1963 Milwaukee Braves season

Offseason

• October 11, 1962: Ron Hunt was purchased from the Braves by the New York Mets.
• November 26, 1962: Ellis Burton was drafted from the Braves by the Houston Colt .45s in the 1962 rule 5 draft.
• November 26, 1962: 1962 first-year draft
  • Hal Haydel was drafted from the Braves by the Houston Colt .45s.
  • Don Taussig was drafted by the Braves from the Houston Colt .45s.
• November 30, 1962: Jim Bolger, Don Nottebart, and Connie Grob were traded by the Braves to the Houston Colt .45s for Norm Larker.
• Prior to 1963 season: Lou Klimchock was acquired from the Braves by the Washington Senators.

Ownership change and managerial turnover

On November 16, 1962, the 17-year tenure of Louis Perini as owner of the Braves ended when the Boston construction magnate sold the team to a Chicago-based group of investors led by William Bartholomay. The Braves' home attendance had been declining since its 1957 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 (the 1959 NL playoff) and a ban on "bringing your own" food and beer to County Stadium. Within two years of buying the Braves, the Bartholomay group would be negotiating with Atlanta, in a successful bid to move the club to the Southeast 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 the Cleveland Indians in the American League. His successor, Bobby Bragan, 45, was the team's fourth manager in five seasons. He had been a coach with the expansion Houston Colt .45s in 1962 and had previously been fired from managing posts with the Pittsburgh 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 by Branch Rickey to thwart a plan by Dodger owner Walter O'Malley to replace his manager, eventual Hall of Famer Walter Alston, with Leo 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. Bragan served as the Braves' last manager in Milwaukee in 1965, and their first in Atlanta in 1966, although he was fired on August 9 of that year, after guiding the team to an overall record of in over seasons.

Regular season

• April 16, 1963: Eddie Mathews hit the 400th home run of his career. Along with Duke Snider, Mathews became part of the first duo to reach the 400 plateau in the same season.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

• May 6, 1963: Lou Klimchock was returned to the Braves by the Washington Senators.
• May 8, 1963: Lou Johnson and cash were traded by the Braves to the Detroit Tigers for Chico Fernández.
• May 8, 1963: Chico Fernández was traded by the Braves to the New York Mets for Larry Foss.
• August 8, 1963: Norm Larker was purchased from the Braves by the San Francisco Giants.

Roster

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

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

• Hank Aaron, outfield, starter
• Warren Spahn, reserve
• Joe Torre, reserve

Farm system

Notes

References

• 1963 Milwaukee Braves season at Baseball Reference

References

1. (September 30, 1963). "Baseball in a nutshell". Milwaukee Sentinel.
2. Thisted, Red. (September 30, 1963). "Spahn spices finale, 2-0". Milwaukee Sentinel.
3. "Ron Hunt Stats".
4. "Ellis Burton Stats".
5. "Hal Haydel Stats".
6. "Don Taussig Stats".
7. "Norm Larker Stats".
8. "Lou Klimchock Stats".
9. Thisted, Red. (November 17, 1962). "McHale, six others buy Braves for $5.5 million". Milwaukee Sentinel.
10. Wolf, Bob. (November 17, 1962). "Midwestern group purchases Braves". Milwaukee Journal.
11. (November 17, 1962). "Perini sells Braves to Milwaukee group". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
12. Larson, Lloyd. (October 6, 1962). "Tebbetts quits Braves!". Milwaukee Sentinel.
13. Wolf, Bob. (October 6, 1962). "Braves suddenly have some room at the top in wake of Tebbetts' abrupt disappearing act". Milwaukee Journal.
14. Thisted, Red. (October 18, 1963). "Bragan new Braves' manager". Milwaukee Sentinel.
15. Walfoort, Cleon. (October 18, 1963). "Bragan learned along way in baseball". Milwaukee Journal.
16. (October 18, 1962). "Bragan will pilot Braves". Spokesman-Review.
17. Parrott, Harold. (1976). "The Lords of Baseball". Praeger Books.
18. (August 10, 1966). "Hitchcock plans changes". Milwaukee Sentinel.
19. Wolf, Bob. (August 10, 1966). "'Impulsive' best describes brash Bobby; orange drink costs him $100 and job". Milwaukee Journal.
20. "This Day In Baseball - Where Your Memories Live".
21. (March 4, 2006). "Duke Snider | The BASEBALL Page".
22. "Chico Fernandez Stats".
23. "1963 All-Star Game".