# 1963 New York Yankees season

The 1963 New York Yankees season was the 61st season for the team. The team finished with a record of 104–57, winning their 28th pennant, finishing 10+1⁄2 games ahead of the Chicago White Sox. New York was managed by Ralph Houk.
The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series, they were defeated by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 4 games, the first time the Yankees had ever been swept in the World Series (they had lost 4 games to none with one tied game in 1922).

## Offseason

* November 26, 1962: Bill Skowron was traded by the Yankees to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Stan Williams.

## Regular season

Elston Howard became the first black player in the history of the American League to win the AL Most Valuable Player award.

### Season standings

vteAmerican 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 recordvte Sources: :
| 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 29, 1963: Curt Blefary was selected off waivers from the Yankees by the Baltimore Orioles as a first-year waiver pick.

### 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
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Elston Howard | 135 | 487 | 140 | .287 | 28 | 85 |
| 1B | Joe Pepitone | 157 | 580 | 157 | .271 | 27 | 89 |
| 2B | Bobby Richardson | 151 | 630 | 167 | .265 | 3 | 48 |
| 3B | Clete Boyer | 152 | 557 | 140 | .251 | 12 | 54 |
| SS | Tony Kubek | 135 | 557 | 143 | .257 | 7 | 44 |
| LF | Héctor López | 130 | 433 | 108 | .249 | 14 | 52 |
| CF | Tom Tresh | 145 | 520 | 140 | .269 | 25 | 71 |
| RF | Roger Maris | 90 | 312 | 84 | .269 | 23 | 53 |

#### 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 |
| Johnny Blanchard | 76 | 218 | 49 | .225 | 16 | 45 |
| Phil Linz | 72 | 186 | 50 | .269 | 2 | 12 |
| Mickey Mantle | 65 | 172 | 54 | .314 | 15 | 35 |
| Harry Bright | 60 | 157 | 37 | .236 | 7 | 23 |
| Yogi Berra | 64 | 147 | 43 | .293 | 8 | 28 |
| Jack Reed | 106 | 73 | 15 | .205 | 0 | 1 |
| Pedro González | 14 | 26 | 5 | .192 | 0 | 1 |
| Dale Long | 14 | 15 | 3 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Jake Gibbs | 4 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 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 |
| Whitey Ford | 38 | 269.1 | 24 | 7 | 2.74 | 189 |
| Ralph Terry | 40 | 268.0 | 17 | 15 | 3.22 | 114 |
| Jim Bouton | 40 | 249.1 | 21 | 7 | 2.53 | 148 |
| Al Downing | 24 | 175.2 | 13 | 5 | 2.56 | 171 |
| Stan Williams | 29 | 146.0 | 9 | 8 | 3.21 | 98 |

#### 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 |
| Tom Metcalf | 8 | 13.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.77 | 3 |
| Luis Arroyo | 6 | 6.0 | 1 | 1 | 13.50 | 5 |
| Bud Daley | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

#### 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 |
| Hal Reniff | 48 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 2.62 | 56 |
| Steve Hamilton | 34 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2.60 | 63 |
| Bill Stafford | 28 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 6.02 | 52 |
| Marshall Bridges | 23 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3.82 | 35 |
| Bill Kunkel | 22 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2.72 | 31 |

## 1963 World Series

NL Los Angeles Dodgers (4) vs. AL New York Yankees (0)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| 1 | Dodgers – 5, Yankees – 2 | October 2 | Yankee Stadium | 69,000 |
| 2 | Dodgers – 4, Yankees – 1 | October 3 | Yankee Stadium | 66,455 |
| 3 | Yankees – 0, Dodgers – 1 | October 5 | Dodger Stadium | 55,912 |
| 4 | Yankees – 1, Dodgers – 2 | October 6 | Dodger Stadium | 55,912 |

## Awards and honors

* Elston Howard, American League MVP
* Ralph Houk, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year

### All-Stars

All-Star Game
* Joe Pepitone, starter, first base
* Jim Bouton, reserve
* Elston Howard, reserve
* Bobby Richardson, reserve
* Tom Tresh, reserve
* Mickey Mantle, did not play (injured)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Richmond Virginians | International League | Preston Gómez |
| AA | Augusta Yankees | Sally League | Rube Walker |
| A | Greensboro Yankees | Carolina League | Frank Verdi |
| A | Fort Lauderdale Yankees | Florida State League | Pinky May, Steve Souchock and Cloyd Boyer |
| A | Idaho Falls Yankees | Pioneer League | Loren Babe |
| A | Shelby Colonels | Western Carolinas League | Billy Shantz |
| Rookie | Harlan Yankees | Appalachian League | Gary Blaylock |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Augusta, Idaho Falls