1962 Los Angeles Dodgers season

1962  Los Angeles Dodgers
League	National League
Ballpark	Dodger Stadium
City	Los Angeles
Owners	Walter O'Malley, James & Dearie Mulvey
President	Walter O'Malley
General managers	Buzzie Bavasi
Managers	Walter Alston
Television	KTTV (11)
Radio	KFI Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett KWKW Jose Garcia, Jaime Jarrín
←  1961 Seasons 1963  →

The 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the fifth for the team in Southern California, and the 73rd for the franchise in the National League. After spending the previous four seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, they began the season by opening Dodger Stadium, the team's new ballpark. The stadium opened on April 10 with a game against the Cincinnati Reds. The Dodgers proceeded to win a Los Angeles record 102 games and tied the San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League. The Giants won the ensuing tie-breaker series two games to one.

Off-season

• October 11, 1961: Gordie Windhorn and Bill Lajoie (minors) were traded by the Dodgers to the Kansas City Athletics for Stan Johnson, Bobby Prescott, and Jay Ward. ^[1]
• December 15, 1961: Charlie Neal and a player to be named later were traded by the Dodgers to the New York Mets for Lee Walls and cash. The Dodgers completed the deal by sending Willard Hunter to the Mets on May 25, 1962. ^[2]
• Prior to 1962 season: Duke Carmel was acquired from the Dodgers by the St. Louis Cardinals. ^[3]
• March 24, 1962: Ramón Conde and Jim Koranda (minors) were traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago White Sox for Andy Carey. ^[4]

Regular season

The Los Angeles Times described the Dodgers' season as a "gamut of sublime" and "ridiculous", noting their successes—such as Maury Wills' 100 stolen bases breaking Ty Cobb's single-season record, Don Drysdale's 25 wins, and Sandy Koufax's no-hitter on June 30—together with problems such as the 18 unearned runs the defense had allowed for the season behind Drysdale, and other fielding issues. ^[5]

The Dodgers spent most of the early part of the season trying to keep pace with the San Francisco Giants, who established an early lead in the standings and continued to hold at least a share of that lead continuously from April 28 to June 7. ^[6] At that point the Dodgers overtook the Giants, and for the next month the lead was traded between the two sides five times. The Giants held the lead for the last time on July 7. ^[6] The Dodgers went 20–6 in July while the Giants went 16–11, allowing the Dodgers to take the league lead on July 8 and hold it until season's last regular game. ^[7]

The Dodgers lost 10 of their final 13 games from September 16 to 30, while the Giants lost just 6 over the same span. While the schedule says the Dodgers lost the pennant in late September/early October, it was probably lost on July 17 in Cincinnati. That is when star left-hander Sandy Koufax left his start against the Reds in the first inning with a bruised tendon on his finger. Koufax would miss 58 games and approximately 13 starts due to the injury. At the time, Koufax was 14–5 with a league-best 2.15 ERA. The desperate Dodgers brought Koufax back on Sept. 21 when he was clearly not ready. He started three games, but lasted a total of 6+2⁄3 innings and gave up nine runs and went 0–2 along with a no-decision. ^{[6] [7]} However, with seven games remaining the Dodgers were still ahead in the league by four games, and later held a two-game lead with three left to play. ^[7] They entered their final game with a one-game lead over the Giants, but fell 1–0 to the St. Louis Cardinals. Meanwhile, the Giants won 2–1 over the Houston Colt .45's, after an eighth-inning home run by Willie Mays. ^[8] These results left the Dodgers and Giants tied in the league at 101–61, necessitating a tie-breaker to decide the NL pennant. The three-game tiebreaker series was considered part of the regular season for statistical purposes. The Giants won game one, while the Dodgers took game two. The Giants then took game three to capture the NL pennant.

Records and achievements

In 1962 two players set Los Angeles Dodgers team records that still stand. Tommy Davis, batting in the heart of the Dodgers' batting order, had a season that in another season might have earned him the National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Davis set Dodger records with 230 hits and 153 runs batted in that have never been matched. In addition, Davis won the National League batting title with a .346 batting average, he scored 120 runs himself, and he also hit 27 doubles and 27 home runs. Davis finished third in the voting for the MVP trophy.

The winner of the MVP was Davis's teammate Maury Wills, who set the all-time Dodger record of 104 stolen bases. This was also a major league season record until it was broken in 1974 by Lou Brock. Wills also led the league in playing in all 165 of the Dodgers' games (including their three-game playoff with the Giants) and with 695 at-bats. The 165 games played in a single season remains an all-time major league record, and is unlikely to be broken under the current major league rules. Wills totaled 208 hits and 130 runs scored, and he also led the league with 10 triples. To top it off, Wills won the Gold Glove at shortstop. All of this impressed the voters for the MVP more than Davis's performance did.

Maury Wills (104) and Willie Davis (32) set an MLB record with the most stolen bases by 2 teammates with 136. The Dodgers OF consisting of Tommy Davis in LF, Willie Davis in CF and Frank Howard in RF provided most Of the Power for the Dodgers as Tommy Davis hit 27 HRs with 153 RBIs - Willie Davis (who was voted the NL Sophomore Of the year in 1962) hit 21 HRs with 85 RBIs and Big Frank Howard jacked 31 HRs with 118 RBIs.

Another Dodger, Don Drysdale, won the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in Major League Baseball. Drysdale led the league with 25 wins, 41 games started, 19 complete games, 314 innings pitched, and 232 strikeouts. He only suffered nine lost games, and he also finished fifth in the voting for the MVP trophy.

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax

In addition, a young pitcher named Sandy Koufax had a breakthrough year of a kind for the Dodgers. Koufax led the league with an earned-run average (ERA) of 2.54, and this was first time that he had had an ERA nearly that low, and it was the first of five consecutive years in which he led the league in ERA in just 28 games pitched, Koufax has a won-loss record of 14–7, 11 complete games, and 216 strikeouts.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

National 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 record v t e 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	—

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day starters
Name	Position
Maury Wills	Shortstop
Jim Gilliam	Second baseman
Wally Moon	Left fielder
Duke Snider	Right fielder
John Roseboro	Catcher
Ron Fairly	First baseman
Daryl Spencer	Third baseman
Willie Davis	Center fielder
Johnny Podres	Starting pitcher

Roster

1962 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 53 Don Drysdale 23 Willard Hunter 32 Sandy Koufax 38 Joe Moeller 17 Phil Ortega 16 Ron Perranoski 22 Johnny Podres 45 Pete Richert 37 Ed Roebuck 51 Larry Sherry 41 Jack Smith 40 Stan Williams		Catchers 35 Doug Camilli  8 John Roseboro 34 Norm Sherry Infielders 11 Larry Burright 21 Andy Carey  6 Ron Fairly 19 Jim Gilliam 15 Tim Harkness 20 Daryl Spencer 44 Dick Tracewski 30 Maury Wills		Outfielders 12 Tommy Davis  3 Willie Davis 25 Frank Howard 14 Ken McMullen  9 Wally Moon  4 Duke Snider  7 Lee Walls		Manager 24 Walter Alston Coaches 33 Joe Becker  2 Leo Durocher 31 Greg Mulleavy 27 Pete Reiser

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

= Indicates league leader

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; SB = Stolen Bases

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	John Roseboro	128	389	97	.249	7	55	12
1B	Ron Fairly	147	460	128	.278	14	71	1
2B	Jim Gilliam	160	588	159	.270	4	43	17
3B	Daryl Spencer	77	157	37	.236	2	12	0
SS	Maury Wills	165	695	208	.299	6	48	104
LF	Tommy Davis	163	665	230	.346	27	153	18
CF	Willie Davis	157	600	171	.285	21	85	32
RF	Frank Howard	141	493	146	.296	31	119	1

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
Larry Burright	115	249	51	.205	4	30
Wally Moon	95	244	59	.242	4	31
Duke Snider	80	158	44	.278	5	30
Andy Carey	53	111	26	.234	2	13
Lee Walls	60	109	29	.266	0	17
Doug Camilli	45	88	25	.284	4	22
Norm Sherry	35	88	16	.182	3	16
Tim Harkness	92	62	16	.258	2	7
Ken McMullen	6	11	3	.273	0	0
Dick Tracewski	15	2	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

= Indicates league leader

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
Don Drysdale	43	314.0	25	9	2.83	232
Johnny Podres	43	255.0	15	13	3.81	178
Stan Williams	40	185.2	14	12	4.46	108
Sandy Koufax	28	184.0	14	7	2.54	216

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
Joe Moeller	19	85.2	6	5	5.25	46
Pete Richert	19	81.1	5	4	3.87	75
Phil Ortega	24	53.2	0	2	6.88	30

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
Ron Perranoski	70	6	6	19	2.85	68
Ed Roebuck	64	10	2	9	3.09	72
Larry Sherry	58	7	3	11	3.20	71
Jack Smith	8	0	0	1	4.50	7
Willard Hunter	1	0	0	0	40.50	1

Awards and honors

• National League Most Valuable Player
  • Maury Wills
• Cy Young Award
  • Don Drysdale
• Associated Press Athlete of the Year
  • Maury Wills ^[9]
• Gold Glove Award
  • Maury Wills
• NL Player of the Month
  • Sandy Koufax (June 1962)
  • Frank Howard (July 1962)

Sporting News awards

• TSN Pitcher of the Year Award
  • Don Drysdale
• TSN Major League Player of the Year Award
  • Maury Wills & Don Drysdale
• TSN National League Player of the Year Award
  • Maury Wills

All-Stars

• 1962 Major League Baseball All-Star Game −1st Game
  • Don Drysdale starter
  • Tommy Davis starter
  • Sandy Koufax reserve
  • John Roseboro reserve
  • Maury Wills reserve
• 1962 Major League Baseball All-Star Game – 2nd Game
  • Johnny Podres starter
  • Tommy Davis starter
  • John Roseboro reserve
  • Maury Wills reserve
• Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVP Award – Game 1
  • Maury Wills
• TSN National League All-Star
  • Don Drysdale
  • Tommy Davis
  • Maury Wills

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Omaha Dodgers	American Association	Danny Ozark
AAA	Spokane Indians	Pacific Coast League	Preston Gómez
A	Greenville Spinners	South Atlantic League	Roy Hartsfield
B	Salem Dodgers	Northwest League	Stan Wasiak
C	Great Falls Electrics	Pioneer League	Al Ronning
C	Reno Silver Sox	California League	Roy Smalley
D	Keokuk Dodgers/Midwest Dodgers	Midwest League	Ed Serrano
D	Ozark Dodgers/Andalusia Dodgers	Alabama–Florida League	George Scherger
D	St. Petersburg Saints	Florida State League	Spider Jorgensen

Notes

1. Stan Johnson at Baseball-Reference
2. Charlie Neal at Baseball-Reference
3. Duke Carmel at Baseball-Reference
4. Ramón Conde at Baseball-Reference
5. Finch, Frank (October 1, 1962). "Dodgers Ran Gamut of Sublime to Ridiculous in Pennant Quest". Los Angeles Times .
6. "1962 San Francisco Giants Schedule, Box Scores, and Splits". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved August 8, 2010.
7. "1962 Los Angeles Dodgers Schedule, Box Scores, and Splits". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved August 8, 2010.
8. "Giants Win on Mays' Homer to Force Play-off Today". Los Angeles Times . Associated Press. October 1, 1962.
9. Associated Press Athlete of the Year (male)

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform
• Los Angeles Dodgers official web site