# 1963 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1963 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 82nd season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 72nd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 93–69 (.574) during the season, and finished second in the National League, six games behind the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The season was Stan Musial's 22nd and final season with the team, and in MLB. This is also the first season that the players' last names appeared on the back of the uniforms.

## Offseason

* October 5, 1962: Red Schoendienst was released by the Cardinals.
* October 17, 1962: Larry Jackson, Lindy McDaniel, and Jimmie Schaffer were traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Don Cardwell, George Altman and Moe Thacker.
* November 19, 1962: Don Cardwell and Julio Gotay were traded by the Cardinals to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Dick Groat and Diomedes Olivo.
* November 26, 1962: Tom Matchick was drafted from the Cardinals by the Detroit Tigers in the 1962 first-year draft.
* Prior to 1963 season: Duke Carmel was acquired from the Indians by the St. Louis Cardinals.
* February 1963: Coco Laboy was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.

## Regular season

Future Hall of Famer Stan Musial played his final game on September 29, a 3–2 victory in 14 innings against the visiting Cincinnati Reds.
All four starting infielders in the 1963 All-Star Game were Cardinals. Ken Boyer (3B), Dick Groat (SS), and Bill White (1B) were elected, and Julián Javier (2B) took over for the elected but injured Bill Mazeroski of Pittsburgh.
Pitcher Bobby Shantz, first baseman Bill White, third baseman Ken Boyer, and outfielder Curt Flood won Gold Gloves this year.

### 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

* April 2, 1963: Minnie Miñoso was purchased from the Cardinals by the Washington Senators.
* April 1963: Bob Smith was purchased from the Cardinals by the Boston Red Sox.
* June 13, 1963: Elrod Hendricks was released by the Cardinals.
* July 29, 1963: Duke Carmel was traded by the Cardinals to the New York Mets for Jacke Davis and cash.

### 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 | Tim McCarver | 127 | 405 | 117 | .289 | 4 | 51 |
| 1B | Bill White | 162 | 658 | 200 | .304 | 27 | 109 |
| 2B | Julián Javier | 161 | 609 | 160 | .263 | 9 | 46 |
| SS | Dick Groat | 158 | 631 | 201 | .319 | 6 | 73 |
| 3B | Ken Boyer | 159 | 617 | 176 | .285 | 24 | 111 |
| LF | Stan Musial | 124 | 337 | 86 | .255 | 12 | 58 |
| CF | Curt Flood | 158 | 662 | 200 | .302 | 5 | 63 |
| RF | George Altman | 135 | 464 | 127 | .274 | 9 | 47 |

#### 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 |
| Charlie James | 116 | 347 | 93 | .268 | 10 | 45 |
| Carl Sawatski | 56 | 105 | 25 | .238 | 6 | 14 |
| Gene Oliver | 39 | 102 | 23 | .225 | 6 | 18 |
| Gary Kolb | 75 | 96 | 26 | .271 | 3 | 10 |
| Dal Maxvill | 53 | 51 | 12 | .235 | 0 | 3 |
| Leo Burke | 30 | 49 | 10 | .204 | 1 | 5 |
| Duke Carmel | 57 | 44 | 10 | .227 | 1 | 2 |
| Mike Shannon | 32 | 26 | 8 | .308 | 1 | 2 |
| Corky Withrow | 6 | 9 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Dave Ricketts | 3 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Clemens | 5 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 1 | 2 |
| Phil Gagliano | 10 | 5 | 2 | .400 | 0 | 1 |
| Red Schoendienst | 6 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Damaska | 5 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 1 |
| Jeoff Long | 5 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Moe Thacker | 3 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerry Buchek | 3 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Beauchamp | 4 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Bud Bloomfield | 1 | 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 |
| Bob Gibson | 36 | 254.2 | 18 | 9 | 3.39 | 204 |
| Ernie Broglio | 39 | 250.0 | 18 | 8 | 2.99 | 145 |
| Curt Simmons | 32 | 232.2 | 15 | 9 | 2.48 | 127 |
| Ray Sadecki | 36 | 193.1 | 10 | 10 | 4.10 | 136 |
| Lew Burdette | 21 | 98.0 | 3 | 8 | 3.77 | 45 |
| Ray Washburn | 11 | 64.0 | 5 | 3 | 3.08 | 47 |

#### 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 |
| Ron Taylor | 54 | 133.1 | 9 | 7 | 2.84 | 91 |

#### 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 |
| Bobby Shantz | 55 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 2.61 | 70 |
| Ed Bauta | 38 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3.93 | 30 |
| Barney Schultz | 24 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3.57 | 26 |
| Diomedes Olivo | 19 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5.40 | 9 |
| Harry Fanok | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5.26 | 25 |
| Sam Jones | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9.00 | 8 |
| Bob Humphreys | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.06 | 8 |
| Ken MacKenzie | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.00 | 7 |

## Awards and honors

* Johnny Keane, Associated Press NL Manager of the Year
All-Star Game
* Bill White, first base, starter
* Ken Boyer, third base, starter
* Dick Groat, shortstop, starter
* Stan Musial, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Atlanta Crackers | International League | Harry Walker |
| AA | Tulsa Oilers | Texas League | Grover Resinger |
| A | Brunswick Cardinals | Georgia–Florida League | George Kissell |
| A | Winnipeg Goldeyes | Northern League | Fred Koenig |
| A | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Ron Plaza |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tulsa