1963 Cleveland Indians season

1963 Cleveland Indians
League	American League
Ballpark	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
City	Cleveland, Ohio
Owners	Gabe Paul
General managers	Gabe Paul
Managers	Birdie Tebbetts
Television	WJW-TV (Ken Coleman, Bob Neal)
Radio	WERE (Jimmy Dudley, Harry Jones)
Seasons

The 1963 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished tied for fifth in the American League with a record of 79–83, 25+1⁄2 games behind the New York Yankees.

Offseason

• November 26, 1962: Lou Piniella was drafted from the Indians by the Washington Senators in the 1962 first-year draft.
• November 26, 1962: Bob Lipski was drafted by the Indians from the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1962 rule 5 draft.
• March 1963: Rubén Gómez was signed as a free agent by the Indians.
• Prior to 1963 season: Duke Carmel was acquired from the Indians by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Regular season

Season standings

American League

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

1963 American League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KCA	LAA	MIN	NYY	WSH
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 2, 1963: Ellis Burton was purchased by the Indians from the Houston Colt .45s.
• May 8, 1963: Bob Lipski was returned by the Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies.
• May 25, 1963: Doc Edwards and $100,000 were traded by the Indians to the Kansas City Athletics for Joe Azcue and Dick Howser.
• May 27, 1963: Ellis Burton was purchased from the Indians by the Chicago Cubs.

Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters
#	Name	Position
25	Vic Davalillo	CF
16	Tony Martínez	SS
14	Tito Francona	LF
15	Fred Whitfield	1B
9	Johnny Romano	C
29	Ellis Burton	RF
10	Max Alvis	3B
12	Woodie Held	2B
33	Mudcat Grant	P

Roster

1963 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 36 Ted Abernathy 40 Bob Allen 39 Gary Bell 43 Jack Curtis 30 Dick Donovan 33 Mudcat Grant 37 Tommy John 31 Jack Kralick 32 Barry Latman 34 Sam McDowell 42 Ron Nischwitz 31 Jim Perry 35 Pedro Ramos 43 Gordon Seyfried 48 Jerry Walker 38 Early Wynn		Catchers  6 Joe Azcue  6 Doc Edwards  5 Jim Lawrence  7 Bob Lipski  5 Cal Neeman 9,5 Johnny Romano  5 Sammy Taylor Infielders 11 Joe Adcock 10 Max Alvis 16 Larry Brown 17 Mike de la Hoz 12 Woodie Held 18 Dick Howser 14 Jerry Kindall 16 Tony Martínez 15 Fred Whitfield		Outfielders 23 Tommie Agee 29 Ellis Burton 21 Bob Chance 25 Vic Davalillo 24 Tito Francona 23 Gene Green 27 Willie Kirkland 22 Al Luplow 28 Willie Tasby		Manager  1 Birdie Tebbetts Coaches  2 Mel Harder (Pitching)  3 George Strickland (Third base)  4 Elmer Valo (First base)

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	Joe Azcue	94	320	91	.284	14	46
1B	Fred Whitfield	109	346	87	.251	21	54
2B	Woodie Held	133	416	103	.248	17	61
SS	Larry Brown	74	247	63	.255	5	18
3B	Max Alvis	158	602	165	.274	22	67
LF	Tito Francona	142	500	114	.228	10	41
CF	Vic Davalillo	90	370	108	.292	7	36
RF	Al Luplow	100	295	69	.234	7	27

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
Willie Kirkland	127	427	98	.230	15	47
Joe Adcock	97	283	71	.251	13	49
Johnny Romano	89	255	55	.216	10	34
Jerry Kindall	86	234	48	.205	5	20
Dick Howser	49	162	40	.247	1	10
Mike de la Hoz	67	150	40	.267	5	25
Tony Martínez	43	141	22	.156	0	8
Willie Tasby	52	116	26	.224	4	5
Gene Green	43	78	16	.205	2	7
Bob Chance	16	52	15	.288	2	7
Doc Edwards	10	31	8	.258	0	0
Ellis Burton	26	31	6	.194	1	1
Tommie Agee	13	27	4	.148	1	3
Sammy Taylor	4	10	3	.300	0	1
Cal Neeman	9	9	0	.000	0	0
Bob Lipski	2	1	0	.000	0	0
Jim Lawrence	2	0	0	----	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
Mudcat Grant	38	229.1	13	14	3.69	157
Dick Donovan	30	206.0	11	13	4.24	84
Jack Kralick	28	197.1	13	9	2.92	116
Sam McDowell	14	65.0	3	5	4.85	63

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
Pedro Ramos	36	184.2	9	8	3.12	169
Barry Latman	38	149.1	7	12	4.94	133
Early Wynn	20	55.1	1	2	2.28	29
Tommy John	6	20.1	0	2	2.21	9
Gordon Seyfried	3	7.1	0	1	1.23	1

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
Ted Abernathy	43	7	2	12	2.88	47
Gary Bell	58	8	5	5	2.95	98
Bob Allen	43	1	2	2	4.66	51
Jerry Walker	39	6	6	1	4.91	41
Ron Nischwitz	14	0	2	1	6.48	10
Jim Perry	5	0	0	0	5.23	7
Jack Curtis	4	0	0	0	18.00	3

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

• Mudcat Grant, reserve

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Jacksonville Suns	International League	Ben Geraghty and Casey Wise
AA	Charleston Indians	Eastern League	Johnny Lipon
A	Burlington Indians	Carolina League	Patrick Colgan
A	Dubuque Packers	Midwest League	Walt Novick
A	Grand Forks Chiefs	Northern League	Ray Dabek

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charleston, Grand Forks

External links

• 1963 Cleveland Indians season at Baseball Reference