1963 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1963 Season

The 1963 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1963 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1963

I calculate Player won-lost records two ways: pWins, which tie to team wins and eWins, which control for context and the ability of one's teammates. For players with more pWins than eWins, their Player wins contributed to more team wins than one might expect; for players with more eWins than pWins, just the opposite is true: their Player wins translated into fewer team wins than expected. Or more briefly: a player with more pWins than eWins was better in context, a player with more eWins than pWins was worse in context.

The top 10 players in pWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Sandy Koufax	22.5	13.3	10.2	12.4	1	Sandy Koufax	22.5	13.3	10.2	12.4
2	Gary Peters	17.3	10.4	7.6	9.3	2	Juan Marichal	22.6	16.0	7.4	9.8
3	Juan Marichal	22.6	16.0	7.4	9.8	3	Gary Peters	17.3	10.4	7.6	9.3
4	Warren Spahn	19.4	13.4	6.7	8.8	4	Warren Spahn	19.4	13.4	6.7	8.8
5	Jim Maloney	18.4	12.7	6.6	8.5	5	Jim Maloney	18.4	12.7	6.6	8.5
6	Tom Tresh	21.4	14.4	6.1	7.8	6	Tom Tresh	21.4	14.4	6.1	7.8
7	Jim Bouton	17.0	12.1	5.7	7.6	7	Jim Bouton	17.0	12.1	5.7	7.6
8	Jimmie Hall	19.7	13.4	5.5	7.1	8	Dick Ellsworth	18.8	14.2	5.3	7.4
9	Dick Ellsworth	18.8	14.2	5.3	7.4	9	Eddie Mathews	22.6	16.7	5.3	7.1
10	Elston Howard	16.7	11.5	5.3	6.6	10	Jimmie Hall	19.7	13.4	5.5	7.1

The top 10 players in eWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		eWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						eWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL		Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
1	Hank Aaron	26.9	18.3	6.5	8.7	1	Hank Aaron	26.9	18.3	6.5	8.7
2	Gary Peters	16.4	11.3	5.9	7.6	2	Juan Marichal	21.5	17.1	5.7	8.1
3	Juan Marichal	21.5	17.1	5.7	8.1	3	Gary Peters	16.4	11.3	5.9	7.6
4	Willie Mays	25.0	18.8	5.2	7.3	4	Willie Mays	25.0	18.8	5.2	7.3
5	Eddie Mathews	22.6	16.8	5.2	7.1	5	Eddie Mathews	22.6	16.8	5.2	7.1
6	Jimmie Hall	19.5	13.6	4.8	6.4	6	Sandy Koufax	19.5	16.3	4.6	6.9
7	Dick Ellsworth	18.2	14.7	4.7	6.8	7	Dick Ellsworth	18.2	14.7	4.7	6.8
8	Sandy Koufax	19.5	16.3	4.6	6.9	8	Larry Jackson	18.5	15.3	4.4	6.5
9	Bob Allison	22.1	15.9	4.4	6.2	9	Jimmie Hall	19.5	13.6	4.8	6.4
10	Larry Jackson	18.5	15.3	4.4	6.5	10	Billy Williams	25.0	19.0	4.2	6.3

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1963 at the end of this article.

1963 World Series

The 1963 World Series was a mixed blessing for Yankee haters. On the one hand, the Yankees won their 13th American League pennant in 15 seasons. On the other hand, at least they got swept in the World Series, by the Los Angeles Dodgers, by a combined score of 12-4.

The top players in the 1963 World Series, as measured by pWins over replacement level, were Dodgers pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, who combined to pitch three complete games in which they allowed 3 runs, 15 hits, 4 walks, and 32 strikeouts. Drysdale even drew twice as many walks as a batter (2) as he allowed (1).

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1963 World Series

Sandy Koufax	LAN	1.7	0.8	0.9
Don Drysdale	LAN	1.0	0.4	0.7
Johnny Roseboro	LAN	0.8	0.2	0.6
Bill Skowron	LAN	0.7	0.2	0.5
Johnny Podres	LAN	0.7	0.3	0.4

Best of 1963 by Factor and Position

Next, let's look at the top players in various aspects of the game.

Best by Factor: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, Fielding

There are four basic factors for which players earn Player won-lost records: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, and Fielding. The top players in 1963 in wins over positional average (WOPA) by factor were as follows.


Batting
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Hank Aaron	18.5	11.6	6.5	1	Willie McCovey	16.8	9.6	6.8
2	Willie Mays	17.2	10.6	6.1	2	Willie Mays	17.5	10.3	6.7
3	Willie McCovey	16.3	10.1	5.7	3	Hank Aaron	18.4	11.8	6.1
4	Orlando Cepeda	15.9	10.8	4.7	4	Al Kaline	16.1	10.2	5.5
5	Bob Allison	15.1	10.0	4.6	5	Tom Tresh	14.7	9.1	5.2
6	Eddie Mathews	15.9	11.0	4.5	6	Frank Howard	12.8	7.4	5.1
7	Carl Yastrzemski	14.5	10.1	4.0	7	Bill DeKova White	17.4	11.8	5.1
8	Harmon Killebrew	13.5	9.2	3.9	8	Eddie Mathews	16.2	10.8	4.9
9	Al Kaline	15.2	11.0	3.8	9	Bob Allison	15.1	9.9	4.8
10	Frank Howard	12.1	8.1	3.6	10	Orlando Cepeda	15.9	10.7	4.8

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Hank Aaron	2.2	1.1	1.1	1	Jim Gilliam	2.2	1.3	0.9
2	Jim Gilliam	2.2	1.3	0.8	2	Luis Aparicio	2.2	1.4	0.8
3	Lou Brock	2.2	1.4	0.8	3	Chuck Hinton	1.6	0.8	0.8
4	Chuck Hinton	1.6	0.9	0.7	4	Curt Flood	2.3	1.6	0.7
5	Al Kaline	1.5	0.9	0.6	5	Jose Tartabull	1.0	0.3	0.7
6	Luis Aparicio	2.1	1.5	0.6	6	Ron Fairly	1.2	0.6	0.6
7	Johnny Callison	1.5	0.9	0.5	7	Gino Cimoli	1.3	0.8	0.5
8	Tito Francona	1.2	0.6	0.5	8	Lou Brock	2.1	1.5	0.5
9	Tommy Harper	1.3	0.8	0.5	9	Johnny Callison	1.5	0.9	0.5
10	Billy Williams	1.7	1.2	0.4	10	Hank Aaron	1.9	1.3	0.5

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Juan Marichal	19.2	15.2	4.0	1	Sandy Koufax	21.2	11.0	10.2
2	Sandy Koufax	18.1	14.1	3.9	2	Juan Marichal	20.5	13.8	6.6
3	Gary Peters	13.9	10.0	3.9	3	Jim Maloney	16.8	10.4	6.4
4	Dick Ellsworth	16.3	12.6	3.7	4	Gary Peters	15.1	8.8	6.3
5	Curt Simmons	13.5	10.3	3.2	5	Warren Spahn	17.3	11.3	5.9
6	Bob Friend	14.7	11.5	3.2	6	Jim Bouton	15.8	10.2	5.5
7	Larry Jackson	15.6	12.6	3.0	7	Dick Ellsworth	16.9	11.9	5.0
8	Juan Pizarro	12.9	10.0	2.9	8	Dick Radatz	10.0	5.5	4.5
9	Ray Herbert	12.5	9.9	2.6	9	Joe Nuxhall	13.6	9.2	4.4
10	Joe Nuxhall	12.7	10.1	2.6	10	Juan Pizarro	13.6	9.3	4.3

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Bill Monbouquette	0.7	0.2	0.5	1	Jack S. Sanford	0.5	0.1	0.4
2	Jack S. Sanford	0.5	0.1	0.4	2	Warren Spahn	0.9	0.5	0.4
3	Bob L. Miller	0.7	0.4	0.3	3	Barry Latman	0.4	0.1	0.3
4	Bob Sadowski (1963)	0.3	0.1	0.2	4	Bill Monbouquette	0.6	0.3	0.3
5	Larry Jackson	1.0	0.7	0.2	5	Carl Willey	0.4	0.1	0.3


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Johnny Edwards	2.4	1.8	0.7	1	Dick Bertell	2.0	1.2	0.8
2	Clay Dalrymple	2.3	1.8	0.5	2	Johnny Edwards	2.4	1.8	0.6
3	Cam Carreon	0.9	0.5	0.3	3	Cam Carreon	0.9	0.5	0.4
4	Joe Torre	1.5	1.2	0.3	4	Ed Sadowski	0.8	0.5	0.3
5	Ed Sadowski	0.7	0.6	0.2	5	Joe Torre	1.5	1.2	0.3


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tim Harkness	2.6	1.9	0.7	1	Tim Harkness	2.6	1.9	0.7
2	Lee Thomas	2.2	1.7	0.5	2	Jim Gentile	2.4	1.8	0.5
3	Jim Gentile	2.4	1.9	0.5	3	Lee Thomas	2.2	1.7	0.5
4	Norm Cash	2.2	1.8	0.4	4	Vic Power	1.8	1.6	0.3
5	Norm Siebern	2.1	1.9	0.2	5	Joe Cunningham	0.8	0.6	0.3


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Bill Mazeroski	6.1	4.9	1.2	1	Bobby Richardson	6.4	5.1	1.3
2	Frank Bolling	5.2	4.3	0.9	2	Frank Bolling	5.3	4.1	1.2
3	Ron Hunt	5.8	5.4	0.4	3	Bill Mazeroski	6.1	4.9	1.1
4	Jake Wood	2.9	2.7	0.2	4	Chuck Hiller	4.2	3.6	0.6
5	George C. Smith	2.0	1.8	0.2	5	Nellie Fox	4.7	4.2	0.5


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Eddie Mathews	4.2	3.4	0.8	1	Brooks Robinson	5.3	4.3	1.0
2	Brooks Robinson	5.2	4.5	0.7	2	Eddie Mathews	4.2	3.3	0.9
3	Ron Santo	5.5	4.8	0.6	3	Ed Charles	5.1	4.3	0.8
4	Don Hoak	3.5	3.0	0.5	4	Ron Santo	5.5	4.8	0.8
5	Daryl Spencer	1.4	1.1	0.3	5	Daryl Spencer	1.6	0.9	0.7


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ron Hansen	6.8	5.8	1.0	1	Tony Kubek	7.1	5.8	1.2
2	Al Moran	5.4	4.8	0.6	2	Ron Hansen	6.9	5.7	1.2
3	Dick Tracewski	3.1	2.7	0.3	3	Dick Tracewski	3.4	2.4	1.0
4	Bobby Wine	5.5	5.2	0.3	4	Maury Wills	5.2	4.3	0.9
5	Jose Pagan	5.7	5.4	0.3	5	Wayne Causey	6.2	5.4	0.8


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Billy Williams	6.6	5.1	1.4	1	H. Tommy Davis	4.9	3.0	1.9
2	Rocky Colavito	7.1	6.0	1.2	2	Carl Yastrzemski	7.8	6.6	1.2
3	Carl Yastrzemski	7.6	6.9	0.7	3	Hector Lopez	5.0	3.9	1.1
4	Jimmie Hall	1.6	1.0	0.7	4	Billy Williams	6.4	5.3	1.1
5	George Alusik	1.3	0.8	0.5	5	Tom Tresh	2.7	1.9	0.8


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Willie Davis	6.7	4.8	1.9	1	Willie Davis	7.5	4.1	3.4
2	Jimmie Hall	3.4	2.4	1.0	2	Curt Flood	7.4	5.7	1.7
3	Ty Cline	2.3	1.6	0.7	3	Ty Cline	2.6	1.3	1.3
4	Gary Geiger	3.6	3.0	0.6	4	Jimmie Hall	3.5	2.3	1.2
5	Curt Flood	6.8	6.2	0.6	5	Vic Davalillo	4.5	3.3	1.2


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Johnny Callison	7.3	5.9	1.4	1	Roger Maris	3.7	2.4	1.4
2	Roger Maris	3.6	2.4	1.2	2	Bob Allison	6.0	4.7	1.3
3	Lou Brock	5.8	5.0	0.8	3	Lou Clinton	6.2	5.2	1.0
4	Bob Allison	5.7	5.0	0.7	4	Johnny Callison	7.1	6.1	0.9
5	Frank Robinson	1.8	1.1	0.6	5	Frank Robinson	1.9	1.0	0.9

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1963 Major-League leaders by position. The figures shown here only include Player decisions earned while playing this particular position.


Catcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Elston Howard	15.7	12.4	3.3	1	Elston Howard	16.7	11.3	5.4
2	Earl Battey	14.6	12.0	2.7	2	Earl Battey	14.9	11.6	3.4
3	Ed Bailey	9.2	7.2	2.0	3	John Orsino	10.9	8.7	2.3
4	John Orsino	10.6	9.0	1.6	4	Ed Bailey	9.3	7.2	2.1
5	Joe Torre	10.6	9.4	1.2	5	Yogi Berra	4.7	2.7	2.0


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Orlando Cepeda	19.3	14.4	3.8	1	Bill DeKova White	21.7	15.7	4.6
2	Norm Cash	16.4	12.4	3.0	2	Orlando Cepeda	19.6	14.1	4.3
3	Bill DeKova White	20.8	16.6	2.7	3	Ron Fairly	11.8	8.9	2.2
4	Dick Stuart	18.9	16.0	1.6	4	Joe Pepitone	16.5	13.3	2.1
5	Don Mincher	6.9	5.2	1.3	5	Norm Cash	16.0	12.8	2.0


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jim Gilliam	14.8	12.7	2.6	1	Jim Gilliam	15.4	12.0	3.9
2	Ron Hunt	17.6	16.4	1.9	2	Tony Taylor	19.9	17.7	3.0
3	Woodie Held	10.8	9.5	1.6	3	Woodie Held	11.1	9.2	2.3
4	Bill Mazeroski	17.8	17.2	1.2	4	Bobby Richardson	19.9	18.6	2.0
5	Jake Wood	10.3	9.5	1.2	5	Chuck Hiller	12.7	11.9	1.2


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ron Santo	23.7	19.8	3.5	1	Pete Ward	22.1	18.4	3.3
2	Eddie Mathews	15.6	12.6	2.8	2	Eddie Mathews	15.6	12.6	2.8
3	Pete Ward	21.7	18.8	2.5	3	Ken Boyer	21.1	18.2	2.6
4	Ken Boyer	20.7	18.6	1.8	4	Maury Wills	4.7	2.7	1.9
5	Max Alvis	19.3	17.3	1.7	5	Ron Santo	22.8	20.6	1.9


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dick Groat	22.0	19.9	3.0	1	Dick Groat	22.1	19.8	3.2
2	Eddie Bressoud	17.2	15.9	2.0	2	Ron Hansen	18.8	17.0	2.6
3	Jim Fregosi	20.6	19.8	1.8	3	Tony Kubek	18.7	17.0	2.5
4	Wayne Causey	18.4	17.5	1.7	4	Jim Fregosi	20.8	19.6	2.0
5	Dick McAuliffe	17.1	16.3	1.7	5	Maury Wills	14.7	13.6	1.8


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Billy Williams	24.6	19.3	3.4	1	Billy Williams	24.7	19.3	3.7
2	Carl Yastrzemski	23.6	18.8	3.2	2	Willie McCovey	19.5	15.1	3.6
3	Willie McCovey	19.1	15.1	2.7	3	H. Tommy Davis	14.4	11.4	3.2
4	Harmon Killebrew	18.9	15.1	2.4	4	Carl Yastrzemski	23.5	18.8	3.0
5	Eddie Mathews	6.8	4.3	2.1	5	Eddie Mathews	7.0	4.3	2.5


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie Mays	24.7	19.0	4.7	1	Willie Mays	24.7	19.0	4.8
2	Jimmie Hall	12.9	9.0	3.3	2	Tom Tresh	14.3	9.1	4.8
3	Vada Pinson	21.5	17.7	2.8	3	Jimmie Hall	13.6	8.3	4.8
4	Mickey Mantle	7.9	5.3	2.3	4	Willie Davis	19.3	14.4	4.0
5	Gary Geiger	12.7	10.3	1.8	5	Mickey Mantle	8.5	4.7	3.5


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Hank Aaron	26.6	18.6	5.9	1	Al Kaline	22.2	15.6	4.8
2	Bob Allison	21.1	15.2	4.2	2	Hank Aaron	26.0	19.2	4.7
3	Al Kaline	21.5	16.2	3.4	3	Bob Allison	21.3	15.0	4.6
4	Johnny Callison	24.2	19.0	3.0	4	Frank Howard	16.8	10.9	4.6
5	Frank Howard	15.9	11.8	2.7	5	Johnny Callison	24.7	18.5	4.1


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Gary Peters	13.7	9.6	4.1	1	Sandy Koufax	21.7	11.4	10.3
2	Juan Marichal	19.4	15.4	4.1	2	Gary Peters	15.0	8.3	6.6
3	Sandy Koufax	18.5	14.5	4.0	3	Juan Marichal	20.6	14.2	6.5
4	Dick Ellsworth	16.9	13.2	3.7	4	Jim Maloney	17.2	10.9	6.4
5	Larry Jackson	16.6	13.3	3.3	5	Warren Spahn	18.1	11.9	6.3
6	Curt Simmons	13.7	10.5	3.2	6	Jim Bouton	14.7	9.1	5.6
7	Bob Friend	15.1	11.9	3.1	7	Dick Ellsworth	17.5	12.6	5.0
8	Juan Pizarro	12.5	9.6	2.9	8	Camilo Pascual	15.5	11.1	4.4
9	Ray Herbert	13.0	10.2	2.8	9	Whitey Ford	15.8	11.6	4.2
10	Al Downing	10.4	7.9	2.5	10	Joe Nuxhall	13.4	9.4	4.0


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dick Radatz	8.9	6.7	2.2	1	Dick Radatz	10.0	5.6	4.4
2	Hal Woodeshick	7.7	5.9	1.8	2	Lindy McDaniel	9.3	5.6	3.6
3	Stu Miller	8.5	7.0	1.5	3	Stu Miller	9.4	6.1	3.3
4	Al McBean	5.2	3.7	1.5	4	Al McBean	5.8	3.0	2.8
5	Dick Hall	4.4	3.0	1.4	5	Ron Perranoski	9.3	6.9	2.5
6	Bill Dailey	5.9	4.4	1.4	6	Hal Reniff	5.2	3.0	2.2
7	Johnny Klippstein	5.0	3.6	1.4	7	John Wyatt	7.5	5.3	2.2
8	Art Fowler	4.3	2.9	1.4	8	Ron Taylor	5.2	3.1	2.2
9	Ron Taylor	4.8	3.4	1.4	9	Bill Dailey	6.0	4.3	1.6
10	Ron Kline	5.5	4.3	1.2	10	Bob Shaw	4.0	2.5	1.5

Finally, here are the best at three oft-forgotten positions that can nevertheless matter: pitcher offense, pinch hitting, and pinch running.


Pitcher Offense
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Bob Gibson	2.2	2.2	1.1	1	Bob Gibson	2.8	1.6	2.0
2	Gary Peters	1.7	1.6	0.8	2	Gary Peters	1.9	1.4	1.1
3	Camilo Pascual	1.6	1.9	0.6	3	Camilo Pascual	1.7	1.8	0.8


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dick Brown	1.2	0.0	1.2	1	Dick Brown	1.2	0.0	1.2
2	Jerry Lynch	1.7	1.1	0.8	2	Jerry Lynch	1.7	1.1	0.8
3	Wes Covington	1.1	0.5	0.7	3	George Alusik	1.1	0.4	0.7


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Al Weis	0.2	0.0	0.2	1	Bob Bruce	0.2	0.0	0.2
2	Rod Kanehl	0.3	0.1	0.2	2	Al Jackson	0.3	0.1	0.2
3	Jimmie Schaffer	0.2	0.0	0.2	3	Jimmie Schaffer	0.2	0.0	0.2

Noteworthy Players of 1963

The 1963 season represented the start of what is sometimes called the "second Deadball Era". Runs per 27 outs in the major leagues dropped from 4.74 in 1962 to 4.16 in 1963. Run scoring stayed low through 1968, although run scoring was slightly lower in 1963 than in any season until 1967.

Sandy Koufax and Juan Marichal

Coincidental with the dawn of the "second Deadball era" or not, the 1963 season was the breakthrough season for the two Hall-of-Fame pitchers who ranked 1st and 2nd in the major leagues in pWins over replacement level (pWORL): Sandy Koufax and Juan Marichal. The next table compares the careers of Koufax and Marichal as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Sandy Koufax					Juan Marichal
1955	12	2.5	2.4	0.2	0.5
1956	16	3.4	4.4	-0.9	-0.4
1957	34	5.2	5.8	-0.3	0.4
1958	40	10.2	12.0	-1.4	-0.0
1959	35	9.6	9.4	0.5	1.6
1960	37	10.5	12.5	-1.5	-0.1	11	5.1	3.4	2.1	2.5
1961	42	17.4	15.8	2.3	4.3	30	12.7	11.7	1.5	3.0
1962	28	11.8	9.2	3.3	4.6	38	17.9	15.4	3.3	5.3
1963	40	22.5	13.3	10.2	12.4	42	22.6	16.0	7.4	9.8
1964	29	15.7	11.2	5.3	7.1	33	18.4	12.8	6.6	8.6
1965	43	25.0	14.5	11.7	14.1	39	22.0	15.2	8.0	10.2
1966	41	22.8	16.1	7.8	10.1	37	22.6	14.3	9.2	11.3
1967						26	12.6	12.2	1.1	2.6
1968						38	20.0	16.4	4.8	6.6
1969						38	20.9	14.6	7.5	9.6
1970						34	12.7	13.2	0.4	1.8
1971						37	16.6	13.9	3.8	5.5
1972						25	9.5	12.5	-2.3	-1.0
1973						34	13.4	13.0	1.1	2.6
1974						11	3.5	2.4	1.1	1.5
1975						2	0.3	0.9	-0.6	-0.5
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	397	156.7	126.6	37.0	54.8	475	230.8	188.0	54.9	79.5
COMMON ROWS	260	125.8	92.6	39.0	52.6	230	121.2	88.9	38.0	50.9

Hank Aaron

If one controls for context, one could make a case for Hank Aaron as having been the best player in major-league baseball in 1963, as measured by (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins over either positional average (eWOPA) or replacement level (eWORL).

Hank Aaron led the major leages in both batting and baserunning wins over non-pitcher average in 1963, an extremely rare accomplishment. While Aaron's 1963 season was among his best, it was consistent with virtually every season of Aaron's career from 1955 through 1971 - a rather remarkable 17-year "peak".

Hank Aaron's wonderful career, as measured by Player won-lost records, is shown in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Hank Aaron Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1954	MLN	20	122	17.1	14.7	1.4	3.3	16.5	15.3	0.1	2.0
1955	MLN	21	153	21.7	18.3	2.4	4.5	22.1	17.8	3.3	5.4
1956	MLN	22	153	25.5	18.3	5.8	8.1	24.9	18.8	4.7	6.9
1957	MLN	23	151	25.6	16.4	8.1	10.2	24.4	17.7	5.7	7.8
1958	MLN	24	153	25.1	17.2	6.5	8.6	24.1	18.3	4.4	6.5
1959	MLN	25	154	25.4	17.6	6.0	8.0	24.9	18.1	5.2	7.3
1960	MLN	26	153	24.3	17.7	5.4	7.6	24.1	17.9	5.1	7.2
1961	MLN	27	155	25.7	18.5	5.6	8.1	24.8	19.3	3.8	6.3
1962	MLN	28	156	27.1	19.4	6.2	8.6	27.4	19.2	6.7	9.0
1963	MLN	29	161	26.0	19.2	4.7	6.8	26.9	18.3	6.5	8.7
1964	MLN	30	145	21.3	17.8	1.9	3.9	21.6	17.5	2.6	4.5
1965	MLN	31	150	22.1	17.8	2.9	4.9	22.7	17.2	4.0	6.0
1966	ATL	32	158	25.6	18.5	5.3	7.3	25.1	19.0	4.4	6.4
1967	ATL	33	155	26.4	19.1	5.7	8.0	25.7	19.8	4.3	6.5
1968	ATL	34	160	27.7	20.1	5.9	8.3	26.9	21.0	4.4	6.8
1969	ATL	35	147	24.2	15.4	7.1	9.2	23.6	16.1	5.7	7.8
1970	ATL	36	150	23.3	16.1	6.1	8.1	22.0	17.4	3.7	5.7
1971	ATL	37	139	20.7	13.5	6.0	7.6	20.8	13.4	6.2	7.9
1972	ATL	38	129	16.3	12.7	1.8	3.2	16.9	12.1	3.1	4.5
1973	ATL	39	120	15.2	13.0	1.2	2.6	15.9	12.3	2.6	4.0
1974	ATL	40	112	14.3	10.8	2.7	3.9	13.7	11.5	1.5	2.7
1975	MIL	41	137	9.5	10.4	-1.1	0.2	9.8	10.1	-0.5	0.8
1976	MIL	42	85	6.4	6.5	-0.1	0.7	6.7	6.2	0.5	1.4
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			3,298	496.7	369.1	97.6	141.6	491.8	374.0	88.2	132.2
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			17	2.7	2.5		0.4	3.2	2.0		1.4
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			3,315	499.4	371.6		142.0	495.0	376.0		133.6

Tom Tresh

The top non-pitcher in pWins over either positional average (pWOPA) or replacement level (pWORL) in the first two tables of this article is probably a surprise to most people: Yankees' outfielder Tom Tresh. Tom Tresh had an interesting career. In 1963, Tresh played more center field than anything else. In 1964, 1966, and 1967, his primary position was left field. But in 1962, 1968, and 1969, his primary position was shortstop. Tresh's career, as measured by Player won-lost records, is shown in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Tom Tresh Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1961	NYA	22	9	0.3	0.4	-0.0	0.0	0.3	0.3	-0.1	-0.0
1962	NYA	23	157	24.1	20.3	3.9	6.1	22.9	21.4	1.4	3.7
1963	NYA	24	145	21.4	14.4	6.1	7.8	19.6	16.1	2.4	4.1
1964	NYA	25	153	21.1	16.8	2.9	4.8	19.5	18.4	-0.3	1.6
1965	NYA	26	156	22.4	20.3	0.7	2.8	23.2	19.4	2.5	4.6
1966	NYA	27	151	20.2	18.9	0.2	1.9	21.5	17.6	2.9	4.7
1967	NYA	28	130	14.9	17.4	-4.0	-2.4	15.7	16.6	-2.3	-0.7
1968	NYA	29	152	20.0	19.7	1.3	3.3	19.8	19.8	1.0	3.0
1969	DET	30	139	15.5	15.1	1.0	2.6	15.1	15.5	0.3	1.9
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			1,192	159.7	143.1	11.9	26.9	157.7	145.2	7.9	22.9
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			18	2.5	2.0		0.7	2.3	2.2		0.2
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			1,210	162.3	145.0		27.6	160.0	147.3		23.1

Tom Tresh's career was very good but very short. I wrote an article about Tom Tresh, who is the major-league player whose name is closest to mine (Tom Thress - silent "h").

The top 10 most similar players to Tresh from age 23 through 30 are shown next.

Player	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	Bat	Run	Field
		Most Similar Players to Tom Tresh in Value Ages 23 through 30
						Wins over Baseline
Tom Tresh	1183	159.4	142.7	11.9	26.9	8.0	0.5	4.4
Adam Jones	1189	157.9	144.3	11.6	26.0	6.4	0.9	5.9
George Bell	1121	152.4	133.7	12.7	26.3	11.6	1.1	4.5
Jackie Jensen	999	137.5	118.3	11.7	25.5	8.9	0.9	5.4
Vernon Wells	1179	148.9	141.0	7.8	21.5	4.7	0.7	4.9
Dusty Baker	1142	150.6	131.1	11.2	24.8	9.5	0.2	6.5
Frank Demaree	949	132.3	112.5	12.4	25.4	8.1	0.7	6.2
Kirby Puckett	1070	145.3	133.0	9.5	22.4	8.7	-0.4	4.4
Luke Appling	955	127.7	123.9	6.7	20.0	4.8	0.4	4.7
Bobby Thomson	1079	141.0	126.3	8.3	22.5	10.3	1.5	4.2
Tommy Holmes	901	125.1	114.1	4.4	16.7	9.5	0.1	4.7

That's a pretty good list of players, including two Hall-of-Famers. Unfortunately, that was the entirety of Tresh's career.

Notable Debuts

The 1963 season saw the major-league debut of two second basemen who would become teammates nine years later in Cincinnati. In their first five seasons together as teammates, they made a combined nine All-Star appearances (all starts, at a combined four positions), won three National League MVP awards, and their team won 4 division titles, 3 pennants, and 2 World Championships.

The careers of Pete Rose and Joe Morgan, as measured by Player won-lost records, are compared in the next table.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Pete Rose					Joe Morgan
1963	157	18.5	20.4	-1.1	0.8	8	1.1	0.6	0.6	0.7
1964	136	15.2	15.4	1.0	2.5	10	1.1	1.5	-0.3	-0.1
1965	162	21.4	19.2	2.8	4.8	157	20.9	20.5	1.1	3.2
1966	156	19.5	20.2	0.4	2.2	122	16.3	14.3	2.8	4.2
1967	148	21.5	18.6	1.5	3.5	133	16.8	16.1	1.1	2.7
1968	149	21.6	18.6	1.6	3.6	10	1.0	0.7	0.3	0.4
1969	156	24.3	17.7	5.1	7.3	147	19.0	17.5	1.9	3.8
1970	159	22.5	18.5	2.8	4.9	144	20.1	17.8	3.6	5.6
1971	160	22.3	19.5	1.5	3.5	160	22.0	18.7	3.7	5.7
1972	154	22.7	18.4	2.8	4.8	149	25.7	16.1	10.2	12.3
1973	160	24.5	19.6	3.1	5.3	157	26.8	17.2	9.7	11.9
1974	163	22.6	19.6	1.5	3.4	149	23.8	16.9	7.4	9.2
1975	162	22.8	17.8	4.4	6.3	146	24.3	15.4	9.0	10.8
1976	162	21.6	17.3	3.7	5.6	141	23.2	14.4	9.2	11.0
1977	162	17.4	16.8	-0.2	1.5	153	22.1	14.9	7.9	9.7
1978	159	19.9	17.1	2.0	3.8	132	16.7	13.5	3.6	5.0
1979	163	16.7	16.4	-1.3	0.3	126	15.1	14.1	1.3	2.7
1980	162	17.2	15.8	-0.0	1.5	141	17.5	15.4	2.6	4.2
1981	107	11.3	10.2	0.4	1.6	90	12.0	9.4	2.8	3.9
1982	162	15.2	16.2	-2.4	-1.0	134	18.1	13.9	4.5	5.9
1983	151	12.4	13.8	-2.3	-1.1	123	16.4	13.0	3.6	4.9
1984	121	10.6	11.3	-1.5	-0.5	116	12.0	12.2	0.4	1.5
1985	119	12.2	10.7	0.3	1.4
1986	72	5.5	5.7	-0.7	-0.2
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	3,562	439.3	394.7	25.4	65.9	2,648	371.9	293.9	87.0	119.3

Last Hurrahs

Finally, 1963 was the final season for two Hall-of-Famers: Stan Musial and Early Wynn. The final table of the article presents Player won-lost records for Stan Musial and Early Wynn. Wynn had exactly 300 traditional pitching wins. He earned slightly more career pWins while Stan Musial is one of a fairly small number of players with more than 400 career pWins.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Stan Musial					Early Wynn
1939						3	1.0	1.3	-0.2	-0.0
1940
1941	12	1.8	1.0	0.7	0.8	5	3.0	1.5	1.5	1.8
1942	140	20.8	13.1	6.4	8.3	30	11.5	13.6	-1.6	-0.1
1943	157	28.3	17.7	9.2	11.6	38	15.9	15.3	1.2	3.1
1944	146	25.4	15.6	8.6	10.6	43	10.9	12.4	-1.0	0.5
1945
1946	156	22.9	16.1	4.9	6.9	25	7.0	5.9	1.4	2.3
1947	149	20.0	13.8	4.7	6.3	54	17.9	17.7	1.0	3.2
1948	155	28.1	18.4	8.2	10.7	73	13.9	16.7	-2.0	-0.1
1949	157	25.1	16.9	7.3	9.6	35	10.1	10.4	0.2	1.4
1950	146	20.8	16.1	3.4	5.4	39	16.5	12.5	4.5	6.3
1951	152	23.6	16.3	6.1	8.2	41	18.1	15.0	3.9	5.8
1952	154	22.7	16.8	4.9	7.1	44	19.6	17.1	3.4	5.8
1953	157	26.2	18.2	6.5	9.0	37	17.8	15.9	2.4	4.4
1954	153	23.5	19.1	3.7	6.2	40	20.0	14.3	6.5	8.7
1955	153	20.6	15.3	4.1	6.0	34	16.5	14.3	2.8	4.5
1956	156	18.5	17.4	-0.5	1.3	38	19.9	14.2	6.5	8.7
1957	134	17.9	11.6	5.2	6.7	40	16.6	19.9	-2.2	-0.2
1958	135	13.3	11.2	1.2	2.3	40	14.8	16.1	-0.5	1.2
1959	115	9.2	9.7	-1.3	-0.4	37	20.1	15.5	4.9	6.9
1960	116	12.6	9.4	2.4	3.6	36	16.3	15.1	2.1	3.9
1961	123	14.4	12.9	0.8	2.3	17	7.4	5.6	2.0	2.8
1962	135	16.7	14.4	1.0	2.6	27	9.8	12.8	-2.5	-1.0
1963	124	11.9	10.1	0.9	2.0	20	2.3	2.0	0.4	0.7
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	3,025	424.1	311.3	88.2	127.1	796	307.1	285.2	34.6	70.5

Article last updated: November 30, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1963 season. Positional averages for starting pitching and relief pitching are calculated using single-year data for all starting pitchers and all relief pitchers.

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

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