1962 Philadelphia Phillies season


The 1962 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 80th season for the National League franchise. The Phillies finished the season in seventh place in the newly expanded National League with a record of 81–80, a dramatic improvement of 30½ games over the 47–107 mark of the previous season. Gene Mauch managed the Phillies, who played their home games at Connie Mack Stadium.

Offseason

The Phillies had sold pitcher Robin Roberts to the New York Yankees shortly after the 1961 season. On February 6, 1962, the Phillies announced that Roberts' uniform number 36 would be retired by the team on March 21, 1962, when the Yankees would visit Clearwater to play the Phillies in a spring training game. It was the first uniform number to be retired by the organization and only the second time that a uniform number was retired while the player was still active. Roberts started for the Yankees in the spring game, gave up four runs in three innings, and was the winning pitcher in the game as the Yankees won 13–10.

Regular season

'Phillies Special' Rail Accident

The Pennsylvania Railroad ran a line from Harrisburg to Philadelphia that often carried fans from central Pennsylvania to games at Connie Mack Stadium. It was advertised on Phillies radio broadcasts as the "Phillies Special". At 5:07 PM on July 28, 1962, en route to the Phillies 8:05 PM game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, four cars of Pennsylvania Railroad’s Extra 4878 East derailed 3.7 miles east of Harrisburg at Steelton, Pennsylvania. Three of the cars toppled down a 30-foot embankment to the Susquehanna River. There were 19 fatalities and 119 were injured. The following day, on Sunday, July 29, 1962 at Connie Mack, the Phillies honored the victims with a moment of silence prior to the game's start. The Pennsylvania Railroad would later report the track was out of alignment.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup

, 2B
Johnny Callison, RF
Tony González, CF
Roy Sievers, 1B
Wes Covington, LF
Don Demeter, 3B
Clay Dalrymple, C
Rubén Amaro, SS
Art Mahaffey, P

Notable transactions

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
1B144477125.2622180

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
651.20001

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGWLSVERASO
67127132.9695

Awards and honors

1962 Major League Baseball All-Star Game -first game
1962 Major League Baseball All-Star Game -second game
Dallas-Fort Worth affiliation shared with Los Angeles Angels