# 1963 San Francisco Giants season

The 1963 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 81st year in Major League Baseball, their sixth year in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their fourth at Candlestick Park. The team finished in third place in the National League with an 88–74 record, 11 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

## Offseason

* November 30, 1962: Manny Mota and Dick LeMay were traded by the Giants to the Houston Colt .45s for Joey Amalfitano.
* December 15, 1962: Stu Miller, Mike McCormick, and John Orsino were traded by the Giants to the Baltimore Orioles for Jack Fisher, Jimmie Coker and Billy Hoeft.

## 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 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Felipe Alou
* Orlando Cepeda
* Jim Davenport
* Tom Haller
* Chuck Hiller
* Willie Mays
* Willie McCovey
* José Pagán
* Jack Sanford

### Notable transactions

* August 8, 1963: Norm Larker was purchased by the Giants from the Milwaukee Braves.

### Roster
## Season summary

* July 2: A four-hour and ten minute pitching duel between Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn ends with Willie Mays hitting a home run in the bottom of the 16th inning, the SF Giants winning 1-0.

## 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 | Ed Bailey | 105 | 308 | 81 | .263 | 21 | 68 |
| 1B | Orlando Cepeda | 156 | 579 | 183 | .316 | 34 | 97 |
| 2B | Chuck Hiller | 111 | 417 | 93 | .223 | 6 | 33 |
| SS | José Pagán | 148 | 483 | 113 | .234 | 6 | 39 |
| 3B | Jim Davenport | 147 | 460 | 116 | .252 | 4 | 36 |
| LF | Willie McCovey | 152 | 564 | 158 | .280 | 44 | 102 |
| CF | Willie Mays | 157 | 596 | 187 | .314 | 38 | 103 |
| RF | Felipe Alou | 157 | 565 | 159 | .281 | 20 | 82 |

#### 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 |
| Harvey Kuenn | 120 | 417 | 121 | .290 | 6 | 31 |
| Tom Haller | 98 | 298 | 76 | .255 | 14 | 44 |
| Joey Amalfitano | 54 | 137 | 24 | .175 | 1 | 7 |
| Ernie Bowman | 81 | 125 | 23 | .184 | 0 | 4 |
| Matty Alou | 63 | 76 | 11 | .145 | 0 | 2 |
| Cap Peterson | 22 | 54 | 14 | .259 | 1 | 2 |
| Jesús Alou | 16 | 24 | 6 | .250 | 0 | 5 |
| Jim Ray Hart | 7 | 20 | 4 | .200 | 0 | 2 |
| Norm Larker | 19 | 14 | 1 | .071 | 0 | 0 |
| José Cardenal | 9 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 2 |
| Jimmie Coker | 4 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 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 |
| Juan Marichal | 41 | 321.1 | 25 | 8 | 2.41 | 248 |
| Jack Sanford | 42 | 284.1 | 16 | 13 | 3.51 | 158 |
| Billy O'Dell | 36 | 222.1 | 14 | 10 | 3.16 | 116 |

#### 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 |
| Bobby Bolin | 47 | 137.1 | 10 | 6 | 3.28 | 134 |
| Jack Fisher | 36 | 116.0 | 6 | 10 | 4.58 | 57 |
| Billy Pierce | 38 | 99.0 | 3 | 11 | 4.27 | 52 |
| Gaylord Perry | 31 | 76.0 | 1 | 6 | 4.03 | 52 |
| Jim Duffalo | 34 | 75.1 | 4 | 2 | 2.87 | 55 |
| Frank Linzy | 8 | 16.2 | 0 | 0 | 4.86 | 14 |

#### 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 |
| Don Larsen | 46 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3.05 | 44 |
| Billy Hoeft | 23 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4.44 | 8 |
| Al Stanek | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.73 | 5 |
| John Pregenzer | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.82 | 5 |
| Bob Garibaldi | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.13 | 4 |
| Jim Constable | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 1 |
| Ron Herbel | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 1 |

## Awards and honors

* Willie Mays, All-Star Game Most Valuable Player
All-Star Game
* Ed Bailey, catcher, starter
* Willie Mays, outfield, starter
* Orlando Cepeda, reserve
* Juan Marichal, reserve
* Willie McCovey, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tacoma Giants | Pacific Coast League | Andy Gilbert |
| AA | Springfield Giants | Eastern League | Buddy Kerr |
| AA | El Paso Sun Kings | Texas League | George Genovese |
| A | Fresno Giants | California League | Bill Werle |
| A | Decatur Commodores | Midwest League | Richie Klaus |
| A | Lexington Giants | Western Carolinas League | Max Lanier |
| Rookie | Salem Rebels | Appalachian League | Alex Cosmidis |