Koufax threw 11 shutouts in the course of the 1963 season, a major league record for a left-handed pitcher, breaking Carl Hubbell’s mark of 10 set 30 years before. He shattered the Dodger shutout record, previously seven in season by Burleigh Grimes in 1918 and equaled by Whit Wyatt in 1941. His ERA was the lowest in the National League for the second straight season, this time at a minuscule 1.88. Koufax’s .833 winning percentage was the highest recorded in the N.L. by a pitcher who won at least 25 games. For the second consecutive season, he tossed a no-hitter, an 8-0 blanking of the Giants at Dodger Stadium on May 11. “Dandy” Sandy went 11-1 at Dodger Stadium and was a perfect 5-0 in September.

But, for all the excitement that was to come in October, the Dodgers did not jump out of the gates in the 1963 season very hot, as they were only 10-11 in April. A 17-9 May made more momentum as they turned towards summer. But, it took a May 6 blowup on the team bus by Manager Alston to coalesce the Dodgers into a team and help turn around the season. On the road in Pittsburgh, heading to the airport to fly to St. Louis, Dodger players were outwardly vocal about the team bus and the cramped seating conditions to their traveling secretary Lee Scott. Once Alston got wind of their many complaints, he asked the driver to pull the bus over to the side and stop.

“Can everybody in the back hear me?” said Alston, gaining all the passengers’ attention. “OK, I’ve heard enough wrangling about what kind of busses we use. Does anybody want to volunteer to check the bus we get in St. Louis?” With no response and dead silence, he said that he would do it himself.

The normally “Quiet Man” continued, “We’re not gonna ride in a better bus or a worse bus than the other clubs do, but if any of you don’t like the bus I get, you come to me and we’ll step outside and discuss it among ourselves. And that goes for all of you.” And with that laying down of the law, the team dropped its compulsive complaining and focused on baseball.²

The Dodgers, who were 12-14 at the point, won 15 of their next 19 games to improve their record to 27-18 by May 28.

In a winning season, there seems to be one opposing team that is used to clean up on and, for the Dodgers, it was the New York Mets. In just their second year in existence, the Mets could only beat the Dodgers twice in 18 meetings.

Outfielder Tommy Davis was a major contributor to the success of both the 1962 and 1963 seasons. Brooklyn native Davis batted .326 in 1963, coming on the heels of a .346 average the previous season. He won the National League batting crown both years. At the age of 24, he was the youngest player to win back-to-back batting championships. Although he was hard-pressed to match his, and baseball’s, top RBI total of 153 in 1962, “T.D.” did contribute 88 and added more key hits. He assured himself a spot on the N.L. All-Star team when he batted a torrid .355 in the month of June. When the Dodgers made their September push, it was the consistent Davis who hit safely in 24 of his 26 games that month and his success did not stop in the World Series.