# 1962 Milwaukee Braves season

The 1962 Milwaukee Braves season was the tenth for the franchise in Milwaukee and 92nd overall.
The fifth-place Braves finished the season with an 86–76 (.531) record, 15+1⁄2 games behind the National League champion San Francisco Giants. The home attendance at County Stadium was 766,921, eighth in the ten-team National League. It was the Braves' first season under one million in Milwaukee.
After this season in November, owner Lou Perini sold the franchise for $5.5 million to a Chicago group led by 34-year-old insurance executive William Bartholomay. Perini retained a 10% interest in the club and sat on the board of directors for a number of years.
Ten years after the final television broadcasts in Boston, broadcasts of Braves games returned to a new channel, WTMJ-TV, giving Milwaukee television viewers a chance to watch the games at home.

## Offseason

* October 10, 1961: Merritt Ranew was drafted from the Braves by the Houston Colt .45s in the 1961 MLB expansion draft.
* November 8, 1961: Ellis Burton and Lou Jackson were acquired by the Braves from the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of a minor league working agreement.
* November 28, 1961: Frank Thomas was traded by the Braves with a player to be named later to the New York Mets for a player to be named later and cash. The deal was completed on May 21, 1962, when the Mets sent Gus Bell to the Braves and the Braves sent Rick Herrscher to the Mets.
* December 15, 1961: Joe Azcue, Ed Charles and Manny Jiménez were traded by the Braves to the Kansas City Athletics for Lou Klimchock and Bob Shaw.
* Prior to 1962 season: Hal Haydel was signed as an amateur free agent by the Braves.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| San Francisco Giants | 103 | 62 | .624 | — | 61‍–‍21 | 42‍–‍41 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 102 | 63 | .618 | 1 | 54‍–‍29 | 48‍–‍34 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 98 | 64 | .605 | 3½ | 58‍–‍23 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 93 | 68 | .578 | 8 | 51‍–‍30 | 42‍–‍38 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 86 | 76 | .531 | 15½ | 49‍–‍32 | 37‍–‍44 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 84 | 78 | .519 | 17½ | 44‍–‍37 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 81 | 80 | .503 | 20 | 46‍–‍34 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Houston Colt .45s | 64 | 96 | .400 | 36½ | 32‍–‍48 | 32‍–‍48 |
| Chicago Cubs | 59 | 103 | .364 | 42½ | 32‍–‍49 | 27‍–‍54 |
| New York Mets | 40 | 120 | .250 | 60½ | 22‍–‍58 | 18‍–‍62 |

### Record vs. opponents

1962 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MIL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SF | STL |
| Chicago | — | 4–14 | 7–11 | 4–14 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 4–14 | 6–12 | 7–11 |
| Cincinnati | 14–4 | — | 13–5 | 9–9 | 13–5 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 13–5 | 7–11 | 8–10 |
| Houston | 11–7 | 5–13 | — | 6–12 | 7–11 | 13–3–1 | 1–17 | 5–13 | 7–11 | 9–9–1 |
| Los Angeles | 14–4 | 9–9 | 12–6 | — | 10–8 | 16–2 | 14–4 | 10–8 | 10–11 | 7–11 |
| Milwaukee | 10–8 | 5–13 | 11–7 | 8–10 | — | 12–6 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 7–11 | 12–6 |
| New York | 9–9 | 5–13 | 3–13–1 | 2–16 | 6–12 | — | 4–14 | 2–16 | 4–14 | 5–13 |
| Philadelphia | 8–10 | 10–8 | 17–1 | 4–14 | 7–11 | 14–4 | — | 7–10 | 5–13 | 9–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 14–4 | 5–13 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 16–2 | 10–7 | — | 7–11 | 12–6 |
| San Francisco | 12–6 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 11–10 | 11–7 | 14–4 | 13–5 | 11–7 | — | 9–9 |
| St. Louis | 11–7 | 10–8 | 9–9–1 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 9–9 | — |

### 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 | Del Crandall | 107 | 350 | 104 | .297 | 8 | 45 |
| 1B | Joe Adcock | 121 | 391 | 97 | .248 | 29 | 78 |
| 2B | Frank Bolling | 122 | 406 | 110 | .271 | 9 | 43 |
| SS | Roy McMillan | 137 | 468 | 115 | .246 | 12 | 41 |
| 3B | Eddie Mathews | 152 | 536 | 142 | .265 | 29 | 90 |
| LF | Gus Bell | 79 | 214 | 61 | .285 | 5 | 24 |
| CF | Hank Aaron | 156 | 592 | 191 | .323 | 45 | 128 |
| RF | Mack Jones | 91 | 333 | 85 | .255 | 10 | 36 |

#### 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 |
| Lee Maye | 99 | 349 | 85 | .244 | 10 | 41 |
| Tommie Aaron | 141 | 334 | 77 | .231 | 8 | 38 |
| Joe Torre | 80 | 220 | 62 | .282 | 5 | 26 |
| Amado Samuel | 76 | 209 | 43 | .206 | 3 | 20 |
| Denis Menke | 50 | 146 | 28 | .192 | 2 | 16 |
| Howie Bedell | 58 | 138 | 27 | .196 | 0 | 2 |
| Lou Johnson | 61 | 117 | 33 | .282 | 2 | 13 |
| Ken Aspromonte | 34 | 79 | 23 | .291 | 0 | 7 |
| Bob Uecker | 33 | 64 | 16 | .250 | 1 | 8 |
| Hawk Taylor | 20 | 47 | 12 | .255 | 0 | 2 |
| Ethan Blackaby | 6 | 13 | 2 | .154 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Krsnich | 11 | 12 | 1 | .083 | 0 | 2 |
| Lou Klimchock | 8 | 8 | 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 |
| Warren Spahn | 34 | 269.1 | 18 | 14 | 3.04 | 118 |
| Bob Shaw | 38 | 225.0 | 15 | 9 | 2.80 | 124 |
| Bob Hendley | 35 | 200.0 | 11 | 13 | 3.60 | 112 |
| Bob Buhl | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 22.50 | 1 |

#### 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 |
| Lew Burdette | 37 | 143.2 | 10 | 9 | 4.89 | 59 |
| Tony Cloninger | 24 | 111.0 | 8 | 3 | 4.30 | 69 |
| Denny Lemaster | 17 | 86.2 | 3 | 4 | 3.01 | 69 |
| Ron Piché | 14 | 52.0 | 3 | 2 | 4.85 | 28 |
| Cecil Butler | 9 | 31.0 | 2 | 0 | 2.61 | 22 |
| Jim Constable | 3 | 18.0 | 1 | 1 | 2.00 | 12 |

#### 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 |
| Claude Raymond | 26 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2.74 | 40 |
| Don Nottebart | 39 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3.23 | 36 |
| Jack Curtis | 30 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4.16 | 40 |
| Carl Willey | 30 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5.40 | 40 |
| Hank Fischer | 29 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5.30 | 29 |
| Don McMahon | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.00 | 3 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Louisville Colonels | American Association | Jack Tighe |
| AAA | Toronto Maple Leafs | International League | Chuck Dressen |
| AA | Austin Senators | Texas League | Jimmy Brown |
| B | Yakima Bears | Northwest League | Buddy Hicks |
| C | Eau Claire Braves | Northern League | Jim Fanning |
| C | Boise Braves | Pioneer League | Al Unser |
| D | Dublin Braves | Georgia–Florida League | Bill Steinecke |
| D | Cedar Rapids Red Raiders | Midwest League | Ken Blackman |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville