1963 World Series

The 1963 World Series matched the two-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the Dodgers sweeping the Series in four games to capture their second title in five years.

This was the first time that the New York Yankees were swept in a World Series in four games (the 1922 World Series had one tie).

Starting pitchers Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Johnny Podres and ace reliever Ron Perranoski combined to give up only four runs in four games. Koufax started it off with a then record 15-strikeout performance in Game 1. It bested fellow Dodgers pitcher Carl Erskine's mark in 1953 by 1, and would be surpassed by Bob Gibson in 1968. Koufax also tied a World Series record when he fanned the first five (5) Yankees batters he faced in that game. Since "K" is the time-honored scoring symbol for "strikeout" (Vin Scully once remarked that "Koufax's name will always remind you of strikeouts"), some newspapers' headlines for the game coverage consisted simply of Koufax's surname prefixed by 15 K's.

The World Series Most Valuable Player Award went to Sandy Koufax who started two (2) of the four (4) games and had two (2) complete game victories.

Dodger catcher Johnny Roseboro's three-run homer in game 1 was the first and only home run all year that Yankee pitcher Whitey Ford allowed to a left handed batter.

Records: Los Angeles Dodgers (W: 99, L: 63, Pct: .611, GA: 6) - New York Yankees (W: 104, L: 57, Pct: .646, GA: 10 ½)

Managers: Ralph Houk (New York), Walter Alston (Los Angeles)

Umpires: Joe Paparella (AL), Tom Gorman (NL), Larry Napp (AL), Shag Crawford (NL), Johnny Rice (AL: outfield only), Tony Venzon (NL: outfield only)

Series MVP: Sandy Koufax (Los Angeles)

Television: NBC (Mel Allen and Vin Scully announcing)

Summary

NL Los Angeles Dodgers (4) vs. AL New York Yankees (0)

Matchups

Game 1

October 2, 1963 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York

Game 2

October 3, 1963 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York

Game 3

October 5, 1963 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California

Game 4

October 6, 1963 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California

Composite Box

1963 World Series (4-0): Los Angeles Dodgers (N.L.) over New York Yankees (A.L.)

Popular culture

• This is the World Series that Jack Nicholson's character R.P. McMurphy lobbies unsuccessfully to watch on television (and subsequently "announces" by imagining the action) in Miloš Forman's 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He imagines quite a different scene than what occurred, however, as he describes Bobby Richardson, Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and the Yankees knocking Koufax out of the box. In reality, the Yankees never led at any time in the Series, and only once in the entire Series (and that only for a half-inning) were the Yankees and Dodgers tied at a score other than 0-0. Later in the film, a brief clip of Ernie Harwell's NBC Radio broadcast of Game 2 can be heard.

Low scoring

World Series Teams With Less Than Ten (10) Runs Scored (Through 1963)

World Series         Team                   League   Runs
1954 World Series    Cleveland Indians      (A.L.)    9
1943 World Series    St. Louis Cardinals    (N.L.)    9
1938 World Series    Chicago Cubs           (N.L.)    9
1918 World Series    Boston Red Sox         (A.L.)    9
1939 World Series    Cincinnati Reds        (N.L.)    8
1920 World Series    Brooklyn Dodgers       (N.L.)    8
1914 World Series    Philadelphia Athletics (A.L.)    6
1907 World Series    Detroit Tigers         (A.L.)    6
1950 World Series    Philadelphia Phillies  (N.L.)    5
1963 World Series    New York Yankees       (A.L.)    4
1905 World Series    Philadelphia Athletics (A.L.)    3

Quote(s)

- Vin Scully narrated the final out of the World Series from the 1963 World Series highlight film.

- Harry Bright, Yankees' pinch-hitter and 15th strikeout victim of Koufax in the first game. Bright had played in his first professional game when Sandy was 10 years old.

Reference(s)

Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 298-301)

External links

• 1963 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com
• 1963 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
• 1963 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com
• 1963 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org