1963 Milwaukee Braves season

March 2026 November 2013 Milwaukee Braves 1963 National League Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee, Wisconsin 84 78 y 6th William Bartholomay(chairman) John McHale Bobby Bragan WTMJ-TV(Mike Walden, Blaine Walsh) WEMP(Earl Gillespie, Tom Collins) The 1963 Milwaukee Braves season was the 11th in Milwaukee and the 93rd overall season of the franchise. The sixth-place Braves finished the season with an 84 78 y record, fifteen games behind the National League and World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=z4VRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wRAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2101%2C3398915 Milwaukee Sentinel Baseball in a nutshell (final standings) September 30, 1963 4, part 2 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot The season's home attendance was 773,018,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=z4VRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wRAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5214%2C3386815 Milwaukee Sentinel Thisted Red Spahn spices finale, 2-0 September 30, 1963 2, part 2 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot ninth in the ten-team National League. This was the first season that the players last names appeared on the jerseys. Offseason October 11, 1962: Ron Hunt was purchased from the Braves by the New York Mets.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/huntro01.shtml Ron Hunt Stats Baseball-Reference.com November 26, 1962: Ellis Burton was drafted from the Braves by the Houston Colt .45s in the 1962 rule 5 draft.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/burtoel01.shtml Ellis Burton Stats Baseball-Reference.com November 26, 1962: 1962 first-year draft Hal Haydel was drafted from the Braves by the Houston Colt .45s.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/haydeha01.shtml Hal Haydel Stats Baseball-Reference.com Don Taussig was drafted by the Braves from the Houston Colt .45s.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/taussdo01.shtml Don Taussig Stats Baseball-Reference.com November 30, 1962: Jim Bolger, Don Nottebart, and Connie Grob were traded by the Braves to the Houston Colt .45s for Norm Larker.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/larkeno01.shtml Norm Larker Stats Baseball-Reference.com Prior to 1963 season: Lou Klimchock was acquired from the Braves by the Washington Senators.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/klimclo01.shtml Lou Klimchock Stats Baseball-Reference.com Ownership change and managerial turnover On November 16, 1962, the 17-year tenure of Louis Perini as owner of the Braves ended when the Boston construction magnate sold the team to a Chicago-based group of investors led by William Bartholomay.https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=wZJMF1LD7PcC&dat=19621117&printsec=frontpage&hl=en Milwaukee Sentinel McHale, six others buy Braves for $5.5 million Thisted Red November 17, 1962 1, part 1 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WDMoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8CYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5196%2C4113423 Milwaukee Journal Wolf Bob Midwestern group purchases Braves November 17, 1962 1, part 1 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Iz8NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YWwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1929%2C2561254 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Associated Press Perini sells Braves to Milwaukee group November 17, 1962 11 The Braves' home attendance had been declining since its 1957 high-water mark of over 2.2 million fans to 767,000 in five short years, due to a drop-off in on-field success since its last postseason appearance (the 1959 NL playoff) and a ban on "bringing your own" food and beer to County Stadium. Within two years of buying the Braves, the Bartholomay group would be negotiating with Atlanta, in a successful bid to move the club to the Southeast as early as 1965. The change in owners overshadowed the Braves' continued turbulence in the managerial chair. On October 5, 1962, Birdie Tebbetts, in office for only 13 months, resigned to join the Cleveland Indians in the American League.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IFAaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JBEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6748%2C1459045 Milwaukee Sentinel Larson Lloyd Tebbetts quits Braves! October 6, 1962 1, part 1 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=V98jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NicEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6978%2C2322017 Milwaukee Journal Wolf Bob Braves suddenly have some room at the top in wake of Tebbetts' abrupt disappearing act October 6, 1962 14 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot His successor, Bobby Bragan, 45, was the team's fourth manager in five seasons.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bXdQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KBEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7294%2C620263 Milwaukee Sentinel Thisted Red Bragan new Braves' manager October 18, 1963 2, part 2 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=n98jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LCcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4293%2C4350358 Milwaukee Journal Walfoort Cleon Bragan learned along way in baseball October 18, 1963 17, part 2 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=V7RWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5ugDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6922%2C938622 Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington Associated Press Bragan will pilot Braves October 18, 1962 16 He had been a coach with the expansion Houston Colt .45s in 1962 and had previously been fired from managing posts with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1956–1957) and the Indians (1958). In a 1976 memoir, longtime Dodger executive Harold Parrott would claim that the Braves' hiring of Bragan after the 1962 season was orchestrated by Branch Rickey to thwart a plan by Dodger owner Walter O'Malley to replace his manager, eventual Hall of Famer Walter Alston, with Leo Durocher. O'Malley was strongly considering firing Alston, but only if he could find a suitable "soft landing spot" for him. He chose the Braves, looking to replace Tebbetts, as Alston's ideal destination. But, according to Parrott, Rickey—in semi-retirement but still O'Malley's bitter enemy—discovered the scheme and brokered the marriage between Bragan and the Braves' ownership before O'Malley's plan could materialize.Parrott Harold The Lords of Baseball 1976 Praeger Books 0275225704 38–39 https://books.google.com/books?id=NKEKAAAACAAJ Bragan served as the Braves' last manager in Milwaukee in 1965, and their first in Atlanta in 1966, although he was fired on August 9 of that year,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QItRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tRAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7338%2C1657306 Milwaukee Sentinel UPI Hitchcock plans changes August 10, 1966 2, part 2 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eNsjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1ycEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7099%2C4543325 Milwaukee Journal Wolf Bob 'Impulsive' best describes brash Bobby; orange drink costs him $100 and job August 10, 1966 2, part 21 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot after guiding the team to an overall record of 310 287 y in over 3 1 2 seasons. Regular season April 16, 1963: Eddie Mathews hit the 400th home run of his career.https://thisdayinbaseball.com/ This Day In Baseball - Where Your Memories Live This Day In Baseball Along with Duke Snider, Mathews became part of the first duo to reach the 400 plateau in the same season.http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/snidedu01.php Duke Snider | The BASEBALL Page March 4, 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20060304170320/http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/snidedu01.php March 4, 2006 Season standings Record vs. opponents MIL Notable transactions May 6, 1963: Lou Klimchock was returned to the Braves by the Washington Senators. May 8, 1963: Lou Johnson and cash were traded by the Braves to the Detroit Tigers for Chico Fernández.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fernach01.shtml Chico Fernandez Stats Baseball-Reference.com May 8, 1963: Chico Fernández was traded by the Braves to the New York Mets for Larry Foss. August 8, 1963: Norm Larker was purchased from the Braves by the San Francisco Giants. Roster 1963 Milwaukee Braves Roster Pitchers 22 Wade Blasingame 33 Lew Burdette 40 Tony Cloninger 34 Hank Fischer 32 Frank Funk 36 Bob Hendley 23 Denny Lemaster 38 Ron Piché 35 Claude Raymond 37 Bob Sadowski 25 Dan Schneider 26 Bob Shaw 21 Warren Spahn 18 Bobby Tiefenauer Catchers  1 Del Crandall 15 Joe Torre  8 Bob Uecker Infielders 28 Tommie Aaron  2 Frank Bolling 16 Lou Klimchock  9 Norm Larker 41 Eddie Mathews 11 Roy McMillan 19 Denis Menke 12 Gene Oliver 27 Amado Samuel 14 Woody Woodward Outfielders 44 Hank Aaron 31 Ty Cline 42 Don Dillard 43 Len Gabrielson 30 Mack Jones 24 Lee Maye 31 Bubba Morton 29 Hawk Taylor Other batters 20 Gus Bell  7 Rico Carty Manager 10 Bobby Bragan Coaches  3 Ken Silvestri  6 Dixie Walker  4 Jo-Jo White  5 Whit Wyatt 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 Joe Torre 142 501 147 .293 14 71 1B Gene Oliver 95 296 74 .250 11 47 2B Frank Bolling 142 542 132 .244 5 43 SS Roy McMillan 100 320 80 .250 4 29 3B Eddie Mathews 158 547 144 .263 23 84 LF Don Dillard 67 119 28 .235 1 12 CF Lee Maye 124 442 120 .271 11 34 RF Hank Aaron 161 631 201 .319 44 130 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 Denis Menke 146 518 121 .234 11 50 Del Crandall 86 259 52 .201 3 28 Mack Jones 93 228 50 .219 3 22 Ty Cline 72 174 41 .236 0 10 Norm Larker 64 147 26 .177 1 14 Tommie Aaron 72 135 27 .200 1 15 Len Gabrielson Len Gabrielson (outfielder) 46 120 26 .217 3 15 Lou Klimchock 24 46 9 .196 0 1 Hawk Taylor 16 29 2 .069 0 0 Bubba Morton 15 28 5 .179 0 4 Amado Samuel 15 17 3 .176 0 0 Bob Uecker 13 16 4 .250 0 0 Gus Bell 3 3 1 .333 0 0 Woody Woodward 10 2 0 .000 0 0 Rico Carty 2 2 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 33 259.2 23 7 2.60 102 Denny Lemaster 46 237.0 11 14 3.04 190 Bob Sadowski Bob Sadowski (pitcher) 19 116.2 5 7 2.62 72 Lew Burdette 15 84.0 6 5 3.64 28 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 Bob Hendley 41 169.1 9 9 3.93 105 Bob Shaw Bob Shaw (baseball) 48 159.0 7 11 2.66 105 Tony Cloninger 41 145.1 9 11 3.78 100 Hank Fischer 31 74.1 4 3 4.96 72 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 Claude Raymond (baseball) 45 4 6 5 5.40 44 Ron Piché 37 1 1 0 3.40 40 Dan Schneider Dan Schneider (baseball) 30 1 0 0 3.09 19 Frank Funk Frank Funk (baseball) 25 3 3 0 2.68 19 Bobby Tiefenauer 12 1 1 2 1.21 22 Wade Blasingame 2 0 0 0 12.00 6 Awards and honors All-Star Game Hank Aaron, outfield, starter Warren Spahn, reserve Joe Torre, reservehttps://baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1963as.shtml 1963 All-Star Game baseball-almanac.com Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Toronto Maple Leafs International League Bill Adair AAA Denver Bears Pacific Coast League Jack Tighe AA Austin Senators Texas League Jimmy Brown A Waycross Braves Georgia–Florida League Bill Steinecke A Yakima Bears Northwest League Buddy Hicks A Boise Braves Pioneer League Billy Smith A Greenville Braves Western Carolinas League Jim Fanning and Paul SnyderLEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Yakima, Greenville Notes 2 References Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 1963 Milwaukee Braves season at Baseball Reference Category:Milwaukee Braves seasons Milwaukee Braves season Milwauk