1962 American League

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The 1962 season of the American League was the sixty-second season of the league.

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Season summary[edit]

Standings[edit]

Bold indicates league champion, Italics indicates World Series champion
Rank Team G W L T WPCT GB RS (RS/G) RA (RA/G) AVG OBP SLG ERA FPCT
1 New York Yankees 162 96 66 0 .593 -.- 817 (5.04) 680 (4.20) 0.267 0.336 0.426 3.70 0.979
2 Minnesota Twins 163 91 71 1 .558 5.0 798 (4.90) 713 (4.37) 0.260 0.337 0.412 3.89 0.979
3 Los Angeles Angels 162 86 76 0 .531 10.0 718 (4.43) 706 (4.36) 0.250 0.324 0.380 3.70 0.972
4 Detroit Tigers 161 85 76 0 .528 10.5 758 (4.71) 692 (4.30) 0.248 0.328 0.411 3.81 0.974
5 Chicago White Sox 162 85 77 0 .525 11.0 707 (4.36) 658 (4.06) 0.257 0.332 0.372 3.73 0.982
6 Cleveland Indians 162 80 82 0 .494 16.0 682 (4.21) 745 (4.60) 0.245 0.308 0.388 4.14 0.977
7 Baltimore Orioles 162 77 85 0 .475 19.0 652 (4.02) 680 (4.20) 0.248 0.313 0.387 3.69 0.980
8 Boston Red Sox 160 76 84 0 .475 19.0 707 (4.42) 756 (4.73) 0.258 0.323 0.403 4.22 0.979
9 Kansas City Athletics 162 72 90 0 .444 25.0 745 (4.60) 837 (5.17) 0.263 0.330 0.386 4.79 0.978
10 Washington Senators 162 60 101 1 .370 35.5 599 (3.70) 716 (4.42) 0.250 0.309 0.373 4.04 0.978

League leaders[edit]

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Games Played Brooks Robinson
Norm Siebern
Baltimore Orioles
Kansas City Athletics
162
At Bats Bobby Richardson New York Yankees 692
Runs Scored Albie Pearson Los Angeles Angels 115
Hits Bobby Richardson New York Yankees 209
Doubles Floyd Robinson Chicago White Sox 45
Triples Gino Cimoli Kansas City Athletics 15
Home Runs Harmon Killebrew Minnesota Twins 48
Total Bases Rocky Colavito Detroit Tigers 309
Runs Batted In Harmon Killebrew Minnesota Twins 126
Stolen Bases Luis Aparicio Chicago White Sox 31
Caught Stealing Luis Aparicio Chicago White Sox 12
Walks Mickey Mantle New York Yankees 122
Intentional Base-on-Balls Jim Gentile Baltimore Orioles 16
Hit by Pitch Norm Cash
Bobby Del Greco
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Athletics
13
Strikeouts Harmon Killebrew Minnesota Twins 142
Sacrifice Hits Bobby Richardson New York Yankees 20
Sacrifice Flies Jim Gentile
Brooks Robinson
Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
10
Grounded into Double Plays Carl Yastrzemski Boston Red Sox 27
Batting Average Pete Runnels Boston Red Sox 0.326
On-Base Percentage Mickey Mantle New York Yankees 0.486
Slugging Percentage Mickey Mantle New York Yankees 0.605
On-Base plus Slugging Mickey Mantle New York Yankees 1.091
On-Base plus Slugging Plus Mickey Mantle New York Yankees 196

Pitching[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Wins Ralph Terry New York Yankees 23
Losses Chuck Estrada
Ed Rakow
Baltimore Orioles
Kansas City Athletics
17
Win-Loss Percentage Dave Wickersham Kansas City Athletics 0.733
Appearances Dick Radatz Boston Red Sox 62
Games Started Ralph Terry New York Yankees 39
Complete Games Camilo Pascual Minnesota Twins 18
Shutouts Dick Donovan
Jim Kaat
Camilo Pascual
Cleveland Indians
Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
5
Games Finished Dick Radatz Boston Red Sox 53
Saves Dick Radatz Boston Red Sox 24
Innings Pitched Ralph Terry New York Yankees 298.2
Batters Faced Ralph Terry New York Yankees 1191
Hits Allowed Jim Bunning Detroit Tigers 262
Home Runs Allowed Ralph Terry New York Yankees 40
Base-on-Balls Allowed Bo Belinsky Los Angeles Angels 122
Intentional Base-on-Balls Chuck Estrada Baltimore Orioles 16
Hit Batsmen Jim Kaat Minnesota Twins 18
Strikeouts Camilo Pascual Minnesota Twins 206
Wild Pitches Jim Kaat Minnesota Twins 13
Balks Arnold Earley
Paul Foytack
Jim Hannan
Jim Perry
Dan Pfister
Boston Red Sox
Detroit Tigers
Washington Senators
Cleveland Indians
Kansas City Athletics
2
Runs Allowed Ed Rakow Kansas City Athletics 126
Earned Runs Allowed Ed Rakow Kansas City Athletics 111
Earned Run Average Hank Aguirre Detroit Tigers 2.21
Walks plus Hits
per Inning Pitched
Hank Aguirre Detroit Tigers 1.051

All-Star Game[edit]

The 1962 season featured two All-Star Games. In the first game at D.C. Stadium in Washington, DC on Tuesday, July 10, 1962, the American League lost by a score of 3 to 1. In the second game at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL on Monday, July 30, 1962, the American League won by a score of 9 to 4. For both games, the league's manager was Ralph Houk.

Postseason[edit]

In the World Series, the American League champion New York Yankees defeated the National League's San Francisco Giants, 4 games to 3.

Award winners[edit]

The winner of the league's Most Valuable Player Award, given its Most Valuable Player, was Mickey Mantle, an outfielder with the New York Yankees. In the award's voting, he had 234 out of a possible 280 points and 13 first place votes.

The winner of the Cy Young Award, given to the best pitcher in Major League Baseball irrespective of league, was Don Drysdale of the Los Angeles Dodgers (NL). In the award's voting, he had 14 out of a possible 20 points and 14 first place votes.

The winner of the league's Rookie of the Year Award, given its best rookie player, was Tom Tresh, a shortstop with the New York Yankees. In the award's voting, he had 13 out of a possible 20 points and 13 first place votes.

Gold Gloves[edit]

The following players won the Gold Glove Award, given to the league's best fielders as voted upon by sportswriters, at their respective position.

Position Player Team
P Jim Kaat Minnesota Twins
C Earl Battey Minnesota Twins
1B Vic Power Minnesota Twins
2B Bobby Richardson New York Yankees
3B Brooks Robinson Baltimore Orioles
SS Luis Aparicio Chicago White Sox
OF Mickey Mantle New York Yankees
Jim Landis Chicago White Sox
Al Kaline Detroit Tigers

Hall of Fame Game[edit]

The 1962 Hall of Fame Game was scheduled to be played on July 23 at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY near the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The game between the New York Yankees of the AL and the Milwaukee Braves of the NL was rained out.

Notable events[edit]

Umpires[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • David Krell: 1962: Baseball and America in the Time of JFK, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 2021. ISBN 978-0-8032-9087-7