1962 Baseball Season

 

Highlights:

Question:  What does Willie Mays have in common with Zoilo Versalles, Bob Tillman and Charlie Lau?  Answer:  They each hit three home runs in a single game in the 3RBL 1962 season.  In fact, it was Charlie Lau who did so twice in the season on September 18th versus the Providence Mud Bugs and on October 8th against Mars Hill.  Outside of Mays, this group may appear to be an unlikely one to display such power but 1962 was the year of the home run in 3RBL as the league set a new record in homers with 2,129 topping the 2,092 hit in 1961 and marking the second year in which the league topped 2,000 for a season.

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Not that pitching lacked, however, as there were six no hit games thrown this season (box scores at left) beginning with Jim Bunning's feat against Meadowbrook on May 20 and ending with Hank Aguirre's 10-1 win against Highland on October 1, the only game in which the team no-hit scored a run.

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Maury Wills ran wild on the bases stealing 123 bases in 140 attempts and for the seventh time in eight 3RBL seasons a different franchise was crowned as champion.  Surf City, four time winner of the Dean Division, shed its bridesmaid garb and assumed the mantle of league champion.

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Presley Division:

After a year's absence from the post season, Meadowbrook's, nee Jersey. Monsters reclaimed the division title as they clubbed anyone who entered their lair by a 55-26 margin.  Led by Jack Sanford (23-10 2.60) and Jim Bunning (17-13 2.77) on the hill and Willie Mays (.301-55-146) and a rejuvenated Stan Musial (.311-22-76) at bat they finished seven games ahead of Philadelphia for the crown.

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Philadelphia has always boasted a powerful lineup, especially in the outfield, and the trio of Mickey Mantle (.328-26-94), Billy Williams (.281-22-75) and Rocky Colavito (.225-41-116) again led the attack.  However, the pitching struggled with only Earl Francis (13-6-2.15) and Cal Koonce (10-3-3.32) providing consistent starting pitching.

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Pittsburgh was again led by Bill Monboquette (18-11-2.44) on the hill but the remainder of the starters were inconsistent and were it not for an outstanding bullpen the team might well have finished with a losing record.  Orlando Cepeda (.308-44-120) was the big gun in the Pittsburgh offense with able assistance from Bob Skinner (.300-24-82) and Roberto Clemente (.290-13-63).

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Meadville paired an exceptionally strong pitching and defense with a exceptionally inept offense to finish with a losing record and in the basement.  Fourth best team pitching and second best defense accounted for strong records for Warren Spahn (16-14-2.80), Jim O'Toole (12-12-3.12), Ralph Terry (14-18-3.47), Earl Wilson (4-3-3.42) and Ken Johnson (11-9-3.94) as well as five relievers with ERAs of 3.73 and below.  At bat, however, outside of Norm Siebern (.279-27-84) who led the team in all three triple crown categories as well as doubles (25) and runs scored (87) there was only sporadic production.

 

Brando Division:

Crimson copped its second consecutive division title and advanced the the finals in an effort to retain its crown.  The best pitching staff in the league was again led by Whitey Ford (22-10-2.28) with the assistance of rising stars Juan Marichal (17-9-2.58) and Sandy Koufax (12-10-2.70).  The offense was led by Felipe Alou (.301-25-98), Brooks Robinson (.298-29-95) and Don Demeter (.296-29-90) as well as the surprising Charley Lau (.350-18-55 in 283 at bats)

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Lansing just missed the .500 mark (80-82) and never seriously challenged for the crown.  Bob Gibson (16-15-3.23) was the rock of the rotation while Don Rudolph (19-6-2.85) turned in an outstanding performance in a split role of 51 games and 23 starts.  Poor Bobby Bolin (0-9-3.59) could not get a break as he appeared in 49 games and had nothing to show for his season's work.  Vada Pinson (.268-22-98) fell off from 1961 but still led the team in RBI.  Long time stalwart Ed Mathews (.258-28-96) still produced solid numbers but sophomore Frank Howard (.261-26-82) appears to be a force to be reckoned with.

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Mars Hill finished a distant third and without Roger Maris' home run record race there wasn't much to note this season.  The "Old Warrior", Bob Friend (15-16-2.94) was the most consistent hurler while Ernie Banks (.229-42-109) led the team in homers and RBI.  Maris (.223-29-89) fell to 29 homers for the season but the emergence of Johnny Callison (.280-16-75) portends hope for the future.  

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Providence's season was centered around the eventual batting champion, Tommy Davis.  Davis (.336-25-89) took the batting title from teammate and 1961 winner, Ron Fairly (.255-24-56) as he led or tied in every offensive category except runs scored and triples.

 

Dean Division:

For the fourth consecutive season, the Surf City Beach Boys won the Dean Division title and for the first time they went all the way in the post season for the 3RBL crown.  Twice previously they had lost in the finals and once in the semis  but this year they would not be denied.  ERA champ Hank Aguirre (18-9 1.96) led the staff while Bob Purkey (20-14 2.55), Camilo Pascual (17-9 3.04) and Ray Herbert (18-7 3.06) formed a formidable rotation and the anchored the second best pitching staff in the league.  Power, as always, was the name of the game as home run champ Harmon Killebrew (.233-57-142), Frank Robinson (.314-40-126), Frank Thomas (.246-38-109) and George Altman (.306-22-61) hammered the opposition into submission.

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The Highland Flyers nipped at their heels all season and did beat Philadelphia for the Wild Card berth in the post season by a single game.  Jim Kaat (23-8 2.55) and Don Drysdale (19-13 2.80) formed a formidable left right combo on the hill while there was always a "monster" lurking in the bullpen as Dick Radatz (7-6-23 2.37) appeared in 76 games and hurled 102 innings.  As has been the case since their inception, the offense was led by Henry Aaron (.292-40-124).  The emergence of Floyd Robinson (.318-13-60) portends well for the future as Joe Adcock (.228-43-104) is showing signs of aging.

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Wexford remains a team trying to find its stride.  Outside of Larry Sherry (8-5-26 3.66) there has not been a consistent pitcher from year to year.  This season it was Tom Cheney (7-10 3.38) who served as ace of staff although left hander Sam McDowell (0-6 6.99) appears promising despite his record.  As for the offense, if you blinked you might have missed their whippet of the base paths, Maury Wills.  Wills literally ran wild this season as he stole 123 bases in 140 attempts while batting .298 and scoring 87 runs.  Catcher Bob Tillman (.224-24-59) led the team in homers while Al Kaline (.289-23-58) and Bill White (.296-16-78) were its heart.

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It has been a long time since the Inland Empire's 3RBL championship season of 1955.  This was another season in which some things went right but most went wrong.  Bob Buhl (15-8 3.40) and Bob Shaw (12-9 3.49) were solid starters but the remainder of the rotation let the 66ers down and outside of Dallas Green (4-3-3 3.25) and Steve Hamilton (2-6-2 3.39) the bullpen was equally disappointing.  Likewise, Bob Allison (.262-28-83) and Pete Runnels (.320-13-64) were the keys to the offense with Runnels pushing eventual batting champ Tommy Davis for almost all of the season.  

Post Season:

The 1963 post season featured two sweeps surrounding a dramatic seven game battle.  Defending champ Crimson quickly dispatched Meadowbrook in the opening series and eventual winner Surf City did the dame to Crimson in the finals.  But in between, it was a see-saw affair with comebacks, questionable decisions and indomitable wills deciding events leading to a key misplay that settled the affair.

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Box scores and scripts for most games are linked at the left of the page as well as summary stats for the season.

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