| 1963 Milwaukee Braves | |
|---|---|
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | Milwaukee County Stadium |
| City | Milwaukee,Wisconsin |
| Record | 84–78 (.519) |
| League place | 6th |
| Owners | William Bartholomay (chairman) |
| General managers | John McHale |
| Managers | Bobby Bragan |
| Television | WTMJ-TV (Mike Walden,Blaine Walsh) |
| Radio | WEMP (Earl Gillespie, Tom Collins) |
The1963Milwaukee Braves season was the 11th inMilwaukee and the 93rd overall season of the franchise.
The sixth-place Braves finished the season with an84–78 (.519) record, fifteen games behind theNational League andWorld Series championLos Angeles Dodgers.[1] The season's home attendance was773,018,[2] ninth in the ten-team National League. This was the first season that the players last names appeared on the jerseys.
On November 16, 1962, the 17-year tenure ofLouis Perini as owner of the Braves ended when the Boston construction magnate sold the team to aChicago-based group of investors led byWilliam Bartholomay.[9][10][11] The Braves' home attendance had been declining since its1957 high-water mark of over 2.2 million fans to 767,000 in five short years, due to a drop-off in on-field success since its last postseason appearance (the1959NL playoff) and a ban on "bringing your own" food and beer toCounty Stadium. Within two years of buying the Braves, the Bartholomay group would be negotiating withAtlanta, in a successful bid to move the club to theSoutheast as early as 1965.
The change in owners overshadowed the Braves' continued turbulence in the managerial chair. On October 5, 1962,Birdie Tebbetts, in office for only 13 months, resigned to join theCleveland Indians in theAmerican League.[12][13] His successor,Bobby Bragan, 45, was the team's fourth manager infive seasons.[14][15][16] He had been a coach with theexpansionHouston Colt .45s in1962 and had previously been fired from managing posts with thePittsburgh Pirates (1956–1957) and the Indians (1958).
In a 1976 memoir, longtime Dodger executive Harold Parrott would claim that the Braves' hiring of Bragan after the 1962 season was orchestrated byBranch Rickey to thwart a plan by Dodger ownerWalter O'Malley to replace his manager, eventual Hall of FamerWalter Alston, withLeo Durocher. O'Malley was strongly considering firing Alston, but only if he could find a suitable "soft landing spot" for him. He chose the Braves, looking to replace Tebbetts, as Alston's ideal destination. But, according to Parrott, Rickey—in semi-retirement but still O'Malley's bitter enemy—discovered the scheme and brokered the marriage between Bragan and the Braves' ownership before O'Malley's plan could materialize.[17] Bragan served as the Braves' last manager in Milwaukee in1965, and their first in Atlanta in1966, although he was fired on August 9 ofthat year,[18][19] after guiding the team to an overall record of310–287 (.519) in over3+1⁄2 seasons.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 99 | 63 | .611 | — | 50–31 | 49–32 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 93 | 69 | .574 | 6 | 53–28 | 40–41 |
| San Francisco Giants | 88 | 74 | .543 | 11 | 50–31 | 38–43 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 87 | 75 | .537 | 12 | 45–36 | 42–39 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 86 | 76 | .531 | 13 | 46–35 | 40–41 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 84 | 78 | .519 | 15 | 45–36 | 39–42 |
| Chicago Cubs | 82 | 80 | .506 | 17 | 43–38 | 39–42 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 74 | 88 | .457 | 25 | 42–39 | 32–49 |
| Houston Colt .45s | 66 | 96 | .407 | 33 | 44–37 | 22–59 |
| New York Mets | 51 | 111 | .315 | 48 | 34–47 | 17–64 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MIL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SF | STL | |||
| Chicago | — | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 7–11 | |||
| Cincinnati | 9–9 | — | 11–7 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 11–7 | |||
| Houston | 9–9 | 7–11 | — | 5–13 | 5–13 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 5–13 | |||
| Los Angeles | 11–7 | 10–8 | 13–5 | — | 8–10–1 | 16–2 | 7–11 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 12–6 | |||
| Milwaukee | 6–12 | 8–10 | 13–5 | 10–8–1 | — | 12–6 | 10–8 | 7–11 | 10–8 | 8–10 | |||
| New York | 7–11 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 2–16 | 6–12 | — | 8–10 | 4–14 | 6–12 | 5–13 | |||
| Philadelphia | 9–9 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 10–8 | — | 13–5 | 8–10 | 8–10 | |||
| Pittsburgh | 10–8 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 5–13 | 11–7 | 14–4 | 5–13 | — | 5–13 | 5–13 | |||
| San Francisco | 8–10 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | |||
| St. Louis | 11–7 | 7–11 | 13–5 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 10–8 | — | |||
| 1963 Milwaukee Braves | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders
Other batters | Manager Coaches | ||||||
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Joe Torre | 142 | 501 | 147 | .293 | 14 | 71 |
| 1B | Gene Oliver | 95 | 296 | 74 | .250 | 11 | 47 |
| 2B | Frank Bolling | 142 | 542 | 132 | .244 | 5 | 43 |
| SS | Roy McMillan | 100 | 320 | 80 | .250 | 4 | 29 |
| 3B | Eddie Mathews | 158 | 547 | 144 | .263 | 23 | 84 |
| LF | Don Dillard | 67 | 119 | 28 | .235 | 1 | 12 |
| CF | Lee Maye | 124 | 442 | 120 | .271 | 11 | 34 |
| RF | Hank Aaron | 161 | 631 | 201 | .319 | 44 | 130 |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denis Menke | 146 | 518 | 121 | .234 | 11 | 50 |
| Del Crandall | 86 | 259 | 52 | .201 | 3 | 28 |
| Mack Jones | 93 | 228 | 50 | .219 | 3 | 22 |
| Ty Cline | 72 | 174 | 41 | .236 | 0 | 10 |
| Norm Larker | 64 | 147 | 26 | .177 | 1 | 14 |
| Tommie Aaron | 72 | 135 | 27 | .200 | 1 | 15 |
| Len Gabrielson | 46 | 120 | 26 | .217 | 3 | 15 |
| Lou Klimchock | 24 | 46 | 9 | .196 | 0 | 1 |
| Hawk Taylor | 16 | 29 | 2 | .069 | 0 | 0 |
| Bubba Morton | 15 | 28 | 5 | .179 | 0 | 4 |
| Amado Samuel | 15 | 17 | 3 | .176 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Uecker | 13 | 16 | 4 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Gus Bell | 3 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Woody Woodward | 10 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Rico Carty | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warren Spahn | 33 | 259.2 | 23 | 7 | 2.60 | 102 |
| Denny Lemaster | 46 | 237.0 | 11 | 14 | 3.04 | 190 |
| Bob Sadowski | 19 | 116.2 | 5 | 7 | 2.62 | 72 |
| Lew Burdette | 15 | 84.0 | 6 | 5 | 3.64 | 28 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Hendley | 41 | 169.1 | 9 | 9 | 3.93 | 105 |
| Bob Shaw | 48 | 159.0 | 7 | 11 | 2.66 | 105 |
| Tony Cloninger | 41 | 145.1 | 9 | 11 | 3.78 | 100 |
| Hank Fischer | 31 | 74.1 | 4 | 3 | 4.96 | 72 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Raymond | 45 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5.40 | 44 |
| Ron Piché | 37 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.40 | 40 |
| Dan Schneider | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.09 | 19 |
| Frank Funk | 25 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.68 | 19 |
| Bobby Tiefenauer | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1.21 | 22 |
| Wade Blasingame | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.00 | 6 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Yakima, Greenville
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| Ballparks |
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| Lore |
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| World Series Championships (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National League Championships (18) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World's Championship Series Championships (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National Association Championships (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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