1961 Baltimore Orioles season
Major League Baseball season
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The 1961 Baltimore Orioles season involved the Orioles finishing third in the American League with a record of 95 wins and 67 losses, 14 games behind the AL and World Series champion New York Yankees. The team was managed by Paul Richards and Lum Harris, and played their home games at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium.
| 1961 Baltimore Orioles | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Memorial Stadium |
| City | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Record | 95–67 (.586) |
| League place | 3rd |
| Owners | Jerold Hoffberger, Joseph Iglehart |
| General managers | Lee MacPhail |
| Managers | Paul Richards, Lum Harris |
| Television | WJZ-TV |
| Radio | WBAL (AM) (Bob Murphy, Herb Carneal) |
The 95 wins set a new franchise record for wins in a season, beating the 93 wins by the 1922 St. Louis Browns. It was only the second time that the Orioles, and their previous incarnations as the Milwaukee Brewers and Browns, ever won 90 games in a season.
Offseason
- October 13, 1960: Del Rice was released by the Orioles.[1]
- October 13, 1960: Dave Philley was released by the Orioles.[2]
- January 24, 1961: Bob Boyd, Al Pilarcik, Jim Archer, Wayne Causey, and Clint Courtney were traded by the Orioles to the Kansas City Athletics for Whitey Herzog and Russ Snyder. Clint Courtney was returned to the Orioles on April 14.[3]
- January 31, 1961: Dave Philley was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.[2]
- February 9, 1961: Darold Knowles was signed as an amateur free agent by the Orioles.[4]
- February 24, 1961: Frank House was purchased by the Orioles from the Cincinnati Reds.[5]
Regular season
Roger Maris of the Yankees hit his 59th and 60th home runs of the season against the Orioles, tying what was at the time Babe Ruth's single-season record. The 59th was hit on September 20 at Memorial Stadium,[6] and the 60th was hit on September 26 at Yankee Stadium.
Opening Day starters
- Jackie Brandt
- Marv Breeding
- Jim Gentile
- Ron Hansen
- Milt Pappas
- Brooks Robinson
- Russ Snyder
- Gene Stephens
- Gus Triandos[7]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 109 | 53 | .673 | — | 65–16 | 44–37 |
| Detroit Tigers | 101 | 61 | .623 | 8 | 50–31 | 51–30 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 95 | 67 | .586 | 14 | 48–33 | 47–34 |
| Chicago White Sox | 86 | 76 | .531 | 23 | 53–28 | 33–48 |
| Cleveland Indians | 78 | 83 | .484 | 30½ | 40–41 | 38–42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 76 | 86 | .469 | 33 | 50–31 | 26–55 |
| Minnesota Twins | 70 | 90 | .438 | 38 | 36–44 | 34–46 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 70 | 91 | .435 | 38½ | 46–36 | 24–55 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 61 | 100 | .379 | 47½ | 33–47 | 28–53 |
| Washington Senators | 61 | 100 | .379 | 47½ | 33–46 | 28–54 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | LAA | MIN | NYY | WAS | |||
| Baltimore | — | 11–7 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 9–9–1 | 14–4 | |||
| Boston | 7–11 | — | 9–9 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 11–7–1 | 11–7 | 5–13 | 10–8 | |||
| Chicago | 7–11 | 9–9 | — | 12–6 | 6–12 | 14–4 | 10–8 | 9–9–1 | 6–12 | 13–5 | |||
| Cleveland | 9–9 | 13–5 | 6–12 | — | 6–12 | 8–9 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 4–14 | 12–6 | |||
| Detroit | 9–9 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 12–6 | — | 12–6–1 | 14–4 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 13–5 | |||
| Kansas City | 5–13 | 8–10 | 4–14 | 9–8 | 6–12–1 | — | 9–9 | 7–11 | 4–14 | 9–9 | |||
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 7–11–1 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 4–14 | 9–9 | — | 8–9 | 6–12 | 10–8 | |||
| Minnesota | 7–11 | 7–11 | 9–9–1 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 9–8 | — | 4–14 | 8–9 | |||
| New York | 9–9–1 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 14–4 | 10–8 | 14–4 | 12–6 | 14–4 | — | 11–7 | |||
| Washington | 4–14 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 6–12 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 9–8 | 7–11 | — | |||
Notable transactions
- April 12, 1961: Chuck Essegian and Jerry Walker were traded by the Orioles to the Kansas City Athletics in exchange for Dick Hall and Dick Williams.[8]
- May 24, 1961: Walt Dropo was released by the Orioles.[9]
- June 8, 1961: Gene Stephens was traded by the Orioles to the Kansas City Athletics for Marv Throneberry.[10]
- July 21, 1961: Frank House was traded by the Orioles to the Detroit Tigers for Harry Chiti.[5]
Roster
| 1961 Baltimore Orioles | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
| = Indicates team leader |
| = Indicates league leader |
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
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Gus Triandos | 115 | 397 | 97 | .244 | 17 | 63 |
| 1B | Jim Gentile | 148 | 486 | 147 | .302 | 46 | 141 |
| 2B | Jerry Adair | 133 | 386 | 102 | .264 | 9 | 37 |
| 3B | Brooks Robinson | 163 | 668 | 192 | .287 | 7 | 61 |
| SS | Ron Hansen | 155 | 533 | 132 | .248 | 12 | 51 |
| LF | Dick Williams | 103 | 310 | 64 | .206 | 8 | 24 |
| CF | Jackie Brandt | 139 | 516 | 153 | .297 | 16 | 72 |
| RF | Whitey Herzog | 113 | 323 | 94 | .291 | 5 | 35 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russ Snyder | 115 | 312 | 91 | .292 | 1 | 13 |
| Marv Breeding | 90 | 244 | 51 | .209 | 1 | 16 |
| Earl Robinson | 96 | 222 | 59 | .266 | 8 | 30 |
| Dave Philley | 99 | 144 | 36 | .250 | 1 | 23 |
| Hank Foiles | 43 | 124 | 34 | .274 | 6 | 19 |
| Marv Throneberry | 56 | 96 | 20 | .208 | 5 | 11 |
| Jim Busby | 75 | 89 | 23 | .258 | 0 | 6 |
| Gene Stephens | 32 | 58 | 11 | .190 | 0 | 2 |
| Charley Lau | 17 | 47 | 8 | .170 | 1 | 4 |
| Clint Courtney | 22 | 45 | 12 | .267 | 0 | 4 |
| Walt Dropo | 14 | 27 | 7 | .259 | 1 | 2 |
| Boog Powell | 4 | 13 | 1 | .077 | 0 | 1 |
| Barry Shetrone | 3 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| Frank Zupo | 5 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
| Chuck Essegian | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Barber | 37 | 248.1 | 18 | 12 | 3.33 | 150 |
| Chuck Estrada | 33 | 212.0 | 15 | 9 | 3.69 | 160 |
| Jack Fisher | 36 | 196.0 | 10 | 13 | 3.90 | 118 |
| Milt Pappas | 26 | 177.2 | 13 | 9 | 3.04 | 89 |
| Hal Brown | 27 | 166.2 | 10 | 6 | 3.19 | 61 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Hoeft | 35 | 138.0 | 7 | 4 | 2.02 | 100 |
| Dick Hall | 29 | 122.1 | 7 | 5 | 3.09 | 92 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoyt Wilhelm | 51 | 9 | 7 | 18 | 2.30 | 87 |
| Wes Stock | 35 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3.01 | 47 |
| Dick Hyde | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5.57 | 15 |
| Gordon Jones | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5.40 | 4 |
| Jim Lehew | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| John Papa | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 3 |
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Aberdeen
Victoria club moved to Ardmore, May 27, 1961