1963 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1963 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1963 in baseball.

The 1963 Major League Baseball season was contested from April to October 1963. The American League and National League both featured ten teams, with each team playing a 162-game schedule.

In the World Series the Los Angeles Dodgers swept the New York Yankees in four straight games. The Dodgers' stellar pitching staff, anchored by left-hander Sandy Koufax and right-hander Don Drysdale, was so dominant that the vaunted Yankees, despite the presence of sluggers such as Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in their lineup, never took a lead against Los Angeles the entire Series.

Champions

Major League Baseball

Awards and honors

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax

MLB statistical leaders

  American League National League
Type Name Stat Name Stat
AVG Carl Yastrzemski BOS .321 Tommy Davis LAD .326
HR Harmon Killebrew MIN 45 Hank Aaron MLN
Willie McCovey SFG
44
RBI Dick Stuart BOS 118 Hank Aaron MLN 130
Wins Whitey Ford NYY 24 Sandy Koufax1 LAD
Juan Marichal SFG
25
ERA Gary Peters CHW 2.33 Sandy Koufax1 LAD 1.88
SO Camilo Pascual MIN 202 Sandy Koufax1 LAD 306
SV Stu Miller BAL 27 Lindy McDaniel CHC 22
SB Luis Aparicio BAL 40 Maury Wills LAD 40

1 National League Triple Crown Pitching Winner

Season recap

In the American League, the Yankees were in the 4th of 5 straight pennant winning years, and, led by MVP Elston Howard, cruised to the American League title by 10.5 games over the 2nd place White Sox.

In the National League, most experts figured the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers would be locked in another battle for the pennant, much like 1962 when the Giants came from behind and beat the Dodgers in a playoff. The Dodgers started slowly, perhaps feeling the hangover effect from blowing the pennant the year before. They were 2 games under .500 in early May, and trailed the surprising St. Louis Cardinals by 4.5 games. Then their pitching asserted itself, and on August 28, the Dodgers led the Giants by 5.5 games and the Cardinals by 6.5 games. The Cardinals proceeded to win 19 of their next 20 games and, while the Dodgers didn't exactly slump, they went "only" 14–7 during that same period. Thus, the Dodgers went into St. Louis on September 16 to play the Cardinals in a 3-game series leading by only 1 game. With the memory of blowing the 1962 pennant fresh in their minds, the Dodgers proceeded to sweep the Cardinals and take a 4-game lead with 7 games to go. The key game was the third one; the Cardinals led 5–1 in the 8th inning and a win would move them back to within 2 games of L.A. But the Dodgers got 3 in the 8th and in the top of the 9th, late season call up Dick Nen, in only his 8th major league at bat, hit a pinch hit homer to force extra innings. The Cardinals got a leadoff triple from Dick Groat in the 10th but could not score. The Dodgers then scored an unearned run in the 13th inning and won, 6–5. The disheartened Cardinals then lost their next 3 games as well while the Dodgers won 3 of their next 4 to clinch the pennant with 6 games left.

Major league baseball final standings

American League final standings

Rank Club Wins Losses Win %   GB
1st New York Yankees 104   57 .646    
2nd Chicago White Sox 94   68 .580   10.5
3rd Minnesota Twins 91   70 .565   13.0
4th Baltimore Orioles 86   76 .531   18.5
5th Detroit Tigers 79   83 .488   25.5
6th Cleveland Indians 79   83 .488   25.5
7th Boston Red Sox 76   85 .472   28.0
8th Kansas City Athletics 73   89 .451   31.5
9th Los Angeles Angels 70   91 .435   34.0
10th Washington Senators 56   106 .346   48.5

National League final standings

Rank Club Wins Losses Win %   GB
1st Los Angeles Dodgers 99   63 .611    
2nd St. Louis Cardinals 93   69 .574   6.0
3rd San Francisco Giants 88   74 .543   11.0
4th Philadelphia Phillies 87   75 .537   12.0
5th Cincinnati Reds 86   76 .531   13.0
6th Milwaukee Braves 84   78 .519   15.0
7th Chicago Cubs 82   80 .506   17.0
8th Pittsburgh Pirates 74   88 .457   25.0
9th Houston Colt .45s 66   96 .407   33.0
10th New York Mets 51   111 .315   48.0

Managers

American League

Team Manager Comments
Baltimore Orioles Billy Hitchcock
Boston Red Sox Johnny Pesky
Chicago White Sox Al López
Cleveland Indians Birdie Tebbetts
Detroit Tigers Bob Scheffing Replaced during the season by Chuck Dressen
Kansas City Athletics Ed Lopat
Los Angeles Angels Bill Rigney
Minnesota Twins Sam Mele
New York Yankees Ralph Houk Won the American League pennant
Washington Senators Mickey Vernon Replaced during the season by Gil Hodges

National League

Team Manager Comments
Chicago Cubs College of Coaches
Cincinnati Reds Fred Hutchinson
Houston Colt .45's Harry Craft
Los Angeles Dodgers Walter Alston Won the World Series
Milwaukee Braves Bobby Bragan
New York Mets Casey Stengel
Philadelphia Phillies Gene Mauch
Pittsburgh Pirates Danny Murtaugh
San Francisco Giants Alvin Dark
St. Louis Cardinals Johnny Keane

Events

Births

January–March

April–June

July–September

October–December

Deaths

January–March

April–June

July–September

October–December

Uniforms

In an attempt to create an identity distinguishable from all other teams, Kansas City Athletics owner Charlie Finley changed the team uniforms to kelly green and yellow. This tradition of "green and gold" has been preserved to this day, although the kelly green has since been replaced with forest green. Finley also changed the Athletics' cleats to white instead of the standard black. Coaches and managers were also given white hats, which were dropped when the Athletics adopted new colors in 1993. The white cleats were dropped in 2000, but were revived in 2008.

References

  1. Snyder, John (2010). 365 Oddball Days in Chicago Cubs History. United States: Accessible Publishing Systems. p. 570. ISBN 9781459607255..
  2. Pellowski, Michael J (2007). The Little Giant Book of Baseball Facts. United States: Sterling Publishing Co. p. 352. ISBN 9781402742736.

External links

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