Orioles

Red Sox

White Sox

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Angels

Twins

Yankees

Senators

class=notpageimage|

Locations of teams for the 1962–1964American League seasons
American League

Cubs

Reds

Colt .45s

Dodgers

Braves

Mets

     Phillies

Pirates  

  Giants

Cardinals

class=notpageimage|

Locations of teams for the 1962–1963National League seasons
National League

The1962 major league baseball season began on April 9, 1962. The regular season ended on October 3, with theSan Francisco Giants andNew York Yankees as the regular season champions of theNational League andAmerican League, respectively. The Giants defeated theLos Angeles Dodgers in a regular season best-of-three tiebreaker, for the National League title in three games, after both teams finished their 162-game schedules with identical 101–61 records. This was the fifth regular season tie-breaker. The postseason began with Game 1 of the59th World Series on October 4 and ended with Game 7 on October 16. In the seventh iteration of this World Series matchup, and their first since the Giants relocated toSan Francisco fromNew York, the Yankees defeated the Giants, four games to three, capturing their 20th championship in franchise history, winning back-to-back World Series.

For the fourth and final year, there were two separate All-Star Games played. The first, the32nd Major League Baseball All-Star Game, was held on July 11 atDistrict of Columbia Stadium inWashington, D.C., home of theWashington Senators. TheNational League won, 3–1. The second, the33rd Major League Baseball All-Star Game, was held on July 31 atWrigley Field inChicago,Illinois, home of theChicago Cubs. TheAmerican League won, 9–4.

In response to the proposedContinental League, the National League announcedexpansion during the1960 World Series, with a new team inHouston, Texas and a new team inNew York, New York. The 1962 season would see theHouston Colt .45s andNew York Mets enfranchised, the latter being the National League's return to New York City after a four-year absence.

The 1962 schedule consisted of 162 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had ten teams. Each team was scheduled to play 18 games against the other nine teams of their respective league. The 162-game, 18 games per team format had previously been used by the American League since theprevious season due toexpansion and was the first season that the National League used it due to theirown expansion. The format would be used until1969.

Opening Day took place on April 9, featuring four teams. The final day of the scheduled regular season was on October 1, which saw all 20 teams play, the first time all existing teams played on the final day since1960. Due to theLos Angeles Dodgers andSan Francisco Giants finishing with the same record of 101–61, abest-of-three tie-breaker was scheduled, to be considered an extension of the regular season, and took place between October 1 and October 3. TheWorld Series took place between October 4 and October 16.

The 1962 season saw the following rule change:

• Thebonus rule, previously implemented from1947–1950 and1953–1957, was implemented for the third and final time (to be permanently rescinded in June1965). This version of the rule was slightly different, allowing teams to only option to the minor leagues one first-year player. Additional players would be required to stay in the major leagues or pass through waivers. To claim a bonus player on waivers, a team must spend $8,000 (equivalent to $83,200 in 2024).^[1]

• TheSan Francisco Giants defeated theLos Angeles Dodgers in a best-of-threetie-breaker series to earn the National League pennant.

The postseason began on October 4 and ended on October 16 with theNew York Yankees defeating theSan Francisco Giants in the1962 World Series in seven games.

• Sport Magazine'sWorld Series Most Valuable Player Award:Ralph Terry (NYY)

• Bob Feller
• Jackie Robinson
• Edd Roush
• Bill McKechnie (manager)

The 1962 season saw two new teams in theNational League, and with it, one new venue and one returning venue:

• TheHouston Colt .45s played atColt Stadium, where they would play for three seasons through1964.
• TheNew York Mets played at thePolo Grounds, where they would play for two seasons through1963. The Polo Grounds (in all its iterations) were previously occupied by theNew York Giants from1891 through1957 before their relocation toSan Francisco,California as theSan Francisco Giants.

The 1962 season also saw three teams move into new venues:

• TheLos Angeles Angels andLos Angeles Dodgers each moved intoDodger Stadium.^[a] The Angels, who previously played atWrigley Field during their inaugural season theprevious year, would play at Dodger Stadium for four seasons through1965. The Dodgers, who previously played atLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum for four seasons, continue to play at Dodger Stadium to the present day.
• TheWashington Senators openDistrict of Columbia Stadium after playing atGriffith Stadium for their inaugural season theprevious year. The team would play at District of Columbia Stadium for 10 seasons through1971.

Comiskey Park, home of theChicago White Sox, renamed toWhite Sox Park.

CBS andNBC continued to air weekendGame of the Week broadcasts. CBS dropped its Sunday broadcasts once theNFL season started in mid-September, dropping the option clause for affiliates to carry baseball or football in place since1957.^[33]

TheAll-Star Game, theNational League tie-breaker series, and theWorld Series aired on NBC.

• Robin Roberts had his No. 36 retired by thePhiladelphia Phillies on March 21. This was the first number retired by the team.

• 1962 in baseball (Events,Movies,Births,Deaths)
• 1962 Nippon Professional Baseball season

Wikimedia Commons has media related to1962 in Major League Baseball.

• 1962 Major League Schedule atBaseball Reference

• 1962 Major League Baseball season
• Major League Baseball seasons
• 1962 in baseball

• Use mdy dates from February 2024
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• Commons category link from Wikidata