1963 in baseball


Champions

Major League Baseball

1 National League Triple Crown pitching winner

Major league baseball final standings

American League final standings

National League final standings

Nippon Professional Baseball final standings

Central League final standings

Pacific League final standings

Events

January

  • January 10 – Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley creates the position of athletic director, and hires ex-Air Force Academy director Robert Whitlow. Whitlow's lack of experience lead to him being ignored by general manager John Holland and manager Bob Kennedy, and he resigns in January 1965.
  • January 14 – The Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox pull off a blockbuster trade. Baltimore obtains future Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio and veteran outfielder Al Smith in exchange for Cooperstown-bound knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm, shortstop Ron Hansen, third baseman Pete Ward and outfielder Dave Nicholson. The White Sox gain, in Wilhelm, a shutdown relief pitcher, as well as three regulars; meanwhile, Aparicio will help the Orioles break through to a World Series championship in 1966.
  • January 24 – The Los Angeles Dodgers acquire Don Zimmer from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for minor league pitcher Scott Breeden. Infielder Zimmer previously played for the Dodgers from 1954 to 1959.
  • January 27 – Sam Rice, Eppa Rixey, Elmer Flick and John Clarkson are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.
  • January 29 – Elwood "Pete" Quesada divests himself of his majority stake in the Washington Senators, and James Johnston and James Lemon become co-owners of the two-year-old expansion team. Johnston and Lemon hire former New York Yankees outfielder George Selkirk as their new general manager, replacing Ed Doherty.

    February

  • February 7 – The Kansas City Athletics sign pitcher Marcel Lachemann, who becomes known as a manager and pitching coach after his playing days.
  • February 20 – On the eve of spring training and Year 3 of the Chicago Cubs' "College of Coaches" era, owner Philip K. Wrigley appoints former American League outfielder and native Chicagoan Bob Kennedy "head coach." But in a departure from the coaching rotations of 1961–1962, it is announced that Kennedy is expected to serve in the post for the full 1963 season. In fact, Kennedy leads the Cubs to an 82–80 mark, their first above-.500 season since 1946, and will hold the head coaching job through June 13, 1965.
  • February 27 – The Kansas City Athletics trade right-hander Jerry Walker to the Cleveland Indians for outfielder Chuck Essegian. Walker, 24, is a former member of the "Kiddie Corps"—mostly "bonus-baby" pitchers of the Baltimore Orioles. His brief MLB playing career will be superseded by a 40+ year tenure as a pitching coach and front-office executive.

    March

  • March 8 – The second-year New York Mets, who finished last in the National League with a 40–120 record in their inaugural season, release veteran Gene Woodling, closing the book on the outfielder's playing career. Known as a key member of five of Casey Stengel's championship New York Yankees teams, Woodling, 40, batted.274 in 81 games for the Mets in.
  • March 14 – The Los Angeles Angels sell the contract of fireballing relief pitcher Ryne Duren to the Philadelphia Phillies. Duren, 34, will win six games and save two others for the 1963 Phils.
  • March 18 – The Washington Senators purchase the contract of veteran right-hander Ron Kline, 31, from the Detroit Tigers.
  • March 22 – The New York Mets purchase pitcher Carl Willey from the Milwaukee Braves. Willey will attempt to boost a pitching rotation that includes Roger Craig, Al Jackson and Tracy Stallard.
  • March 25 – The Philadelphia Phillies further strengthen their bullpen by acquiring Johnny Klippstein from the Cincinnati Reds in a cash transaction. Veteran righty Klippstein, 35, will post a stellar 1.93 earned run average in 1963, his 14th MLB season.

    April

  • April 1 – The New York Mets purchase the contract of outfielder Duke Snider from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Future Hall of Famer Snider, 36, is one of the most celebrated stars of the Brooklyn Dodgers' 1950s National League dynasty.
  • April 2 – Another veteran outfielder and future Hall of Famer, Minnie Miñoso, changes teams when the St. Louis Cardinals ship the 39-year-old to the Washington Senators. Miñoso's lone season as a Redbird was ruined by a fractured wrist, limiting him to only 39 games.
  • April 4 – The Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Colt.45s swap outfielders, with Pittsburgh obtaining Manny Mota for Howie Goss. Mota, 24, will establish himself as a major-leaguer after the Pirates recall him from Triple-A in July, and go on to play into while setting pinch-hitting records.
  • April 8:
  • *In the seventh inning of the National League's traditional Opening Day contest at Cincinnati's Crosley Field, Reds southpaw Jim O'Toole commits the first balk of the 1963 season with the slow-running Bob Bailey of the Pittsburgh Pirates on first base. Two batters later, Bailey scores an inconsequential run in O'Toole's 5–2 complete-game victory. But the balk call signals an approaching controversy: prior to the season, NL president Warren Giles has instructed umpires to strictly enforce Rule 8.05, which demands that pitchers stop their motions for a full second with a runner on base; as a result, 96 balks will be called in the Senior Circuit over the next four weeks.
  • *Second-inning home runs by Jim Gentile and Boog Powell power the Baltimore Orioles to a 3–1 win over the Washington Senators in the American League's traditional Presidential Opener before 43,022 at District of Columbia Stadium. Steve Barber goes eight innings for the victory. John F. Kennedy throws out the first ball.
  • *The Detroit Tigers acquire pitcher Denny McLain, 19, off first-year waivers from the Chicago White Sox.
  • April 11:
  • *Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves becomes the all-time winningest left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball history. His 6–1 victory over the New York Mets gives him 328 career wins, moving him ahead of Eddie Plank, star southpaw of the early-century Philadelphia Athletics. Except for Duke Snider's home run in today's game, no Met gets past second base.
  • *In his third American League game since being acquired over the winter from the Pittsburgh Pirates, catcher Don Leppert of the Washington Senators slugs three home runs against the Boston Red Sox, leading his team to an 8–0 rout at D.C. Stadium. His battery-mate, Tom Cheney, fires a one-hitter and fans ten. Leppert is one of seven batters who will enjoy three-homer days in 1963; Cheney's one-hitter is the first of ten one-hitters thrown in MLB this year.
  • April 13 – After 11 hitless at bats, Cincinnati Reds second baseman Pete Rose records his first major league hit, a triple off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bob Friend. The NL's mandated enforcement of the balk rule produces a major-league record seven in the Pirates' 12–4 trouncing of the Reds at Crosley Field. Friend commits four of the balks; Cincinnati's John Tsitouris and Jim O'Toole are guilty of the rest.
  • April 21 – The New York Yankees acquire southpaw relief pitcher Steve Hamilton from the Washington Senators for right-handed reliever Jim Coates.
  • April 29 – The Baltimore Orioles claim 18-year-old outfielder Curt Blefary from the New York Yankees on first-year waivers. He will win the American League Rookie of the Year Award.

    May

  • May 2 – The Minnesota Twins trade left-hander Jack Kralick to the Cleveland Indians for right-hander Jim Perry. Gaylord Perry's elder sibling, Jim will win 128 games over a decade in a Minnesota uniform, with two 20-game-winning seasons. Perry also will capture the American League Cy Young Award.
  • May 4:
  • *The National League's balk craze reaches its peak when umpires call five balks on Milwaukee Braves right-hander Bob Shaw in 4 innings pitched in a 7–5 Chicago Cubs victory at County Stadium. A rattled Shaw also walks six hitters and is ejected by arbiter Al Barlick after facing only 25 batters. His five balks set an MLB record, and when a sixth infraction is called on on reliever Denny Lemaster in the eighth, Milwaukee establishes a new all-time MLB record for most balks by a team in a single game; when Chicago's Paul Toth also commits the same offense, the two clubs tie the record of most balks in one game, set only three weeks ago.
  • *At the Polo Grounds, the Giants—who abandoned the Manhattan ballyard six years ago for San Francisco—make themselves right at home, scoring an NL-season-high 17 runs and bashing six homers in thrashing the New York Mets 17–4. Orlando Cepeda and Ed Bailey each hit two long balls; Jim Davenport drives in five runs and adds a homer himself.
  • May 5 – The Detroit Tigers release veteran first baseman and pinch hitter Vic Wertz, 38, who later signs with the Minnesota Twins to close out his 17-year career.
  • May 7 – Reacting to the spate of balks called in the National League this season—96 in less than a month—Commissioner Ford Frick, NL president Warren Giles and American League boss Joe Cronin meet in emergency session to simplify Rule 8.05m. While insisting on pitchers' coming to a full stop when a runner is on base, the new rule removes the "one second" minimum stipulation. Under the re-written rule, 51 balks will be called for the last five months of the NL campaign.
  • May 9 – Chicago Cubs first baseman Ernie Banks becomes the first National League player to record 22 putouts in a game, during a 3–1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
  • May 11 – At Dodger Stadium, Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers no-hits the San Francisco Giants 8–0, his second no-hitter in as many seasons. He walks two, fans four, and faces 28 hitters, one over the minimum. The final out is made by Harvey Kuenn on a ground ball back to than Koufax. Kuenn will also make the final out of Koufax's perfect game two years later.
  • May 14 – Veteran right-hander Ray Herbert of the Chicago White Sox fires his fourth straight complete-game shutout, defeating the Detroit Tigers 3–0 at Comiskey Park. The 33-year-old, a 20-game winner in, gives up a total of 15 hits and three walks during the four-game stretch, which began May 1. Herbert's scoreless-innings-pitched streak will reach 38 innings, best in MLB in 1963, before it's snapped by the Baltimore Orioles on May 19 in the third frame.
  • May 17 – Houston Colt.45s pitcher Don Nottebart throws the first no-hitter in franchise history, leading his team past the Philadelphia Phillies, 4–1, at Colt Stadium. The 27-year-old right-hander allows three bases on balls and fans eight; the Phils' run is unearned.
  • May 19 – Detroit Tigers center fielder Bill Bruton ties a Major League record for most doubles in a single game. Bruton hits his four doubles in consecutive plate appearances, as Detroit defeats the Washington Senators, 5–1. Teammate and rookie pitcher Bill Faul tosses a three-hitter in his first Major League start.
  • May 21 – Jim Maloney, the Cincinnati Reds' flame throwing 22-year-old, strikes out 16 Milwaukee Braves in 8 innings in today's 2–0 road victory—the most strikeouts recorded in a 1963 contest in the majors.
  • May 23:
  • *The New York Mets trade first baseman Gil Hodges to the Washington Senators for Jimmy Piersall. Hodges, 39, immediately retires as an active player and replaces Mickey Vernon as Washington's manager. He will pilot the Senators through 1967, then returns to the Mets as their manager in 1968.
  • *The Cincinnati Reds trade ace pinch-hitter and reserve outfielder Jerry Lynch to the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Bob Skinner.
  • May 25 – The Kansas City Athletics trade shortstop Dick Howser and catcher Joe Azcue to the Cleveland Indians for catcher Doc Edwards and $100,000.