at third. Only Moose Skowron stood between Ellsworth and history.

That history would be a little different than Cub fans hoped. Skowron singled to break up the no-hitter. Ward then singled to center. McCraw singled to right, scoring Skowron.

With the no-hitter and shutout gone and Ellsworth struggling, Cub boss Bob Kennedy brought in Lindy McDaniel to preserve the victory. The Cubs' top closer of 1963 had struggled in 1964, going 1-7 with a 3.88 ERA, but he had racked up 16 saves and Head Coach Kennedy figured McDaniel would rise to the occasion. He did, as Mac struck out Weis, and the Cubs had tied the World Series two games to two.

Lost in the hoopla over Ellsworth's near no-hitter were some other highlights: Ernie Banks had the World Series game he'd been waiting for his whole life, going four-for-four with two doubles, and Lou Brock stole another base.

Game 5

With Sox catcher Camilo Carreon having gone 0 for 3 in the previous game and the series tied 2-2, White Sox manager Al Lopez decided to give the catcher a rest, replacing him with J.C. Martin, the Sox's backstop for most of the year who had lost his job after hitting only .197 for the season.

Game 5 was played at Comiskey park on Monday, Oct. 12, with Larry Jackson taking the mound for the Cubs, and Gary Peters starting for the White Sox. The day was cloudy, but the temperature was a pleasant 60 degrees at game time.

The Cubs wasted no time as the Brock-Hubbs connection came through immediately. Brock hit an infield single to shortstop, and Hubbs blooped a single to left, with the speedy Brock making it to third. Hubbs tried to steal second but was thrown out by Martin. Williams then singled to right to score Brock for a 1-0 Cub lead.

The Cubs continued playing small ball in the second, with Banks beating out an infield single to third, moving to second on a walk to Bertell, and then to third on a Burton groundball to short that forced Bertell at second. Rodgers singled to right, scoring Banks for a 2-0 Cub lead.

In the third, Billy Williams homered to right for a 3-0 Cub lead. Then in the sixth, Banks hit his second homer of the series for a 4-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Jackson sailed along with a shutout until the bottom of the seventh, when Pete Ward led off by doubling to right. A Moose Skowron groundout drove Ward to third, and a Ron Hansen groundout drove him home. But that was all for the White Sox as Jackson got Mike Hershberger to pop out to Ken Hubbs to end the threat.

That was the end of the scoring, as the Cubs won 4-1 with Jackson and Peters both hurling complete games, with Jackosn giving up six hits and Peters 11. The Cubs took a three games to two lead in the World Series heading back to Wrigley Field.

Game 6

Beautiful Wrigley Field on Wednesday, Oct. 14, hosted the game with the best temperature so far in the series, a summer-like 68 on another cloudy day. Lefty Juan Pizarro was back on the mound for the White Sox in an attempt to keep the Cubs from becoming World Series champions, while righty Bob Buhl was back on the hill trying to wrap up the series for the Cubs.

Both teams started the same lineup as the day before, although with catcher Dick Bertell hitting .158 and center fielder Ellis Burton hitting .250, Cub Head Coach Bob Kennedy flipped them in the order, moving Burton up and Bertell down to seventh.

Both pitchers sailed along until the top of the fourth, when Sox right fielder Floyd Robinson lined a single to right. After third baseman Pete Ward flew out, first baseman Moose Skowron doubled down the leftfield line to score Robinson. Shortstop Ron Hansen then singled to right, scoring Skowron for a 2-0 Sox lead.

In the fifth, Sox pitcher Pizarro, who batted .211 on the year—not bad for a pitcher—led off by singling to right. Left fielder Tom McCraw grounded to third and the Cubs got the force at second. Second baseman Don Buford then singled to right, driving McCraw to third. Robinson flew out to Burton in right center and made a good throw to catcher Dick Bertell, but McCraw scored anyway by avoiding the tag at the plate for a 3-0 Sox lead.

In the sixth, the Sox' Skowron singled to center, shortstop Ron Hansen walked, center fielder Mike Hershberger flew out, and catcher Camilo Carreon walked, bringing up pitcher Pizarro. In the most stunning moment of the World Series, Pizarro smacked a grand slam to right field that barely cleared the wall for an insurmountable 7-0 Sox lead.

That was all for Buhl, who was followed by two Cub hurlers who had not pitched in the series before, Sterling Slaughter and Wayne Schurr.

Mop up men Slaughter and Schurr were two of those guys you see in every World Series who were at the right place at the right time. 1964 was the only year in the majors for both of them. Slaughter had a 2-4 record with a 5.75 ERA, and Schurr was 0-0 with a 3.72 ERA.

In the ninth inning, the Cubs had their only offensive highlight of the day when right fielder Lou Brock crushed a solo homer to right field.

Final: White Sox 7, Cubs 1. It was the Sox's best offensive showing of the series, and the Cubs' worst.

So with the pitching and hitting of Pizarro, the White Sox knotted up the World Series at three games apiece, assuring a seven-game classic for 1964.

Game 7

The 1906 Fall Classic between the Sox and the Cubs had gone only six games, so Thursday, Oct. 15, saw the first ever seventh game of the World Series between the two teams. The place was the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field, as the biggest game in Chicago baseball history got underway under fair skies with a perfect temperature of 72 degrees.

The starting pitcher for the Sox was Joe Horlen, and the Cubs' starter was Dick Ellsworth, who was hoping to become only the 11^th pitcher in major league history to win three games in the same World Series, and the first since the Milwaukee Braves' Lew Burdette did it in 1957.

Sox Manager Al Lopez, instead of playing the lineup that he had previously penciled in against Ellsworth in games one and four, stuck with the lineup that had gotten him seven runs the previous day.

Cub Head Coach Bob Kennedy made a few changes at the bottom of the lineup. With catcher Dick Bertell hitting only .136, Kennedy instead started backup catcher Jimmie Schaffer, a .205 hitter in 1964, batting eighth. Shortstop Andre Rodgers, batting a cool .318, moved up to sixth place in the lineup, and center fielder Burton went back to the number seven spot.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third when centerfielder Ellis Burton came out of his mini slump after going hitless in the previous two games by smacking a solo homer to right field that barely cleared the wall.

The Cubs kept that 1-0 lead for the next few innings, and in the bottom of the sixth, Cub pitcher Dick Ellsworth singled and right fielder Lou Brock walked. After second baseman Ken Hubbs flew out to right, left fielder Billy Williams doubled to left to drive in Ellsworth and Brock. After a groundout by third baseman Ron Santo, first baseman Ernie Banks hit a flyball to Sox centerfielder Mike Hershberger, but the ball ricocheted off his glove for an error and Williams scored for a 4-0 Cub lead.

In the Cub seventh, Burton singled to right, and Schaffer got his first hit of the World Series, singling to center. After Ellsworth struck out, Brock hit into a fielder's choice, scoring Burton for a 5-0 Cub lead.

In the top of the ninth, the Sox proved they weren't going to go down without a fight as third baseman Pete Ward homered to left center field, and Moose Skowron followed with a single. But in those days managers didn't necessarily lift starters when they got in trouble, so Kennedy left Ellsworth in.

Sox shortstop Ron Hansen flew out to left field and Hershberger hit into a fielder's choice, leaving the Cubs only one out away from their first World Series win since 1908.

Catcher Camilo Carreon was the Sox's last hope. He hit a ground ball to shortstop Andre Rodgers, who threw to first baseman Ernie Banks for the final out of a 5-1 victory, and the Cubs were World Champions of 1964.

Analysis

The great Kansas City and St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog in his book You're Missin' A Great Game  noted that in the old days, when teams played each other 18 to 22 times per year, they really got to know the other players. So in the World Series, sometimes odd things happened because the teams don't know each other—particularly before interleague play.

So in this fantasy 1964 World Series, unfortunately for the White Sox their best batters were pitchers Juan Pizarro and Joel Horlen, and pitchers doing well at the plate would actually happen sometimes, because the opposition often hadn't had a lot of experience pitching to them. For example, Kenny Holtzman batted .667 in the 1973 World Series, and .500 in the 1974 World Series, with a homer and a double.

But it's tough to win a World Series with your pitchers as your best hitters. Sox first baseman Bill Skowron had a great 1964 fantasy series, batting .379 with a homer and two doubles, as did catcher Camilo Carreon, batting .368. Third baseman Pete Ward batted .241 with two homers, but the rest of the regulars were mediocre.

Second Baseman Don Buford batted .227, left fielder Tom McCraw batted .214, and outfielders Mike Hershberger and Floyd Robinson and shortstop Ron Hansen were under .200. As a team, the Sox batted .235, which actually was not much under their 1964 team average of .247.

On the mound for the Sox, lefty starter Juan Pizarro was spectacular with two victories, 14 strikeouts, and a 1.69 ERA, and starter Joel Horlen also came through with a victory and a 3.86 ERA. Future Hall of Fame closer Hoyt Wilhelm got two saves.

Starter John Buzhardt lost his one start but did OK, but starter Gary Peters just didn't have it in this series, losing two games with a 7.55 ERA. The staff ERA in this series was 4.13, a far cry from the 2.72 ERA they racked up in the regular season.

And for a team known for its pitching and defense, ten errors in the series caused some harm.

As for the Cubs, both leftfielder Billy Williams and first baseman Ernie Banks had a World Series for the ages. Billy batted .423 with a homer, four doubles, and five RBI, and Ernie hit. 333 with two homers, two doubles, and five RBI.

Often in the World Series, marginal players come through and that's what happened with centerfielder Ellis Burton and shortstop Andre Rodgers. Burton, a lifetime .216 hitter, batted .269 with a homer, a double, and five RBI. Rodgers, a lifetime .249 hitter, batted .291.

Both of these guys make one think of Joe Rudi, whom nobody outside of Oakland had ever heard of until he caught fire in the 1972 World Series. The kind of series that Rudi had and that Burton and Rodgers might have had is good for adding a few extra years on a player's career.

Right fielder Lou Brock would have batted .226, but also would have stolen four bases.

Third baseman Ron Santo would have slumped with a below .200 average, but also would have gotten four extra-base hits, including a homer. Second baseman Ken Hubbs and catcher Dick Bertell also would have been below .200, but they were in the lineup for their defense anyway and both played errorless ball.

On the mound, Dick Ellsworth would have been incredible with a near no-hitter, a 3-0 record, and a microscopic 0.67 ERA. Starter Larry Jackson also would have contributed a victory and racked up a 2.25 ERA.

Overall, the Cubs' ERA would have been a neat 2.71.

In the end, the Cubs played to their strength with good hitting, but the Sox did not with their pitching and defense falling down on the job.

Sports podcaster extraordinaire John Conenna had me on his podcast to talk about this dream World Series. See:  https://www.youtube.com/