1962 Milwaukee Braves season

The 1962 Milwaukee Braves season was the tenth for the franchise in Milwaukee and 92nd overall.

1962 Milwaukee Braves
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Location
Milwaukee County Stadium (since 1953) Milwaukee, Wisconsin (since 1953)
Results
Record	86–76 (.531)
League place	5th
Other information
Owner(s)	Lou Perini (sold in November 1962)[1][2][3]
General manager(s)	John McHale
Manager(s)	Birdie Tebbetts
Local television	WTMJ-TV (Earl Gillespie, Blaine Walsh, Ernie Johnson)
Local radio	WEMP (Earl Gillespie, Blaine Walsh)
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The fifth-place Braves finished the season with a 86–76 (.531) record, 15½ games behind the National League champion San Francisco Giants.[4] The home attendance at County Stadium was 766,921,[5] eighth in the ten-team National League. It was the Braves' first season under one million in Milwaukee.[5]

After this season in November, owner Lou Perini sold the franchise for $5.5 million to a Chicago group led by 34-year-old insurance executive William Bartholomay.[1][2][3] Perini retained a 10% interest in the club and sat on the board of directors for a number of years.

Ten years after the final television broadcasts in Boston, broadcasts of Braves games returned to a new channel, WTMJ-TV, giving Milwaukee television viewers a chance to watch the games at home.

Offseason

• October 10, 1961: Merritt Ranew was drafted from the Braves by the Houston Colt .45s in the 1961 MLB expansion draft.[6]
• November 8, 1961: Ellis Burton[7] and Lou Jackson[8] were acquired by the Braves from the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of a minor league working agreement.
• November 28, 1961: Frank Thomas was traded by the Braves with a player to be named later to the New York Mets for a player to be named later and cash. The deal was completed on May 21, 1962, when the Mets sent Gus Bell to the Braves and the Braves sent Rick Herrscher to the Mets.[9]
• December 15, 1961: Joe Azcue, Ed Charles and Manny Jiménez were traded by the Braves to the Kansas City Athletics for Lou Klimchock and Bob Shaw.[10]
• Prior to 1962 season: Hal Haydel was signed as an amateur free agent by the Braves.[11]

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
San Francisco Giants	103	62	0.624	—	61–21	42–41
Los Angeles Dodgers	102	63	0.618	1	54–29	48–34
Cincinnati Reds	98	64	0.605	3½	58–23	40–41
Pittsburgh Pirates	93	68	0.578	8	51–30	42–38
Milwaukee Braves	86	76	0.531	15½	49–32	37–44
St. Louis Cardinals	84	78	0.519	17½	44–37	40–41
Philadelphia Phillies	81	80	0.503	20	46–34	35–46
Houston Colt .45s	64	96	0.400	36½	32–48	32–48
Chicago Cubs	59	103	0.364	42½	32–49	27–54
New York Mets	40	120	0.250	60½	22–58	18–62

Record vs. opponents

1962 National League Records 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	—

Roster

1962 Milwaukee Braves
Roster
Pitchers 10 Bob Buhl 33 Lew Burdette 22 Cecil Butler 40 Tony Cloninger 30 Jim Constable 10 Jack Curtis 45 Hank Fischer 36 Bob Hendley 23 Denny Lemaster 20 Don McMahon 32 Don Nottebart 35 Ron Piché 35 Claude Raymond 26 Bob Shaw 21 Warren Spahn 16 Carl Willey		Catchers  1 Del Crandall 15 Joe Torre  8 Bob Uecker Infielders 28 Tommie Aaron  9 Joe Adcock 25 Ken Aspromonte  2 Frank Bolling 41 Eddie Mathews 11 Roy McMillan 29 Denis Menke 27 Amado Samuel		Outfielders 44 Hank Aaron 25 Howie Bedell 20 Gus Bell 45 Ethan Blackaby 18 Lou Johnson 30 Mack Jones 39 Mike Krsnich 24 Lee Maye 29 Hawk Taylor Other batters 18 Lou Klimchock		Manager  6 Birdie Tebbetts Coaches  3 Bill Adair  4 Jimmy Dykes 48 Andy Pafko  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	Del Crandall	107	350	104	.297	8	45
1B	Joe Adcock	121	391	97	.248	29	78
2B	Frank Bolling	122	406	110	.271	9	43
SS	Roy McMillan	137	468	115	.246	12	41
3B	Eddie Mathews	152	536	142	.265	29	90
LF	Gus Bell	79	214	61	.285	5	24
CF	Hank Aaron	156	592	191	.323	45	128
RF	Mack Jones	91	333	85	.255	10	36

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
Lee Maye	99	349	85	.244	10	41
Tommie Aaron	141	334	77	.231	8	38
Joe Torre	80	220	62	.282	5	26
Amado Samuel	76	209	43	.206	3	20
Denis Menke	50	146	28	.192	2	16
Howie Bedell	58	138	27	.196	0	2
Lou Johnson	61	117	33	.282	2	13
Ken Aspromonte	34	79	23	.291	0	7
Bob Uecker	33	64	16	.250	1	8
Hawk Taylor	20	47	12	.255	0	2
Ethan Blackaby	6	13	2	.154	0	0
Mike Krsnich	11	12	1	.083	0	2
Lou Klimchock	8	8	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	34	269.1	18	14	3.04	118
Bob Shaw	38	225	15	9	2.80	124
Bob Hendley	35	200	11	13	3.60	112
Bob Buhl	1	2	0	1	22.50	1

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
Lew Burdette	37	143.2	10	9	4.89	59
Tony Cloninger	24	111	8	3	4.30	69
Denny Lemaster	17	86.2	3	4	3.01	69
Ron Piché	14	52	3	2	4.85	28
Cecil Butler	9	31	2	0	2.61	22
Jim Constable	3	18	1	1	2.00	12

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
Don Nottebart	39	2	2	2	3.23	36
Jack Curtis	30	4	4	1	4.16	40
Carl Willey	30	2	5	1	5.40	40
Hank Fischer	29	2	3	4	5.30	29
Claude Raymond	26	5	5	10	2.74	40
Don McMahon	2	0	1	0	6.00	3

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Louisville Colonels	American Association	Jack Tighe
AAA	Toronto Maple Leafs	International League	Chuck Dressen
AA	Austin Senators	Texas League	Jimmy Brown
B	Yakima Bears	Northwest League	Buddy Hicks
C	Eau Claire Braves	Northern League	Jim Fanning
C	Boise Braves	Pioneer League	Al Unser
D	Dublin Braves	Georgia–Florida League	Bill Steinecke
D	Cedar Rapids Red Raiders	Midwest League	Ken Blackman

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville

Notes

1. Thisted, Red (November 17, 1962). "McHale, six others buy Braves for $5.5 million". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1, part 1.
2. Wolf, Bob (November 17, 1962). "Midwestern group purchases Braves". Milwaukee Journal. p. 1, part 1.
3. "Perini sells Braves to Milwaukee group". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. November 17, 1962. p. 11.
4. "Baseball Standings: final". Milwaukee Journal. October 1, 1962. p. 10, part 2.
5. "Attendance". Milwaukee Journal. October 1, 1962. p. 11, part 2.
6. Merritt Ranew at Baseball-Reference
7. Ellis Burton at Baseball-Reference
8. Lou Jackson at Baseball-Reference
9. Frank Thomas at Baseball-Reference
10. Joe Azcue at Baseball-Reference
11. Hal Haydel at Baseball-Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1962 Milwaukee Braves season at Baseball Reference