1961 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1961 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1961 in baseball.

Sports season

1961 MLB season

League| Major League Baseball
Sport| Baseball
Duration| April 10 – October 12, 1961
Number of games| 162 (AL), 154 (NL)
Number of teams| 18
TV partner(s)| NBC, CBS, ABC
Regular season
Season MVP| AL: Roger Maris (NY)
NL: Frank Robinson (CIN)
AL champions| New York Yankees
AL runners-up| Detroit Tigers
NL champions| Cincinnati Reds
NL runners-up| Los Angeles Dodgers
World Series
Champions| New York Yankees
Runners-up| Cincinnati Reds
World Series MVP| Whitey Ford (NY)
MLB seasons

← 1960

1962 →

The 1961 Major League Baseball season was played from April 10 to October 12, 1961. That season saw the New York Yankees defeat the Cincinnati Reds in five games in the World Series. The season is best known for Yankee teammates Roger Maris' and Mickey Mantle's pursuit of Babe Ruth's prestigious 34-year-old single-season home run record of 60. Maris ultimately broke the record when he hit his 61st home run on the final day of the regular season, while Mantle was forced out of the lineup in late September due to a hip infection and finished with 54 home runs.

In response to the proposed Continental League, the American League expanded by two teams in the first MLB expansion since 1901. The original Washington Senators moved to Minnesota and became the Minnesota Twins. The American League therefore placed a new team in Washington, also called the Senators. Also, the American League placed a team in Los Angeles called the Los Angeles Angels.

In order to keep its schedule balanced, the American League season was extended by eight games. Previously, teams had played 154 games (22 games per opponent), but from 1961 AL teams would play opponents 18 times each for a total of 162 games. The National League played a 154-game schedule for the final time in 1961 before switching to 162 games when they also expanded to ten teams for the 1962 Major League Baseball season.

## Standings[edit]

### American League[edit]

* v
* t
* e

American League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road

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New York Yankees | 109 | 53  | 0.673  | —  | 65–16  | 44–37
Detroit Tigers | 101 | 61  | 0.623  | 8  | 50–31  | 51–30
Baltimore Orioles | 95 | 67  | 0.586  | 14  | 48–33  | 47–34
Chicago White Sox | 86 | 76  | 0.531  | 23  | 53–28  | 33–48
Cleveland Indians | 78 | 83  | 0.484  | 30½  | 40–41  | 38–42
Boston Red Sox | 76 | 86  | 0.469  | 33  | 50–31  | 26–55
Minnesota Twins | 70 | 90  | 0.438  | 38  | 36–44  | 34–46
Los Angeles Angels | 70 | 91  | 0.435  | 38½  | 46–36  | 24–55
Kansas City Athletics | 61 | 100  | 0.379  | 47½  | 33–47  | 28–53
Washington Senators | 61 | 100  | 0.379  | 47½  | 33–46  | 28–54

### National League[edit]

* v
* t
* e

National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road

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Cincinnati Reds | 93 | 61  | 0.604  | —  | 47–30  | 46–31
Los Angeles Dodgers | 89 | 65  | 0.578  | 4  | 45–32  | 44–33
San Francisco Giants | 85 | 69  | 0.552  | 8  | 45–32  | 40–37
Milwaukee Braves | 83 | 71  | 0.539  | 10  | 45–32  | 38–39
St. Louis Cardinals | 80 | 74  | 0.519  | 13  | 48–29  | 32–45
Pittsburgh Pirates | 75 | 79  | 0.487  | 18  | 38–39  | 37–40
Chicago Cubs | 64 | 90  | 0.416  | 29  | 40–37  | 24–53
Philadelphia Phillies | 47 | 107  | 0.305  | 46  | 22–55  | 25–52

## Postseason[edit]

### Bracket[edit]

| World Series |

|
|

|  |  |  |
| AL | New York Yankees | 4 |
| NL | Cincinnati Reds | 1 |

## Awards and honors[edit]

### Major Awards[edit]

| 1961 Award Winners

| American League | National League
Award | Player | Position | Team | Player | Position | Team
Most Valuable Player | Roger Maris | RF | NY | Frank Robinson | LF | CIN
Cy Young Award | Whitey Ford | P | NY |  |  |
Rookie of the Year | Don Schwall | P | BOS | Billy Williams | LF | CHC

### Gold Glove Awards[edit]

| 1961 Gold Glove Awards

| American League | National League
Position | Player | Team | Player | Team
P | Frank Lary | DET | Bobby Shantz | PIT
C | Earl Battey | MIN | John Roseboro | LAD
1B | Vic Power | CLE | Bill White | STL
2B | Bobby Richardson | NY | Bill Mazeroski | PIT
3B | Brooks Robinson | BAL | Ken Boyer | STL
SS | Luis Aparicio | CWS | Maury Wills | LAD
OF | Al Kaline | DET | Roberto Clemente | PIT
OF | Jim Landis | CWS | Vada Pinson | CIN
OF | Jim Piersall | CLE | Willie Mays | SF

## League leaders[edit]

|  | American League | National League

|
|

Type | Name | Stat | Name | Stat
AVG | Norm Cash, DET | .361 | Roberto Clemente, PIT | .351
HR | Roger Maris, NY | 61 | Orlando Cepeda, SF | 46
RBI | Roger Maris, NY Jim Gentile, BAL | 141 | Orlando Cepeda, SF | 141
SB | Luis Aparicio, CWS | 53 | Maury Wills, LAD | 35
Wins | Whitey Ford, NY | 25 | Joey Jay, CIN
Warren Spahn, MIL | 21
ERA | Dick Donovan, WSH | 2.40 | Warren Spahn, MIL | 3.02
SO | Camilo Pascual, MIN | 221 | Sandy Koufax, LAD | 269
SV | Luis Arroyo, NY | 29 | Roy Face, PIT
Stu Miller, SF | 17

## All-Star Games[edit]

Main articles: 1961 Major League Baseball All-Star Game (first game) and 1961 Major League Baseball All-Star Game (second game)

### Game 1[edit]

July 11, 1961
Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E

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American League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2
National League | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 5
Starting pitchers:
AL: Whitey Ford
NL: Warren Spahn
WP: Stu Miller (1–0)  LP: Hoyt Wilhelm (0–1)
Home runs:
AL: Harmon Killebrew (1)
NL: George Altman (1)

### Game 2[edit]

July 31, 1961
Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E

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National League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1
American League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0
Starting pitchers:
NL: Bob Purkey
AL: Jim Bunning
WP: None  LP: None
Home runs:
NL: None
AL: Rocky Colavito (1)

* The game ended in a 1–1 tie due to rain.

## Managers[edit]

### American League[edit]

Team  | Manager  | Comments

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Baltimore Orioles | Paul Richards | Replaced during the season by Lum Harris
Boston Red Sox | Pinky Higgins |
Chicago White Sox | Al López |
Cleveland Indians | Jimmy Dykes | Replaced during the season by Mel Harder
Detroit Tigers | Bob Scheffing |
Kansas City Athletics | Joe Gordon | Replaced during the season by Hank Bauer
Los Angeles Angels | Bill Rigney | Expansion team
Minnesota Twins | Cookie Lavagetto | Replaced during the season by Sam Mele
New York Yankees | Ralph Houk | Won the World Series
Washington Senators | Mickey Vernon | Expansion team

### National League[edit]

Team  | Manager  | Comments

|
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Chicago Cubs | College of Coaches |
Cincinnati Reds | Fred Hutchinson | Won the National League pennant
Los Angeles Dodgers | Walter Alston |
Milwaukee Braves | Chuck Dressen | Replaced during the season by Birdie Tebbetts
Philadelphia Phillies | Gene Mauch |
Pittsburgh Pirates | Danny Murtaugh |
San Francisco Giants | Alvin Dark |
St. Louis Cardinals | Solly Hemus | Replaced during the season by Johnny Keane

## Records[edit]

### Major League[edit]

* Home runs, single-season: 61, Roger Maris, New York Yankees

Maris' 61 home runs broke Babe Ruth's 34-year-old major league single-season record of 60, set in 1927. Maris' record would stand for 37 years until it was broken by Mark McGwire's 70 in 1998. Maris’ American League record would stand for a total of 61 years until it was eclipsed by Aaron Judge’s 62 in 2022.

## Home field attendance[edit]

Team name  | Wins  | %± | Home attendance  | %± | Per game

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Los Angeles Dodgers[1] | 89  | 8.5%  | 1,804,250  | -19.9%  | 23,432
New York Yankees[2] | 109  | 12.4%  | 1,747,725  | 7.4%  | 21,577
Detroit Tigers[3] | 101  | 42.3%  | 1,600,710  | 37.1%  | 19,521
San Francisco Giants[4] | 85  | 7.6%  | 1,390,679  | -22.5%  | 18,061
Minnesota Twins[5] | 70  | -4.1%  | 1,256,723  | 69.0%  | 15,515
Pittsburgh Pirates[6] | 75  | -21.1%  | 1,199,128  | -29.7%  | 15,573
Chicago White Sox[7] | 86  | -1.1%  | 1,146,019  | -30.3%  | 14,148
Cincinnati Reds[8] | 93  | 38.8%  | 1,117,603  | 68.4%  | 14,514
Milwaukee Braves[9] | 83  | -5.7%  | 1,101,441  | -26.5%  | 14,304
Baltimore Orioles[10] | 95  | 6.7%  | 951,089  | -19.9%  | 11,599
St. Louis Cardinals[11] | 80  | -7.0%  | 855,305  | -22.0%  | 10,965
Boston Red Sox[12] | 76  | 16.9%  | 850,589  | -24.7%  | 10,373
Cleveland Indians[13] | 78  | 2.6%  | 725,547  | -23.7%  | 8,957
Kansas City Athletics[14] | 61  | 5.2%  | 683,817  | -11.8%  | 8,548
Chicago Cubs[15] | 64  | 6.7%  | 673,057  | -16.9%  | 8,629
Los Angeles Angels[16] | 70  |  | 603,510  |  | 7,360
Washington Senators[17] | 61  |  | 597,287  |  | 7,561
Philadelphia Phillies[18] | 47  | -20.3%  | 590,039  | -31.6%  | 7,565

## Events[edit]

* January 29 – Billy Hamilton and Max Carey are voted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
* April 11 – At New York's Yankee Stadium, the Minnesota Twins, in their first game since their move from Washington, shut out the Yankees 6–0. The Twins' Pedro Ramos was the winning pitcher. Ramos had a 2-run single and allowed just 3 singles in beating the Yankee starting pitcher, Whitey Ford.
* April 21 – The Minnesota Twins play their first home game in franchise history, losing to the team that coincidentally replaced them in the nation's capital, the Washington Senators 5–3.
* April 22 – The Boston Red Sox snap a 13-game losing streak in Chicago's Comiskey Park by edging the Chicago White Sox 7–6 on Pumpsie Green's 11th-inning home run.
* April 27 – The Los Angeles Angels draw a disappointing crowd of 11,931 for their first-ever home opener against the Minnesota Twins at Los Angeles' Wrigley Field. Ty Cobb, in his last appearance at a ball park, throws out the first ball. The Twins' Camilo Pascual spoils the opener by winning, 4–2, sending the Angels to their eighth loss in nine games.
* April 30 – San Francisco Giants slugger Willie Mays became the ninth player to hit four home runs in a single game as the Giants beat the Milwaukee Braves 14–4 at Milwaukee's County Stadium.
* May 31 – Boston Red Sox outfielder Carroll Hardy pinch-hits for rookie Carl Yastrzemski. On September 20, 1960, Hardy pinch hit for Ted Williams, making him the only player to go in for both future Hall of Famers. Hardy also hit his first major league home run pinch-hitting for Roger Maris when both were at Cleveland (May 18, 1958).
* June 8 – In the course of a 10–8 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, the Milwaukee Braves become the first team to hit 4 home runs in consecutive at bats.[19]
* June 29 – Willie Mays hits three home runs, helping his San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8–7.
* July 3 - Sandy Koufax is tagged out when attempting to steal home base for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Milwaukee Braves \- the only time he attempted to steal a base in his career.[20]
* July 4 – Willie Mays hits his 300th career home run.
* July 11 – Strong winds at Candlestick Park dominate the first All-Star Game of the season. A capacity crowd sees Giants pitcher Stu Miller blown off the mound in the ninth inning when a balk is called, and it enables the American League to forge a 3–3 tie before losing 5–4 in 10 innings.
* July 17 – Commissioner Ford Frick decrees that Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a 154-game schedule in 1927 "cannot be broken unless some batter hits 61 or more within his club's first 154 games." Two days later, Frick, an old friend of Ruth, announces that should Ruth's record be beaten after 154 games, the record will carry an asterisk. When asked about the ruling, Roger Maris replies, "A season is a season." This is also the day that one of baseball's greatest hitters passes away, Ty Cobb, aged 74.
* July 31 – At Fenway Park, the second All-Star Game of the year ends in a 1–1 tie as heavy rain halted play. It is the first of two ties in All-Star history. The other would occur in 2002.
* August 11 – Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves records his 300th career win.
* August 20 – The Philadelphia Phillies snap a modern-day record 23-game losing streak, defeating the Milwaukee Braves 7–4 in the second game of a doubleheader at Milwaukee County Stadium. Phillie pitcher John Buzhardt goes the distance for the victory; he had also been the winning pitcher in the Phillies' last victory prior to the start of the losing streak, on July 28 against the San Francisco Giants.
* August 22 – Roger Maris becomes the first player to hit his 50th home run of the season in the month of August as the Yankees lose to the Los Angeles Angels, 4–3. Angels pitcher Ken McBride tees up the gopher ball in the sixth inning with one on.
* August 23 – At Cincinnati's Crosley Field, the Giants hit five home runs in a 12-run ninth inning, beating the Cincinnati Reds 14–0.
* September 1 – The Baltimore Orioles' Paul Richards resigned as manager to become the new general manager of the new Houston National League club. The club would be known as the Houston Colt .45s. Lum Harris takes over as manager of the Orioles.
* September 2 – Milwaukee Braves manager Chuck Dressen (71–58) is fired and executive vice president Birdie Tebbetts becomes the new Braves manager.
* September 20 – Helped by home runs by Yogi Berra and Roger Maris, the New York Yankees defeat the Baltimore Orioles 4–2, clinching their second straight American League pennant and 11th in 13 years. The Yankees would finish with a 109–53 record, tying the 1969 Orioles for the best won-loss record of the decade.
* September 26
* The Cincinnati Reds clinch their first National League pennant since 1940. Homers by Frank Robinson and pinch hitter Jerry Lynch (a tie breaker in the eighth inning) give the Reds an 8–3 win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
* Roger Maris hits his major league record-tying 60th home run of the season, a third-inning solo shot against Jack Fisher of the Baltimore Orioles.
* October 1 – Before a small crowd at Yankee Stadium, Roger Maris smacks a 2–0 pitch from Boston's Tracy Stallard into the right field stands for his 61st home run of the season, setting a new major league record for home runs in a season. The record will stand until Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals breaks it in 1998.
* October 9 – In Game 5 of the World Series, Johnny Blanchard and Héctor López spark a five-run first inning and 13–5 win for the New York Yankees over the Cincinnati Reds. Blanchard and López hit home runs, and López drives in five runs. Bud Daley's long relief effort wraps up the Series, as Ralph Houk becomes the third rookie manager to guide a World Series winner. Whitey Ford is named the Series MVP.

## Television coverage[edit]

CBS and NBC continued to air weekend Game of the Week broadcasts, while ABC televised several games in prime time. One of ABC's prime time games occurred as Roger Maris[21][22] was poised to tie and subsequently break Babe Ruth's regular season home run record of 60. As with all MLB games in those days, the action was totally blacked out[23] of major league markets. As a matter of fact, as documented in the HBO film 61*, the Maris family was welcomed into ABC's Kansas City, Missouri affiliate KMBC-TV so they could watch the in-house feed of the game, which was blacked out of Kansas City.

The All-Star Game and World Series aired on NBC.

## See also[edit]

* 1961 Nippon Professional Baseball season

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
2. ^ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
3. ^ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
4. ^ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
5. ^ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
6. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
7. ^ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
8. ^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
9. ^ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
10. ^ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
11. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
12. ^ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
13. ^ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
14. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
15. ^ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
16. ^ "Los Angeles Angels Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
17. ^ "Texas Rangers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
18. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
19. ^ "Of 4 Homerun Games and Cub No-Hitters". BaseballLibrary.com. Archived from the original on November 18, 2012. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
20. ^ Paschal, John (January 29, 2019). "Once Upon A Time: When Hall of Famers Go One-And-Done". tht.fangraphs.com. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
21. ^ Adams, Val (September 19, 1961). "NETWORKS PLAN WIDE U.N. REPORT". New York Times. p. 71.
22. ^ "ABC-TV to Film Tilt 154". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Associated Press. September 19, 1961.
23. ^ "ABC Lands a 3-Sport TV Contract". The Milwaukee Sentinel. March 27, 1960. p. 2T.

## External links[edit]

* 1961 Major League Baseball season schedule

* v
* t
* e

1961 MLB season by team

American League|

* Baltimore
* Boston
* Chicago
* Cleveland
* Detroit
* Kansas City
* Los Angeles
* Minnesota
* New York
* Washington

National League|

* Chicago
* Cincinnati
* Los Angeles
* Milwaukee
* Philadelphia
* Pittsburgh
* St. Louis
* San Francisco

* 1961 All-Star Game (1st, 2nd)
* 1961 World Series
* 1961 MLB expansion draft

* v
* t
* e

Major League Baseball seasons

Pre-modern era|

| Beginnings|

* 1876
* 1877
* 1878
* 1879
* 1880
* 1881

|

Competition|

* 1882
* 1883
* 1884
* 1885
* 1886
* 1887
* 1888
* 1889
* 1890
* 1891

NL monopoly|

* 1892
* 1893
* 1894
* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900

Modern era|

| Dead-ball era|

* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920

|

Live-ball era|

* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941

World War II|

* 1942
* 1943
* 1944
* 1945

Post-war and integration|

* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960

First expansion|

* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968

Birth of division play|

* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993

Wild Card begins|

* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011

Wild Card expansion|

* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022

Pitch clock era|

* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

See also|

* Major League Baseball schedule
* Major League Baseball

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[%±]: Percent change
*[Per game]: Average home attendance per game