BDCL Players of the Month Awards
September 1963
Montreal's Hank Aaron showed what the future has to hold in September with an outstanding September.  Tom Tresh had a cycle for Sleepytown as a part of his overall solid month and Oregon's Floyd Robinson had a great month to close out a bad season for him and his club.  Johnny Callison, Roberto Clemente, Bob Allison, Eddie Mathews, Gary Geiger, Rocky Calavito, Leon Wagner, Tony Gonzalez, Vada Pinson and Dick Groat had good months as well.  As for the pitcher of the month Sleepytown had a great month led by Joe Nuxhall and Dick Ellsworth (no hitter).  Nuxhall's 6-1 record with an ERA of 2.06 give him the nod.  Toronto's Jim Bouton went 6-2 with a 1.73 in 4 starts and 7 relief appearances.  Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Ken McBride, Ray Herbert, Al McBean, Mudcat Grant, Bob Gibson, Wes Farrell, Dick Radatz (relief), Ron Perranoski (relief), Hal Woodeschick (relief), Curt Simmons, Milt Pappas, Lew Burdette, Tom Cheney and Don Nottebart had solid months
Most Outstanding Hitter:
1.  Hank Aaron, MTM (BA .374, OBP .416, SLG .661, HR 7, RBI 21, R 23, GW 5, RC 32.4)
Receiving Consideration (in order):
2. Floyd Robinson, ORP (BA .381, OBP .423, SLG .542, HR 3, RBI 15, R 22, RC 27.3)
3. Tom Tresh, SLD (BA .315, OBP .411, SLG .519, HR 4, RBI 25, R 23, RC 25.0, CYCLE)
4. Johnny Callison, LBD (BA .328, OBP .389, SLG .588, HR 6, RBI 18, R 28, RC 25.7)
5. Bob Allison, SDT (BA .289, OBP .444, SLG .515, HR 4, RBI 15, R 26, RC 26.2)
Most Outstanding Pitcher:
1. Joe Nuxhall, SLD (6-1, ERA 2.06, GS 7, CG 2, IP 56.2, K 42, WHIP .88, OPS .533)
Receiving Consideration (in order):
2. Jim Bouton, TCR (6-2, ERA 1.73, GS 4, CG 1, SH 1, IP 41.2, K 24, WHIP .98, OPS .526)
3. Sandy Koufax, BPA (3-1, ERA 1.79, GS 6, CG 3, SH 1, IP 50.1, K 45, WHIP .77, OPS .445
4. Curt Simmons, XRB (2-0, ERA 1.32, GS 5, CG 2, SH 1, IP 41, K 24, WHIP 1.00, OPS .540)
5. Bill Fischer, MTM (2-0, ERA 0.00, GS 1, IP 20.2, K 4, WHIP .68, OPS .389)
August 1963
Toronto's Frank Howard ran away with the hitter of the month award.  The big righty hit for a .413 average, .444 OBP and a .773 slugging percentage, leading each category. Hank Aaron returns to the list and is joined by veteran Harmon Killebrew as well as clutch hitting Jackie Brandt and gap hitter Tony Gonzalez. The pitcher of the month was easy, too.  Ray Washburn came out of nowhere for Vero Beach to win ALL five of his starts with a sparkling 1.10 ERA.  Don Drysdale makes his 1st appearance of the season on the leaderboard due to his perfect month.  Bob Friend is back despite HORRID support from his team.  Ken Johnson and Warren Spahn return to the top 5 with solid months.
Most Outstanding Hitter:
Frank Howard, TCR (BA .413, OBP .444, SLG .773, HR 8, RBI 19, RC 26.6)
Receiving Consideration (in order):
2. Hank Aaron, MTM (BA .327, OBP .366, SLG .653, HR 7, RBI 24, R 24, GW 4, RC 25.4)
3. Jackie Brandt, CCR (BA .306, OBP .310, SLG .592, HR 7, RBI 35, R 12, GW 2, RC 16.5)
4. Harmon Killebrew, ORP (BA .286, OBP .394, SLG .626, HR 8, RBI 15, R 14, GW 2, RC 22.5)
5. Tony Gonzalez, PIM (BA .373, OBP .389, SLG .536, HR 2, RBI 21, R 11, GW 4, RC 22.7)
Most Outstanding Pitcher:
Ray Washburn, VBD (5-0, ERA 1.10, GS 5, CG 1, SH 1, IP 41, K 30, Whip 0.90, OPS .513)
Receiving Consideration (in order):
2. Don Drysdale, SFS (4-0, ERA 2.65, GS 7, CG 1, SH 1, IP 51.0, K 48, WHIP 1.06, OPS .638)
3. Bob Friend, MPM (3-3, ERA 0.95, GS 7, CG 4, SH 2, IP 57, K 35, WHIP .79, OPS .468)
4. Ken Johnson, TXT (4-0, ERA 1.64, GS 5, CG 1, IP 38.1, K 22, WHIP 1.15, OPS .539)
5. Warren Spahn, SFS (3-1, ERA 1.62, GS 5, CG 2, SH 1, IP 39, K 19, WHIP .79, OPS .482)
July 1963
July is the end of The Yaz's streak and he won't even make the board this month.  Still no one hit over .400 for the month as the pitching aspect of 1963 continues.   Honorable mention to Orlando Cepeda and Ken Boyer, Eddie Mathews, Al Kaline and Tony Taylor. There were (4) pitchers that went 4-0 for the month and a bunch of others that had outstanding month.  BPA had (4) pitchers that qualified with ERA's of less than 2.00.  Amazing.  Honorable mention to Dick Stigman, Al Downing, Curt Simmons, Dan Osinski, Juan Pizarro, Don Cardwell, Don Mossi, Dick Radatz and Ron Perranoski.   BPA players sweep the awards for the month.
Most Outstanding Hitter:
Willie McCovey, BPA (BA .341, OBP .463, SLG .875, HR 14, RBI 26, R 20, GW 4, RC 33.5)
Receiving Consideration (in order):
2. Ed Bailey, SDT (BA .418, OBP .476, SLG .945, HR 9, RBI 27, R 12, GW 3, RC 23.3)
3. Hank Aaron, MTM (BA .347, OBP .437, SLG 653, HR 9, RBI 22, R 27, GW 4, RC 28.8)
4. Don Lock, LVC (BA ..315, OBP .387, SLG .620, HR 8, RBI 25, R 16, GW 4, RC 23.1)
5. Leon Wagner, TCR (BA .357, OBP .417, SLG .653, HR 7, RBI 20, R 15, GW 3, RC 26.5)
Most Outstanding Pitcher:
Sandy Koufax, BPA (4-0, ERA 1.47, GS 6, CG 4, SH 2, IP 49, K 42, WHIP .69, OPS .443)
Receiving Consideration (in order):
2. Ray Herbert, BPA (4-0, ERA 1.54, GS 6, CG 4, SH 2, IP 52.2, K 18, WHIP .89, OPS .512)
3. Al Jackson, GCG (3-1, ERA 1.15, GS 5, CG 2, IP 39, K 16, WHIP 1.08, OPS .502)
4. Ralph Terry, MTM (2-1, ERA 1.89, GS 5, CG 1, SH 1, IP 38, K 5, WHIP 1.08, OPS .632)
5. Gary Peters, ORP (3-0, ERA 2.47, GS 5, CG 3, SH 1, IP 40, K 35, WHIP .97, OPS .592)
June 1963
June was not much of a month for standout hitting as no one hit over .400 and only Dick Stuart hit 10 or more HR's.  This month's cast includes Yaz looking to go back to back, Stuart, Albie Pearson, Leon Wagner, Frank Robinson, Al Kaline, Bill White and Ron Santo.  The panel is going with Yaz for his performance.  The pitching side had a lot of superb performances as the pitching dominance of 1963 continued.  Lehigh Valley has 3 guys of its own that can lay claim to the list this month in Jack Kralick, Ray Culp and Juan Marichal.  There are many others this month as well including Ron Perranoski in relief, Ed Rakow, Bill Monboquette, Dick Ellsworth, Chris Short, Don Nottebart, Ken McBride, Moe Drabowski, Curt Simmons, Sandy Koufax and Claude Osteen.  Jack Kralick just edges out Dick Ellsworth.
Most Outstanding Hitter:
Carl Yastrzemski, XRB (BA .346, OBP .481, SLG .568, R  20, HR , RBI 19, GW 1, RC 24.1 )
Receiving Consideration (in order):
2. Dick Stuart, LVC (BA .301, OBP .340, SLG .677, HR 11, RBI 25, R 19, GW 2, RC 20.6)
3. Albie Pearson, TXT (BA .380, OBP .426, SLG .530, R 21, SB 2, RC 22.3)
4. Rocky Colavito, LBD (BA .304, OBP .377, SLG .543, HR 6, RBI 19, R 14, GW 3, RC 18.3)
5. Leon Wagner, TCR (BA .368, OBP .392, SLG .589, HR 5, RBI 15, R 14, GW 1, RC 21.2)
Most Outstanding Pitcher:
Jack Kralick, LBD (3-0, ERA 0.86, GS 6, QS 5, SH 2, IP 42.0, K 29, WHIP .86, OPS .498)
Receiving Consideration (in order):
2. Dick Ellsworth, SLD (3-1, ERA 2.13, GS 6, QS 4, CG 4, SH 3, IP 50.2, K 27, WHIP .85, OPS .490)
3. Ken McBride, TCR (4-0, ERA 1.60, GS 6, QS 5, CG 2, SH 1, IP 45.0, K 27, WHIP .93, OPS .513)
4. Ron Perranoski, MPM (1-1, S 5, ERA 1.08, IP 16.2, K 8, WHIP .60, OPS .400)
5. Claude Osteen, CCR (2-2) ERA 0.92, GS 5, QS 5, CG 2, IP 39.0, K 15, WHIP .90, OPS .504)
May 1963
May was a pitchers month with the league batting average of only .247 but the ERA of 3.44.  On the offensive side Carl Yastrzemski led the way in almost every category to easily capture the player of the month award for XRB.  On the pitching side this was an interesting month as a handful of guys had really good months, but had a flaw.  The winner for the month is Ken Johnson and his 3-0 record with 2 shutouts.  Ed Rakow made a run at it as did Juan Marichal, Bob Friend and Juan Pizarro.  Neither Sandy Koufax nor John Tsitouris made the list despite their solid months.
Most Outstanding Hitter:
Carl Yastrzemski, XRB (BA .410, OBP .487, SLG .770, R 30, HR 7, RBI 30, GW 4, RC 35.2)
Receiving Consideration (in order):
2. Norm Siebern, BPA (BA .363, OBP .424, SLG .540, R 22, HR 5, RBI 13, GW 4, RC 27.2)
3. Orlando Cepeda, PIM (BA .360, OBP .418, SLG .685, R 14, HR 7, RBI 20, GW 5, RC 23.2)
4. Willie McCovery, BPA (BA .222, OBP .371, SLG .611, R 20, HR 10, RBI 30, GW 2, RC 21.4)
5. Chuck Hinton, XRB (BA .291, OBP .355, SLG .618, R 29, HR 6, RBI 13, SB 3, RC 23.9)
Most Outstanding Pitcher:
Ken Johnson, TXT (3-0, ERA 1.35, GS 5, CG 2, QS 5, SH 2, IP 40, K 25, WHIP .77, OPS .436)
Receiving Consideration (in order):
2. Ed Rakow, PIM (3-0, ERA 0.96, GS 5, QS 4, CG 1, SH 1, IP 37.2, K 20, WHIP .90, OPS .477)
3. Juan Marichal, LBD (4-2, ERA 1.86, GS 6, CG 2, QS 5, SH 2, IP 48.1, K 46, WHIP 1.01, OPS .557)
4. Bob Friend, MPM (5-0, ERA 2.11, GS 6, CG 2, QS 6, IP 47.0, K 20, WHIP .96, OPS .544)
5. Juan Pizarro, BPA (3-0, ERA 1.38, GS 5, CG 2, SH 2, QS 4, IP 39.2, K 27, WHIP .96, OPS .514)
April 1963
The April outstanding hitter group is a who's who of 1960's baseball with McCovey, Aaron, Elston Howard, Bob Allison and.  Don't forget that this continues to be a pitcher's league and there were numerous pitchers with ERA's under 2.00 for the month. Ken McBride leading the way for surprising Toronto at 5-0 with a 1.27 to take the top spot.
Most Outstanding Hitter:
Willie McCovey, BPA (BA .296, OBP .352, SLG .652, R 22, HR 13, RBI 26, GW 4, RC 26.4)
Receiving Consideration (in order):
2. Hank Aaron, MTM (BA .313, OBP .437, SLG .663, R 16, HR 9, RBI 22, GW 5, RC 24.6)
3. Elston Howard, TCR (BA .336, OBP .365, SLG .654, R 20, HR 7, RBI 25, GW 3, RC 25.8)
4. Bill White, MPM (BA .369, OBP .412, SLG .566, R 9, HR 3, RBI 23, GW 3, RC 28.3)
5. Bob Allison, SDT (BA .262, OBP .347, SLG .542, R 16, HR 8, RBI 30, GW 5, RC 20.8)
Most Outstanding Pitcher:
Ken McBride, TCR (GS 6, IP 49.2, 5-0, ERA 1.27, K 34, WHIP .69, OPS .201, CG 6, SH 1, QS 6)
Receiving Consideration (in order):
2. Dick Donovan, SDT (GS 4, IP 34, 4-0, ERA 1.59, WHIP .64, OPS .212, CG 3, SH 1, QS 4)
3. Bob Friend, MPM (GS 7, IP 57.1, 6-1, ERA 3.14, WHIP ,96, OPS .286, CG 3, SH 1, QS 4)
4. Ray Herbert, BPA (GS 5, IP 37.2, 4-0, ERA 2.63, WHIP 1.19, OPS .347, CG 3, SH 2, QS 3)
5. Earl Wilson, MPM (GS 6, IP 51.2, 5-1, ERA 1.74, WHIP .72, OPS .226, CG 3, SH 2, QS 5 - 1 no hitter)