1963 California League season

The 1963 California League was a Class A baseball season played between April 23 and September 8. Eight teams played a 140-game schedule, as the winner of each half of the season qualified for the California League championship round.

The Stockton Ports won the California League championship, as they defeated the Modesto Colts in the final round of the playoffs.

A significant reorganization of the minor leagues took place in 1963, caused by the contraction of clubs and leagues during the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1949, the peak of the postwar minor league baseball boom, 448 teams in 59 leagues were members of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, with the number of teams falling to 324 in 1952, and 243 in 1955.^[1][2] By the end of 1963, only 15 leagues above Rookie-level survived in the United States and Canada.

As part of the reorganization of the minor leagues, the California League was designated as from a Class C league to a Class A league.

• The Visalia White Sox ended their affiliation with the Chicago White Sox and were relocated to Salinas, California. The club would be renamed to the Salinas Mets and begin an affiliation with the New York Mets.
• The Reno Silver Sox ended their affiliation with the Los Angeles Dodgers and began a new affiliation with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• The Santa Barbara Rancheros ended their affiliation with the New York Mets and began a new affiliation with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

• The Stockton Ports finished with the best record in the regular season for the first time since 1947.

• The final round was shortened from a best-of-seven series to a best-of-three series.
• The Stockton Ports won their third California League championship, defeating the Modesto Colts in two games.

• 1963 Major League Baseball season

• Minor League Baseball official website