Beginning of the end

A stunned Monday night crowd of 20,067 at Connie Mack Stadium finds itself at the epicenter of the beginning to the end for the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies 60 years ago today as Cincinnati rookie Chico Ruiz brazenly steals home with two outs in the sixth inning against right-hander Art Mahaffey.

Ruiz’s daring dash – with a surprised future Hall of Famer Frank Robinson at the plate, no less – accounts for the only run in a 1-0 game.

Ruiz easily scores as a startled Mahaffey throws his pitch past catcher Clay Dalrymple.

The Phillies fritter away a great opportunity to tie the score off Reds starter John Tsitouris in the ninth as Wes Covington leads off the inning with a double to right-center.

Tsitouris promptly retires John Herrnstein on a pop-up to shortstop Leo Cardenas and Dalrymple on a grounder to second baseman Pete Rose before walking Tony Taylor and then striking out Ruben Amaro Sr. to end the game.

The first-place Phillies, who begin the night with a 6 ½-game lead with only 12 games to go, end up losing 10 straight games – a skid that costs them the National League pennant.

The monumental collapse scars a generation of Phillies fans, a burden many of their descendants still share.

“Losing streaks are funny,” Phillies manager Gene Mauch later says. “If you lose at the beginning (of the season), you got off to a bad start. If you lose in the middle of the season, you’re in a slump. If you lose at the end, you’re choking.”