Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over San Francisco Giants (4–3); Ralph Terry, MVP All-Star Game (#1), July 10 at D.C. Stadium: National League, 3–1; Maury Wills, MVP All-Star Game (#2), July 30 at Wrigley Field: American League, 9–4; Leon Wagner, MVP
Other champions College World Series: Michigan Cuban National Series: Industriales Japan Series: Toei Flyers over Hanshin Tigers (4–2–1) Little League World Series: Moreland, San Jose, California Senior League World Series: West Hempstead, New York
Awards and honors Baseball Hall of Fame Bob Feller Jackie Robinson Edd Roush Bill McKechnie (manager)
Baseball Writers' Association of America AwardsBBWAA Award National League American LeagueRookie of the Year Ken Hubbs (CHC) Tom Tresh (NYY)Cy Young Award Don Drysdale (LAD) —Most Valuable Player Maury Wills (LAD) Mickey Mantle (NYY)Gold Glove AwardsPosition National League American LeaguePitcher Bobby Shantz (STL/HOU) Jim Kaat (MIN)Catcher Del Crandall (MIL) Earl Battey (MIN)1st Base Bill White (STL) Vic Power (MIN)2nd Base Ken Hubbs (CHC) Bobby Richardson (NYY)3rd Base Jim Davenport (SF) Brooks Robinson (BAL)Shortstop Maury Wills (LAD) Luis Aparicio (CWS)Outfield Bill Virdon (PIT) Jim Landis (CWS) Roberto Clemente (PIT) Al Kaline (DET) Willie Mays (SF) Mickey Mantle (NYY)
Statistical leaders American LeagueNational League Stat Player Total Player Total AVG Pete Runnels (BOS) .326 Tommy Davis (LAD) .346 HR Harmon Killebrew (MIN) 48 Willie Mays (SF) 49 RBI Harmon Killebrew (MIN) 126 Tommy Davis (LAD) 153 W Ralph Terry (NYY) 23 Don Drysdale (LAD) 25 ERA Hank Aguirre (DET) 2.21 Sandy Koufax (LAD) 2.54 K Camilo Pascual (MIN) 206 Don Drysdale (LAD) 232
Major league baseball final standings American League final standings
National League final standings
Nippon Professional Baseball final standings Central League final standings Central League G W L T Pct. GBHanshin Tigers 133 75 55 3 .577 —Taiyo Whales 134 71 59 4 .546 4.0Chunichi Dragons 133 70 60 3 .538 5.0Yomiuri Giants 134 67 63 4 .515 8.0Hiroshima Carp 134 56 74 4 .431 19.0Kokutetsu Swallows 134 51 79 4 .392 24.0
Pacific League final standings Pacific League G W L T Pct. GBToei Flyers 133 78 52 3 .600 —Nankai Hawks 133 73 57 3 .562 5.0Nishitetsu Lions 136 62 68 6 .477 16.0Daimai Orions 132 60 70 2 .462 18.0Hankyu Braves 131 60 70 1 .462 18.0Kintetsu Buffaloes 131 57 73 1 .438 21.0
Events January
January 7 – The Class B Three–I League, a mainstay mid-level minor circuit in the American Midwest that operated for 55 years between 1901 and 1961, disbands. Many of its member teams will join the Midwest League, a lower-level circuit that is upgraded to a new, consolidated Class A ranking in 1963. January 23 – In their first year of eligibility, Bob Feller and Jackie Robinson are elected members of the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. January 24 – The Double-A Southern Association folds after 61 years of operation, leaving only the six-team Texas League and the semi-independent Mexican League as Double-A circuits for 1962. Only two of the Southern Association's eight teams survive in other leagues in 1962: the Atlanta Crackers and Macon Peaches. The Association was the final post-1946 minor league to enforce racial segregation, remaining all-white except for the Crackers' brief integration experiment in April 1954. January 20 – The Cleveland Indians purchase the contract of veteran pitcher Rubén Gómez from the Philadelphia Phillies. January 28 – Edd Roush and Bill McKechnie are added to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.
February February 16: The expansion Houston Colt .45s assemble for the first time at their training camp in Apache Junction, Arizona. The newborn New York Mets, whose roster already includes Roger Craig, Gil Hodges, Billy Loes, Charlie Neal and Don Zimmer, sign free-agent pitcher Clem Labine, another veteran of the Brooklyn Dodgers' 1950s NL dynasty. Labine, 35, had been released by the Pittsburgh Pirates in November 1961. He will appear in only three early-season games for the Mets before drawing his final release on May 1, 1962. February 19 – The Mets hold their first workout at Huggins–Stengel Field in Saint Petersburg, Florida, where they're greeted by Casey Stengel, their 71-year-old manager for whom the facility is partly named.
March
March 1 – Detroit Tigers pitcher Sam Jones, 36, undergoes surgery for the removal of two malignant growths in his neck. He has cobalt treatments during the 1962 season, but appears in 30 games for Detroit between April and September. He will continue to pitch in MLB into 1964, and remain effective in Triple-A into 1967. However, in 1971, four years after he retires from the mound, a recurrence of the cancer takes Jones' life at age 45. March 2 – The New York Mets return pitcher Billy Loes, who won 50 games for the – Brooklyn Dodgers, to his previous organization—ironically, the San Francisco Giants, who release the 32-year-old righthander and end his MLB career. March 23 – Cincinnati Reds president and general manager William O. DeWitt Sr. buys the franchise itself from the estate of its late owner, Powel Crosley Jr., who died in March 1961. The reported purchase price is $4.27 million. March 24 – Veteran third baseman Andy Carey finds his way to the Los Angeles Dodgers after he refuses to report to the Philadelphia Phillies. On December 15, 1961, Carey had been traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Phillies with pitcher Frank Barnes for hurler Taylor Phillips and infielder Bo Sadowski. Today, the White Sox send pitcher Cal McLish to Philadelphia, and take back Carey's contract. The ChiSox then trade Carey to the Dodgers for infielder Ramón Conde and minor-league outfielder Jim Koranda. Carey, 30, a three-time World Series champion with the New York Yankees, reports to the pennant-contending Dodgers and appears in 53 games for them in 1962, his final MLB season.
April April 2 – The Cleveland Indians acquire hard-throwing right-hander Pedro Ramos from the Minnesota Twins for slick-fielding first baseman Vic Power and southpaw Dick Stigman. April 3 – The Twins release second baseman Billy Martin, 33, ending his playing career. However, Martin will remain with the franchise as a scout and coach, and in 1969 he will begin his MLB managing career by leading the Twins to the American League West Division championship. April 9 – The American League's traditional Presidential opener marks the baseball debut of D.C. Stadium, a multipurpose facility that opened in the autumn of 1961 as the home venue of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. With John F. Kennedy throwing out the first ball, the 1962 MLB season commences with the hometown Washington Senators defeating the Detroit Tigers 4–1 before a crowd of 44,383. April 10: In the first regular-season game ever at Dodger Stadium, the Cincinnati Reds spoil the Los Angeles Dodgers' opening-day party by beating them 6–3 before 52,564 fans. Veteran outfielder Wally Post breaks a 2–2 tie with a three-run home run in the seventh inning off Johnny Podres, the first official homer to be hit in the new stadium. In their MLB debut, and the first Major League Baseball game played in the state of Texas, the Houston Colt .45s defeat the Chicago Cubs 11–2 behind the slugging of outfielder Román Mejías, who belts two homers and drives home six runs. The game is played at Colt Stadium, a 33,000-seat, temporary facility that will be supplanted by the nearby Astrodome in 1965; the official attendance is 25,271."Houston Colt .45s 11, Chicago Cubs 2." Retrosheet box score (April 10, 1962). April 11 – The New York Mets play their first official game in franchise history, an 11–4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Gil Hodges and Charlie Neal, former Brooklyn Dodgers, provide bright spots for the Mets, hitting the team's first-ever home runs. April 12 – In his Major League debut, left-hander Pete Richert of the Los Angeles Dodgers ties Karl Spooner's record by striking out the first six batters he faces. Richert enters the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium with two out in the second inning and strikes out Vada Pinson for the final out. He then records a four-strikeout third inning; the victims are Frank Robinson, Gordy Coleman (who reaches first on a John Roseboro passed ball), Wally Post and Johnny Edwards. To date, Richert is the only pitcher to strike out four batters in one inning in his debut. His record-tying sixth strikeout is of Tommy Harper leading off the fourth inning. The Dodgers defeat the Reds 11–7 with Richert gaining the victory, having struck out seven batters, walking none, and allowing no hits in 3 innings. April 13 – National League baseball returns to New York City, as the Mets play their first home game, a 4–3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates before a modest crowd of 12,447 at the venerable Polo Grounds."Pittsburgh Pirates 4, New York Mets 3." Retrosheet box score (April 13, 1962). April 18 – Ernie Banks hits his 300th career home run, helping the Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Colt .45s 3–2. April 23 – The New York Mets earn their first-ever victory, 9–1 over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field behind Jay Hook's complete game. The Mets' record now stands at 1–9; the Pirates, having won their first ten games of 1962 (including five triumphs over the Mets), boast a 10–1 mark. April 24 – Casey Stengel is fined $500 by Commissioner Ford Frick for appearing in a Rheingold's beer commercial in full Mets uniform. Appearing in the ad with Stengel was Kathy Kersh, who will achieve fame as Cornelia, one of the Joker's women on the TV series Batman. April 30 – The Chicago Cubs acquire nine-year veteran pitcher Bob Buhl, a two-time National League All-Star, from the Milwaukee Braves for sophomore left-hander Jack Curtis.
May May 1 – In Year 2 of the Chicago Cubs' "College of Coaches" era, El Tappe, who served as the Cubs' rotating "head coach" (or de facto manager) for the month of April, is succeeded by Lou Klein after the Cubbies drop 16 of their first 20 games. Klein's tenure will last 30 games until he rotates out of the top job on June 3. May 3 – The Cleveland Indians acquire outfielder Willie Tasby from the Washington Senators for two left-handed pitchers, Steve Hamilton and Don Rudolph. May 5 – Rookie left-hander Bo Belinsky of the Los Angeles Angels no-hits the Baltimore Orioles 2–0 at Dodger Stadium, which the Angels prefer to call "Chavez Ravine". The no-hitter is the first in the history of both the Angels franchise and Dodger Stadium itself."Top Individual Performances of 1962." Retrosheet."Los Angeles Angels 2, Baltimore Orioles 0." Retrosheet box score (May 5, 1962). May 7 – The Houston Colt .45s trade southpaw Bobby Shantz to the St. Louis Cardinals for right-hander John Anderson and outfielder Carl Warwick. Shantz, 36 years old and a 14-year MLB veteran, was Houston's starting pitcher in the Colt .45s' first-ever MLB game four weeks ago.
May 9 The 5–16 New York Mets, who in recent days have disposed of veterans like Joe Ginsberg, Clem Labine, Jim Marshall, Bobby Gene Smith and Don Zimmer, continue to shake up their roster. Today they acquire first baseman Marv Throneberry from the Baltimore Orioles for cash and a "player to be named later," who turns out to be catcher Hobie Landrith, their first pick in the October 1961 expansion draft. Throneberry will play less than a full calendar year for the Mets, but, as "Marvelous Marv," he will embody the struggling team's futility. The Mets' expansion counterparts, the Houston Colt .45s, purchase the contract of veteran relief pitcher Don McMahon from the Milwaukee Braves.