Now that the 2007 Mets collapse has unseated the Phillies as having the dubious honor of greatest late season collapse in Baseball History, one can now look back at one of the greatest moments from that 1964 season that just happens to have is 45th anniversary this coming Sunday.

Jim Bunning was the Phillies most famous #14 since Del Ennis and until some guy nicknamed “Charlie Hustle” came along in 1979.  I didn’t begin to follow baseball until the end of Bunning’s career, but from what I’ve read and gathered from people who saw him pitch he was a heck of a pitcher who was the first to ever win 100 games in both the NL and AL en route to the Hall of Fame.

Bunning took the mound against the Mets on June 21, 1964 at the Mets new home, Shea Stadium (home of the 1964 All-Star Game) and was perfect.  Bunning has since admitted that he’s pitched games where he had better stuff but everything fell into place during that game in front of a Father’s Day crowd of 32,026.   Johnny Callison, who would win the All-Star Game at Shea less than a month later with a homer, homered in the game and Bunning knocked in two runs as the Phillies won 6-0.  Bunning struck out 10 Mets and improved to 7-2 with the win.   It was the first perfect game in the NL in 84 years.

Unfortunately the season did not end as well as this day did, but that story is for another time.  Let’s just look back on this one a smile.

Happy Father’s Day!!