1962 MLB Season Preview

           While waiting for the Strat-O-Matic (SOM) 1962 baseball players cards to arrive I've been busy doing research and setting up the BaseBall2020 computer version in preparation for replaying the 1962 MLB season. As usual I'll be managing the Detroit Tigers and will try to improve on their 85-76 record and 4th place finish in the AL. I'll be using the actual starting pitchers for each game as well as the other starting 8 players. The only liberty I sometimes take is rearranging the actual batting order.
   In the actual 1962 MLB season the Tigers were expected to challenge the dominating New York Yankees for the American League (AL) Pennant. Detroit won 101 games in 1961 but it was still not enough to dethrone the 109 game winning Yankees. New York's Roger Maris (61) and Mickey Mantle (54) chased Babe Ruth's homerun record (60) in the '61 season. Because of Mantle's injuries during the season, only Maris succeeded in setting a new record. They're expected to lead the Yankees once again to an AL Pennant. Detroit has outstanding players such as Al Kaline, Rocky Colavito, Norm Cash, Jim Bunning, Hank Aguirre, and Terry Fox on the team to challenge New York.  The Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox 'were predicted' to be top teams in the AL. But it was the 2nd year "new teams" in the league, Minnesota (relocated from Washington) and Los Angeles, that proved to be actual contenders.
  In the National League (NL), last years Pennant winning Cincinnati Reds will be challenged by Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee in my replay. In 'real life' the SF Giants caught the LA Dodgers on the last day of the season. San Francisco then defeated the Dodgers in a 3-game playoff series to claim the 1962 NL Pennant. 1962 also saw the addition of the New York Mets and Houston Colt .45s to the NL. Both leagues now have 10 teams competing for the Pennant.
  To conclude, I'm looking forward to guiding the Detroit Tigers to a better finish and having good pennant races in both leagues during my 1962 asplayed replay.

Here were the actual final 1962 MLB Standings:

1962 Final Standings

NL

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
San Francisco Giants           165  103   62    0  .624     -   878  690
Los Angeles Dodgers            165  102   63    0  .618   1.0   842  697
Cincinnati Reds                162   98   64    0  .605   3.5   802  685
Pittsburgh Pirates             161   93   68    0  .578   8.0   706  626
Milwaukee Braves               162   86   76    0  .531  15.5   730  665
St. Louis Cardinals            163   84   78    1  .519  17.5   774  664
Philadelphia Phillies          161   81   80    0  .503  20.0   705  759
Houston Colt .45s              162   64   96    2  .400  36.5   592  717
Chicago Cubs                   162   59  103    0  .364  42.5   632  827
New York Mets                  161   40  120    1  .250  60.5   617  948

AL

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
New York Yankees               162   96   66    0  .593     -   817  680
Minnesota Twins                163   91   71    1  .562   5.0   798  713
Los Angeles Angels             162   86   76    0  .531  10.0   718  706
Detroit Tigers                 161   85   76    0  .528  10.5   758  692
Chicago White Sox              162   85   77    0  .525  11.0   707  658
Cleveland Indians              162   80   82    0  .494  16.0   682  745
Baltimore Orioles              162   77   85    0  .475  19.0   652  680
Boston Red Sox                 160   76   84    0  .475  19.0   707  756
Kansas City Athletics          162   72   90    0  .444  24.0   745  837
Washington Senators            162   60  101    1  .373  35.5   599  716

NY (AL) defeated SF (NL) in the World Series 4 games to 3.

*This post will remain pinned on top for the duration of my SOM 1962 AsPlayed Replay*