# 1963 Chicago Cubs season

The 1963 Chicago Cubs season was the 92nd season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 88th in the National League, and the 48th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished seventh in the National League with a record of 82–80, marking their first winning season since 1946.

## Offseason

* October 17, 1962: Don Cardwell, George Altman and Moe Thacker were traded by the Cubs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Larry Jackson, Lindy McDaniel, and Jimmie Schaffer.
* November 26, 1962: Curt Motton was drafted from the Cubs by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1962 minor league draft.
* November 26, 1962: Glenn Beckert was drafted by the Cubs from the Boston Red Sox in the 1962 first-year draft.
* March 28, 1963: Dave Gerard and Danny Murphy were traded by the Cubs to the Houston Colt .45s for Hal Haydel, Dick LeMay and Merritt Ranew.

## Regular season
### 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 27, 1963: Ellis Burton was purchased by the Cubs from the Cleveland Indians.

### 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 | Dick Bertell | 100 | 322 | 75 | .233 | 2 | 14 |
| 1B | Ernie Banks | 130 | 432 | 98 | .227 | 18 | 64 |
| 2B | Ken Hubbs | 154 | 566 | 133 | .235 | 8 | 47 |
| SS | Andre Rodgers | 150 | 516 | 118 | .229 | 5 | 33 |
| 3B | Ron Santo | 162 | 630 | 187 | .297 | 25 | 99 |
| LF | Billy Williams | 161 | 612 | 175 | .286 | 25 | 95 |
| CF | Ellis Burton | 93 | 322 | 74 | .230 | 12 | 41 |
| RF | Lou Brock | 148 | 547 | 141 | .258 | 9 | 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 |
| Don Landrum | 84 | 227 | 55 | .242 | 1 | 10 |
| Nelson Mathews | 61 | 155 | 24 | .155 | 4 | 10 |
| Merritt Ranew | 78 | 154 | 52 | .338 | 3 | 15 |
| Jimmie Schaffer | 57 | 142 | 34 | .239 | 7 | 19 |
| Steve Boros | 41 | 90 | 19 | .211 | 3 | 7 |
| John Boccabella | 24 | 74 | 14 | .189 | 1 | 5 |
| Leo Burke | 27 | 49 | 9 | .184 | 2 | 7 |
| Jimmy Stewart | 13 | 37 | 11 | .297 | 0 | 1 |
| Billy Cowan | 14 | 36 | 9 | .250 | 1 | 2 |
| Ken Aspromonte | 20 | 34 | 5 | .147 | 0 | 4 |
| Alex Grammas | 16 | 27 | 5 | .185 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Will | 23 | 23 | 4 | .174 | 0 | 1 |
| Cuno Barragan | 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 |
| Dick Ellsworth | 37 | 290.2 | 22 | 10 | 2.11 | 185 |
| Larry Jackson | 37 | 275.0 | 14 | 18 | 2.55 | 153 |
| Bob Buhl | 37 | 226.0 | 11 | 14 | 3.38 | 108 |

#### 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 |
| Glen Hobbie | 36 | 165.1 | 7 | 10 | 3.92 | 94 |
| Paul Toth | 27 | 130.2 | 5 | 9 | 3.10 | 66 |
| Cal Koonce | 21 | 72.2 | 2 | 6 | 4.58 | 44 |

#### 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 |
| Lindy McDaniel | 57 | 13 | 7 | 22 | 2.86 | 75 |
| Don Elston | 51 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2.83 | 41 |
| Jim Brewer | 29 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4.89 | 35 |
| Barney Schultz | 15 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3.62 | 18 |
| Tom Baker | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 | 14 |
| Dick LeMay | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.28 | 10 |
| Jack Warner | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.78 | 7 |
| Freddie Burdette | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 1 |
| Phil Mudrock | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game
* Larry Jackson, reserve
* Ron Santo, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Salt Lake City Bees | Pacific Coast League | El Tappe |
| AA | Amarillo Gold Sox | Texas League | Joe Macko |
| A | St. Cloud Rox | Northern League | Walt Dixon |
| A | Wenatchee Chiefs | Northwest League | George Freese |
| A | Pocatello Chiefs | Pioneer League | Frank Calo |
| Rookie | Middlesboro Cubsox | Appalachian League | Ripper Collins, Hugh Mulcahy and George Noga |
Middlesboro affiliation shared with Chicago White Sox