# 1963 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1963 Cincinnati Reds season consisted of the Cincinnati Reds finishing in fifth place in the National League with a record of 86–76, 13 games behind the NL and World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds were managed by Fred Hutchinson and played their home games at Crosley Field.

## Offseason

* November 26, 1962: Brant Alyea was drafted from the Reds by the Washington Senators in the 1962 first-year draft.
* January 24, 1963: Don Zimmer was traded by the Reds to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Scott Breeden (minors).
* Prior to 1963 season: Stan Swanson was signed as an amateur free agent by the Reds.

## Regular season

1963 was Pete Rose's rookie season. He made his major league debut on Opening Day, April 8, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had three at bats without a hit, but did draw a walk. Rose started his career 0-for-11 before getting his first major league hit on April 13, a triple off Pittsburgh's Bob Friend.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 99 | 63 | .611 | — | 50‍–‍31 | 49‍–‍32 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 93 | 69 | .574 | 6 | 53‍–‍28 | 40‍–‍41 |
| San Francisco Giants | 88 | 74 | .543 | 11 | 50‍–‍31 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 87 | 75 | .537 | 12 | 45‍–‍36 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 86 | 76 | .531 | 13 | 46‍–‍35 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 84 | 78 | .519 | 15 | 45‍–‍36 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Chicago Cubs | 82 | 80 | .506 | 17 | 43‍–‍38 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 74 | 88 | .457 | 25 | 42‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍49 |
| Houston Colt .45s | 66 | 96 | .407 | 33 | 44‍–‍37 | 22‍–‍59 |
| New York Mets | 51 | 111 | .315 | 48 | 34‍–‍47 | 17‍–‍64 |

### Record vs. opponents

1963 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MIL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SF | STL |
| Chicago | — | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 7–11 |
| Cincinnati | 9–9 | — | 11–7 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 11–7 |
| Houston | 9–9 | 7–11 | — | 5–13 | 5–13 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 5–13 |
| Los Angeles | 11–7 | 10–8 | 13–5 | — | 8–10–1 | 16–2 | 7–11 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 12–6 |
| Milwaukee | 6–12 | 8–10 | 13–5 | 10–8–1 | — | 12–6 | 10–8 | 7–11 | 10–8 | 8–10 |
| New York | 7–11 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 2–16 | 6–12 | — | 8–10 | 4–14 | 6–12 | 5–13 |
| Philadelphia | 9–9 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 10–8 | — | 13–5 | 8–10 | 8–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–8 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 5–13 | 11–7 | 14–4 | 5–13 | — | 5–13 | 5–13 |
| San Francisco | 8–10 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 |
| St. Louis | 11–7 | 7–11 | 13–5 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 10–8 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 5, 1963: Jim Brosnan was traded by the Reds to the Chicago White Sox for Dom Zanni.
* July 1, 1963: Jesse Gonder was traded by the Reds to the New York Mets for Charlie Neal and Sammy Taylor.

### 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 | Johnny Edwards | 148 | 495 | 128 | .259 | 11 | 67 |
| 1B | Gordy Coleman | 123 | 365 | 90 | .247 | 14 | 59 |
| 2B | Pete Rose | 157 | 623 | 170 | .273 | 6 | 41 |
| SS | Leo Cárdenas | 158 | 565 | 133 | .235 | 7 | 48 |
| 3B | Gene Freese | 66 | 217 | 53 | .244 | 6 | 26 |
| LF | Frank Robinson | 140 | 482 | 125 | .259 | 21 | 91 |
| CF | Vada Pinson | 162 | 652 | 204 | .313 | 22 | 106 |
| RF | Tommy Harper | 129 | 408 | 106 | .260 | 10 | 37 |

#### 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 |
| Eddie Kasko | 76 | 199 | 48 | .241 | 3 | 10 |
| Bob Skinner | 72 | 194 | 49 | .253 | 3 | 17 |
| Don Pavletich | 71 | 183 | 38 | .208 | 5 | 18 |
| Marty Keough | 95 | 172 | 39 | .227 | 6 | 21 |
| Daryl Spencer | 50 | 155 | 37 | .239 | 1 | 23 |
| Ken Walters | 49 | 75 | 14 | .187 | 1 | 7 |
| Charlie Neal | 34 | 64 | 10 | .156 | 0 | 3 |
| Jesse Gonder | 31 | 32 | 10 | .313 | 3 | 5 |
| Jerry Lynch | 22 | 32 | 8 | .250 | 2 | 9 |
| Don Blasingame | 18 | 31 | 5 | .161 | 0 | 0 |
| Gene Green | 15 | 31 | 7 | .226 | 1 | 3 |
| Wally Post | 5 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Sammy Taylor | 3 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Hank Foiles | 1 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Harry Bright | 1 | 1 | 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 Maloney | 33 | 250.1 | 23 | 7 | 2.77 | 265 |
| Jim O'Toole | 33 | 234.1 | 17 | 14 | 2.88 | 146 |
| Joe Nuxhall | 35 | 217.1 | 15 | 8 | 2.61 | 169 |
| John Tsitouris | 30 | 191.0 | 12 | 8 | 3.16 | 113 |
| Joey Jay | 30 | 170.0 | 7 | 18 | 4.29 | 116 |
| Bob Purkey | 21 | 137.0 | 6 | 10 | 3.55 | 55 |

#### 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 |
| Jim Owens | 19 | 42.1 | 0 | 2 | 5.31 | 29 |

#### 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 |
| Bill Henry | 47 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 4.15 | 45 |
| Al Worthington | 50 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 2.99 | 55 |
| Dom Zanni | 31 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4.19 | 40 |
| Jim Coates | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.51 | 11 |
| Jim Brosnan | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.71 | 4 |

## Awards and honors

Rookie of the Year Award
* Pete Rose
Gold Glove Award
* Johnny Edwards, catcher

### All-Stars

All-Star Game
* Jim O'Toole, starter, pitcher
* Johnny Edwards, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | San Diego Padres | Pacific Coast League | Don Heffner |
| AA | Macon Peaches | Sally League | Dave Bristol |
| A | Rocky Mount Leafs | Carolina League | Red Davis |
| A | Tampa Tarpons | Florida State League | Hersh Freeman |
| A | Cedar Rapids Red Raiders | Midwest League | Mike Ryba |