1962 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1962 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1962 in baseball.
1962 MLB season
LeagueMajor League Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationApril 9 – October 16, 1962
Number of games162 (except Dodgers & Giants), 165 (Dodgers & Giants)
Number of teams20
TV partner(s)NBC, CBS
Regular season
Season MVPAL: Mickey Mantle (NYY)
NL: Maury Wills (LAD)
AL championsNew York Yankees
  AL runners-upMinnesota Twins
NL championsSan Francisco Giants
  NL runners-upLos Angeles Dodgers
World Series
ChampionsNew York Yankees
  Runners-upSan Francisco Giants
World Series MVPRalph Terry (NYY)
MLB seasons
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Locations of teams for the 1962–1964 American League seasons
American League
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Locations of teams for the 1962–1963 National League seasons
National League

The 1962 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 9 to October 16, 1962. The National League (NL) added two teams via expansion, the Houston Colt .45s and New York Mets. This marked the return of the NL to New York City after a four-year absence, although the Mets would lose 120 games and finish in last place. All major league teams now played 162-game schedules, which had been adopted by the American League (AL) the prior season, with each team facing the nine other clubs in the same league 18 times during the season.

The New York Yankees won the AL pennant, while the NL regular season concluded with the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers having identical records, 101–61. A three-game tie-breaker series was held, which was won by the Giants, two games to one. The Yankees then defeated the Giants in the World Series, four games to three.

Awards and honors

National League MVP Maury Wills

League leaders

  American League National League
Type Name Stat Name Stat
AVG Pete Runnels BOS .326 Tommy Davis LAD .346
HR Harmon Killebrew MIN 48 Willie Mays SF 49
RBI Harmon Killebrew MIN 126 Tommy Davis LAD 153
Wins Ralph Terry NYY 23 Don Drysdale LAD 25
ERA Hank Aguirre DET 2.21 Sandy Koufax LAD 2.54
SO Camilo Pascual MIN 206 Don Drysdale LAD 232
SV Dick Radatz BOS 24 Roy Face PIT 28
SB Luis Aparicio CWS 31 Maury Wills LAD 104

Standings

American League

American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 96 66 .593 — 50‍–‍30 46‍–‍36
Minnesota Twins 91 71 .562 5 45‍–‍36 46‍–‍35
Los Angeles Angels 86 76 .531 10 40‍–‍41 46‍–‍35
Detroit Tigers 85 76 .528 10½ 49‍–‍33 36‍–‍43
Chicago White Sox 85 77 .525 11 43‍–‍38 42‍–‍39
Cleveland Indians 80 82 .494 16 43‍–‍38 37‍–‍44
Baltimore Orioles 77 85 .475 19 44‍–‍38 33‍–‍47
Boston Red Sox 76 84 .475 19 39‍–‍40 37‍–‍44
Kansas City Athletics 72 90 .444 24 39‍–‍42 33‍–‍48
Washington Senators 60 101 .373 35½ 27‍–‍53 33‍–‍48

National League

National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
San Francisco Giants 103 62 .624 — 61‍–‍21 42‍–‍41
Los Angeles Dodgers 102 63 .618 1 54‍–‍29 48‍–‍34
Cincinnati Reds 98 64 .605 3½ 58‍–‍23 40‍–‍41
Pittsburgh Pirates 93 68 .578 8 51‍–‍30 42‍–‍38
Milwaukee Braves 86 76 .531 15½ 49‍–‍32 37‍–‍44
St. Louis Cardinals 84 78 .519 17½ 44‍–‍37 40‍–‍41
Philadelphia Phillies 81 80 .503 20 46‍–‍34 35‍–‍46
Houston Colt .45s 64 96 .400 36½ 32‍–‍48 32‍–‍48
Chicago Cubs 59 103 .364 42½ 32‍–‍49 27‍–‍54
New York Mets 40 120 .250 60½ 22‍–‍58 18‍–‍62

Postseason

Bracket

World Series
         
AL New York Yankees 6 0 3 3 5 2 1
NL San Francisco Giants 2 2 2 7 3 5 0

Managers

American League

Team Manager Comments
Baltimore Orioles Billy Hitchcock
Boston Red Sox Pinky Higgins
Chicago White Sox Al López
Cleveland Indians Mel McGaha Replaced during the season by Mel Harder
Detroit Tigers Bob Scheffing
Kansas City Athletics Hank Bauer
Los Angeles Angels Bill Rigney
Minnesota Twins Sam Mele
New York Yankees Ralph Houk Won the World Series
Washington Senators Mickey Vernon

National League

Team Manager Comments
Chicago Cubs College of Coaches
Cincinnati Reds Fred Hutchinson
Houston Colt .45's Harry Craft Expansion team
Los Angeles Dodgers Walter Alston Lost tie-breaker series to Giants
Milwaukee Braves Birdie Tebbetts
New York Mets Casey Stengel Expansion team
Philadelphia Phillies Gene Mauch
Pittsburgh Pirates Danny Murtaugh
San Francisco Giants Alvin Dark Won pennant via tie-breaker series
St. Louis Cardinals Johnny Keane

Home field attendance

Team name Wins %± Home attendance %± Per game
Los Angeles Dodgers[1] 102 14.6% 2,755,184 52.7% 33,195
San Francisco Giants[2] 103 21.2% 1,592,594 14.5% 19,422
New York Yankees[3] 96 −11.9% 1,493,574 −14.5% 18,670
Minnesota Twins[4] 91 30.0% 1,433,116 14.0% 17,477
Detroit Tigers[5] 85 −15.8% 1,207,881 −24.5% 14,730
Los Angeles Angels[6] 86 22.9% 1,144,063 89.6% 14,124
Chicago White Sox[7] 85 −1.2% 1,131,562 −1.3% 13,970
Pittsburgh Pirates[8] 93 24.0% 1,090,648 −9.0% 13,465
Cincinnati Reds[9] 98 5.4% 982,095 −12.1% 12,125
St. Louis Cardinals[10] 84 5.0% 953,895 11.5% 11,776
Houston Colt .45s[11] 64 924,456 11,274
New York Mets[12] 40 922,530 11,532
Baltimore Orioles[13] 77 −18.9% 790,254 −16.9% 9,637
Milwaukee Braves[14] 86 3.6% 766,921 −30.4% 9,468
Philadelphia Phillies[15] 81 72.3% 762,034 29.1% 9,525
Boston Red Sox[16] 76 0.0% 733,080 −13.8% 9,279
Washington Senators[17] 60 −1.6% 729,775 22.2% 9,122
Cleveland Indians[18] 80 2.6% 716,076 −1.3% 8,840
Kansas City Athletics[19] 72 18.0% 635,675 −7.0% 7,848
Chicago Cubs[20] 59 −7.8% 609,802 −9.4% 7,528

Television coverage

CBS and NBC continued to air weekend Game of the Week broadcasts. CBS dropped its Sunday broadcasts once the NFL season started in mid-September, dropping the option clause for affiliates to carry baseball or football in place since 1957.[21]

The All-Star Game, the National League tie-breaker series, and the World Series aired on NBC.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  2. ^ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  3. ^ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  4. ^ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  5. ^ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  6. ^ "Los Angeles Angels Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  7. ^ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  8. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  9. ^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  10. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  11. ^ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "New York Mets Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  14. ^ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  15. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  16. ^ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  17. ^ "Texas Rangers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  18. ^ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  19. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  20. ^ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  21. ^ Brulia, Tim. "A CHRONOLOGY OF PRO FOOTBALL ON TELEVISION: Part 1" (PDF). Pro Football Researchers.