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.
| 1963 St. Louis Cardinals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| League | National League | |||
| Ballpark | Busch Stadium I | |||
| City | St. Louis, Missouri | |||
| Record | 93–69 (.574) | |||
| League place | 2nd | |||
| Owners | August "Gussie" Busch | |||
| General managers | Bing Devine | |||
| Managers | Johnny Keane | |||
| Television | KSD-TV | |||
| Radio | KMOX (Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Jerry Gross) | |||
| ||||
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 MazeroskiofPittsburgh.[6]
Pitcher Bobby Shantz, first baseman Bill White, third baseman Ken Boyer, and outfielder Curt Flood won Gold Gloves this year.[7]
| 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 |
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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | — | |||||
| 1963 St. Louis Cardinals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches | ||||||
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tulsa[12]