1963 International League season

BR minors page

The 1963 International League season was the 78th in the league's history, and ended with the Indianapolis Indians winning the first Governors' Cup in franchise history.

With the folding of the American Association, the IL added Indianapolis from the AA and an expansion team from Arkansas to expand to 10 teams, which were then split into two divisions. After the season, the two teams would move to the PCL.

The playoff format was modified to reflect the new realignment. The first-place teams in each division played each other, as did the second-place teams. The winners played for the Governors' Cup. All series remained best-of-seven.

Indianapolis and Atlanta finished the season tied, so the teams held a one-game playoff for the Southern Division title on September 3 in Indianapolis. The Indians won the game 1-0, and that result is reflected in the standings below.

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

North Division	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Syracuse Chiefs	80	70	.533	--	Bob Swift	Detroit Tigers
Toronto Maple Leafs	76	75	.503	4½	Bill Adair	Washington Senators
Rochester Red Wings	75	76	.497	5½	Darrell Johnson	Baltimore Orioles
Buffalo Bisons	74	77	.490	6½	Kerby Farrell	New York Mets
Richmond Virginians	66	81	.449	12½	Preston Gomez	New York Yankees

South Division	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Indianapolis Indians	86	67	.562	--	Rollie Hemsley	Chicago White Sox
Atlanta Crackers	85	68	.556	1	Harry Walker	St. Louis Cardinals
Arkansas Travelers	78	73	.517	7	Frank Lucchesi	Phildelphia Phillies
Columbus Jets	75	73	.507	8½	Larry Shepard	Pittsburgh Pirates
Jacksonville Suns	56	91	.381	27	Ben Geraghty/Casey Wise	Cleveland Indians

Playoffs

	First Round					Governors' Cup Finals
	N1	Syracuse Chiefs	1
	S1	Indianapolis Indians	4
						S1	Indianapolis Indians	4
						S2	Atlanta Crackers	1
	N2	Toronto Maple Leafs	0
	S2	Atlanta Crackers	4

First Round

Indianapolis vs. Syracuse Date Away Home September 4 Syracuse 2 Indianapolis 11 September 5 Syracuse 1 Indianapolis 2 September 6 Syracuse 1 Indianapolis 5 September 7 Indianapolis 3 Syracuse 4 11 innings September 8 Indianapolis 6 Syracuse 5 11 innings Indianapolis wins series 4-1

Atlanta vs. Toronto Date Away Home September 5 Toronto 1 Atlanta 9 September 6 Toronto 6 Atlanta 13 September 7 Toronto 2 Atlanta 5 September 8 Atlanta 5 Toronto 3 Atlanta wins series 4-0

Governors' Cup Finals

Indianapolis vs. Atlanta Date Away Home September 9 Atlanta 4 Indianapolis 10 September 10 Atlanta 6 Indianapolis 7 September 11 Atlanta 5 Indianapolis 4 September 12 Indianapolis 7 Atlanta 3 September 13 Indianapolis 9 Atlanta 4 Indianapolis wins series 4-1

League Leaders

Batting

• Batting Average Don Buford, Indianapolis, .336
• Runs Scored Buford, 114
• Hits Buford, 206
• Doubles Buford, 41
• Triples Dick Allen, Arkansas, 12
• Home Runs Allen, 33
• Runs Batted In Allen, 97
• Stolen Bases Buford, 42

Pitching

• Wins Bill Smith, Arkansas, 14
• Earned Run Average Fritz Ackley, Indianapolis, 2.76
• Complete Games Smith, 14
• Shutouts Paul Brown, Arkansas; Nelson Chittum, Rochester, 6
• Strikeouts Frank Kreutzer, Indianapolis, 157

References

Brian Bennett, On A Silver Diamond: The Story Of Rochester Community Baseball from 1956-1996. Triphammer Publishing, 1997.

The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. W. Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff, editors. Baseball America, 1993.

1964 Baseball Almanac

External Links

1963 Rochester Red Wings review – On A Silver Diamond