The 1963 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 63rd season and the 52nd season at Tiger Stadium. The team finished tied for fifth place in the American League with a record of 79–83, 25+1⁄2 games behind the New York Yankees.
A sluggish start, then a seven-game, mid-June losing streak, cost third-year manager Bob Scheffing his job on June 17. He was replaced by 68-year-old veteran former MLB manager Chuck Dressen. When the change was made, the Tigers were in ninth place at 24–36 (.400), 11+1⁄2 games behind the Yankees. Scheffing's three-man coaching staff was released along with him.[1] Under Dressen, Detroit would recover to win 55 of 102 games and move up to its fifth-place finish.
Offseason
- November 26, 1962: 1962 first-year draft
- Tom Matchick was drafted by the Tigers from the St. Louis Cardinals.[2]
- Rich Reese was drafted from the Tigers by the Minnesota Twins.[3]
- Conrad Cardinal was drafted from the Tigers by the Houston Colt .45s.[4]
- November 26, 1962: Dick Brown was traded by the Tigers to the Baltimore Orioles for Whitey Herzog and Gus Triandos.[5]
Regular season
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 104 | 57 | .646 | — | 58–22 | 46–35 |
| Chicago White Sox | 94 | 68 | .580 | 10½ | 49–33 | 45–35 |
| Minnesota Twins | 91 | 70 | .565 | 13 | 48–33 | 43–37 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 86 | 76 | .531 | 18½ | 48–33 | 38–43 |
| Cleveland Indians | 79 | 83 | .488 | 25½ | 41–40 | 38–43 |
| Detroit Tigers | 79 | 83 | .488 | 25½ | 47–34 | 32–49 |
| Boston Red Sox | 76 | 85 | .472 | 28 | 44–36 | 32–49 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 73 | 89 | .451 | 31½ | 36–45 | 37–44 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 70 | 91 | .435 | 34 | 39–42 | 31–49 |
| Washington Senators | 56 | 106 | .346 | 48½ | 31–49 | 25–57 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | LAA | MIN | NYY | WAS | |||
| Baltimore | — | 7–11 | 7–11 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 15–3 | |||
| Boston | 11–7 | — | 8–10 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 9–8 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 9–9 | |||
| Chicago | 11–7 | 10–8 | — | 11–7 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 13–5 | |||
| Cleveland | 8–10 | 8–10 | 7–11 | — | 10–8 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 5–13 | 7–11 | 13–5 | |||
| Detroit | 5–13 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 8–10 | — | 13–5 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 9–9 | |||
| Kansas City | 9–9 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 5–13 | — | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 10–8 | |||
| Los Angeles | 9–9 | 8–9 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 8–10 | — | 9–9 | 5–13 | 9–9 | |||
| Minnesota | 9–9 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 9–9 | — | 6–11 | 14–4 | |||
| New York | 11–7 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 13–5 | 11–6 | — | 14–4 | |||
| Washington | 3–15 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 4–14 | 4–14 | — | |||
Notable transactions
- April 8, 1963: Denny McLain was selected off waivers by the Tigers from the Chicago White Sox as first-year waiver pick.[6]
- May 8, 1963: Chico Fernández was traded by the Tigers to the Milwaukee Braves for Lou Johnson and cash.[7]
Roster
| 1963 Detroit Tigers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
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 | Gus Triandos | 106 | 327 | 78 | .239 | 14 | 41 |
| 1B | Norm Cash | 147 | 493 | 133 | .270 | 26 | 79 |
| 2B | Jake Wood | 85 | 351 | 95 | .271 | 11 | 27 |
| SS | Dick McAuliffe | 150 | 568 | 149 | .262 | 13 | 61 |
| 3B | Bubba Phillips | 128 | 464 | 114 | .246 | 5 | 45 |
| LF | Rocky Colavito | 160 | 597 | 162 | .271 | 22 | 91 |
| CF | Bill Bruton | 145 | 524 | 134 | .256 | 8 | 48 |
| RF | Al Kaline | 145 | 551 | 172 | .312 | 27 | 101 |
Other batters
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Freehan | 100 | 300 | 73 | .243 | 9 | 36 |
| Don Wert | 78 | 251 | 65 | .259 | 7 | 25 |
| George Smith | 52 | 171 | 37 | .216 | 0 | 17 |
| George Thomas | 49 | 109 | 26 | .239 | 1 | 11 |
| Gates Brown | 55 | 82 | 22 | .268 | 2 | 14 |
| Whitey Herzog | 52 | 53 | 8 | .151 | 0 | 7 |
| Frank Kostro | 31 | 52 | 12 | .231 | 0 | 0 |
| Chico Fernández | 15 | 49 | 7 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike Roarke | 23 | 44 | 14 | .318 | 0 | 1 |
| Willie Horton | 15 | 43 | 14 | .326 | 1 | 4 |
| Coot Veal | 15 | 32 | 7 | .219 | 0 | 4 |
| Bubba Morton | 6 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 2 |
| Purnal Goldy | 9 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| John Sullivan | 3 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Vic Wertz | 6 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Bunning | 39 | 248.1 | 12 | 13 | 3.88 | 196 |
| Hank Aguirre | 38 | 225.2 | 14 | 15 | 3.67 | 134 |
| Phil Regan | 38 | 189.0 | 15 | 9 | 3.86 | 115 |
| Don Mossi | 24 | 122.2 | 7 | 7 | 3.74 | 68 |
| Frank Lary | 16 | 107.1 | 4 | 9 | 3.27 | 46 |
| Denny McLain | 3 | 21.0 | 2 | 1 | 4.29 | 22 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mickey Lolich | 33 | 144.1 | 5 | 9 | 3.55 | 103 |
| Bill Faul | 28 | 97.0 | 5 | 6 | 4.64 | 64 |
| Willie Smith | 11 | 21.2 | 1 | 0 | 4.57 | 16 |
| Alan Koch | 7 | 10.0 | 1 | 1 | 10.80 | 5 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Fox | 46 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 3.59 | 35 |
| Bob Anderson | 32 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3.30 | 38 |
| Tom Sturdivant | 28 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3.76 | 36 |
| Fred Gladding | 22 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1.98 | 24 |
| Dick Egan | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.14 | 16 |
| Paul Foytack | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8.66 | 7 |
| Bob Dustal | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9.00 | 4 |
| Larry Foster | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 1 |
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Thomasville
Notes
- ↑ The Associated Press (June 18, 1963). "Tigers Dismiss Scheffing as Manager and Name Dressen" (PDF). timesmachine.nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
- ↑ Tom Matchick at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Rich Reese at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Conrad Cardinal at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Whitey Herzog at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Denny McLain at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Chico Fernández at Baseball Reference
References
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
- 1963 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference