Oct. 5, 1964 - Manager Gene Mauch, who blamed himself for the 10-game losing streak that cost the Phillies the National League pennant, received a new two-year contract today.
Mauch’s old contract had a year to run. It was reported that he received a salary increase.
The Phillies finished in a tie for second place after pacing the league for most of the season before losing a 6½-game lead in the last two weeks.
Mauch said last night as the team was welcomed home by about 10,000 fans that the pennant was “the one thing I wanted all my life that I had a chance for and didn’t get. I lost it. Don’t blame the players, blame me.”
Mauch’s vote of confidence was announced today after he had met with Bob Carpenter, the Phils’ president, and John Quinn, general manager.
Quinn said he and Carpenter believed Mauch had done “a terrific job and there’s no better way to show it” than to give him a new contract.
Mauch, a utility infielder with a number of major league clubs, became manager of the Phillies in 1960 when Eddie Sawyer quit after the first game of the season.
The club finished last the next two seasons with a record 23-game losing streak in 1961. The Phils’ management also voiced its faith in Mauch then. The club rose to seventh in 1962, and the volatile pilot was named “manager of the year.” He led the Phils to a fourth-place finish in 1963.
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