1963 Major League Baseball season

The 1963 schedule consisted of 162 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had 10 teams. Each team was scheduled to play 18 games against the other nine teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place by the American League since the 1961 season and by the National League since the previous season, and would be used until 1969.

Opening Day took place on April 8, featuring four teams. The final day of the regular season was on September 29, which saw 16 teams play. The World Series took place between October 2 and October 6.

The 1963 season saw the following rule changes:

• The top of the strike zone was raised from the armpits to the top of the shoulders.^[1][2]
• Caught stealing, a statistic that began being tracked in 1951, was officially codified.^[3]
• In efforts to speed up the game:^[4]
  • Both the American and National Leagues implement a five-pitch warm-up limit per inning, reducing the number from eight.
    • The American League, however, still allows eight pitches for the first 30 days of the season.
  • Both leagues implement a rule forcing pitchers to be in the on-deck circle as the next batter in the lineup. Previously, the following batter would stand in the on-deck circle while the pitcher rested on the bench until his at-bat.
    • The American League additionally required catchers in the on-deck circle to remove all protective gear.
  • The National League now limits the ability of managers to visit the mound to once per inning. The pitcher would be removed from the game if the manager visited a second time.
• If offensive interference is called, all runners must return to their last legally touched base.^[3]

The postseason began on October 2 and ended on October 6 with the Los Angeles Dodgers sweeping the New York Yankees in the 1963 World Series in four games.

In the American League, the New York Yankees were in the 4th of 5 straight pennant winning years, and, led by MVP Elston Howard, cruised to the American League title by 10.5 games over the 2nd place Chicago White Sox.

In the National League, most experts figured the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers would be locked in another battle for the pennant, much like 1962 when the Giants came from behind and beat the Dodgers in a playoff. The Dodgers started slowly, perhaps feeling the hangover effect from blowing the pennant the year before. They were 2 games under .500 in early May, and trailed the surprising St. Louis Cardinals by 4.5 games. Then their pitching asserted itself, and on August 28, the Dodgers led the Giants by 5.5 games and the Cardinals by 6.5 games. The Cardinals proceeded to win 19 of their next 20 games and, while the Dodgers didn't exactly slump, they went "only" 14–7 during that same period. Thus, the Dodgers went into St. Louis on September 16 to play the Cardinals in a 3-game series leading by only 1 game. With the memory of blowing the 1962 pennant fresh in their minds, the Dodgers proceeded to sweep the Cardinals and take a 4-game lead with 7 games to go. The key game was the third one; the Cardinals led 5–1 in the 8th inning and a win would move them back to within 2 games of L.A. But the Dodgers got 3 in the 8th and in the top of the 9th, late season call up Dick Nen, in only his 8th major league at bat, hit a pinch hit homer to force extra innings. The Cardinals got a leadoff triple from Dick Groat in the 10th but could not score. The Dodgers then scored an unearned run in the 13th inning and won, 6–5. The disheartened Cardinals then lost their next 3 games as well while the Dodgers won 3 of their next 4 to clinch the pennant with 6 games left.

In an attempt to create an identity distinguishable from all other teams, Kansas City Athletics owner Charlie Finley changed the team uniforms to kelly green and yellow. This tradition of "green and gold" has been preserved to this day, although the kelly green has since been replaced with forest green. Finley also changed the Athletics' cleats to white instead of the standard black. Coaches and managers were also given white hats, which were dropped when the Athletics adopted new colors in 1993. The white cleats were dropped in 2000, but were revived in 2008.

The New York Mets would play their final game at the Polo Grounds on September 18 against the Philadelphia Phillies, moving into Shea Stadium for the start of the 1964 season. This would be the final of 78 seasons since 1882 that any iteration of the Polo Grounds featured a major-league team.

• Stan Musial had his No. 6 retired by the St. Louis Cardinals on September 29. This was the first number retired by the team.

• 1963 in baseball (Events, Births, Deaths)
• 1963 Nippon Professional Baseball season