1961 Milwaukee Braves season
| 1961 Milwaukee Braves | |
|---|---|
| Major League affiliations | |
| |
| Location | |
| |
| |
| Results | |
| Record | 83–71 (.539) |
| League place | 4th |
| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | Louis R. Perini |
| General manager(s) | John McHale |
| Manager(s) | Chuck Dressen, Birdie Tebbetts |
| Local television | none |
| Local radio |
WEMP (Earl Gillespie, Blaine Walsh) |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
The Milwaukee Braves' 1961 season saw the team win 83 games and lose 71, good for fourth place in the final National League standings, ten games short of the NL Champion Cincinnati Reds.
Offseason
- October 14, 1960: Red Schoendienst was released by the Braves.[1]
- October 14, 1960: Stan Lopata was released by the Braves.[2]
- December 3, 1960: Billy Martin was purchased by the Braves from the Cincinnati Reds.[3]
- December 14, 1960: Joe Azcue was purchased by the Braves from the Cincinnati Reds.[4]
- Prior to 1961 season (exact date unknown)
- Jim Campbell was traded by the Braves to the Houston Colt .45s for Morrie Martin.[5]
- Clay Carroll was signed by the Braves as an amateur free agent.[6]
Regular season
On April 28, Warren Spahn threw a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants.
On June 8, against the Cincinnati Reds, four consecutive Braves batters hit home runs off pitchers Jim Maloney (two) and Marshall Bridges (two more) in the seventh inning. The batters who accomplished this feat were Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock, and Frank Thomas. Oddly, both Adcock and Thomas were former players for the Reds.
Season standings
| National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Record vs. opponents
1961 National League Records Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | CHC | CIN | LAD | MIL | PHI | PIT | SF | STL | |||||
| Chicago | — | 12–10 | 7–15 | 9–13–1 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 5–17 | 7–15–1 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 10–12 | — | 12–10 | 15–7 | 19–3 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 14–8 | |||||
| Los Angeles | 15–7 | 10–12 | — | 12–10 | 17–5 | 13–9 | 10–12 | 12–10 | |||||
| Milwaukee | 13–9–1 | 7–15 | 10–12 | — | 16–6 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 14–8 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 9–13 | 3–19 | 5–17 | 6–16 | — | 7–15 | 8–14–1 | 9–13 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 11–11 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 10–12 | 15–7 | — | 10–12 | 9–13 | |||||
| San Francisco | 17–5 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 14–8–1 | 12–10 | — | 9–13 | |||||
| St. Louis | 15–7–1 | 8–14 | 10–12 | 8–14 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 13–9 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- April 1961: Morrie Martin was released by the Braves.[5]
- May 9, 1961: Mel Roach was traded by the Braves to the Chicago Cubs for Frank Thomas.[7]
- May 10, 1961: Wes Covington was selected off waivers from the Braves by the Chicago White Sox.[8]
- June 1, 1961: Billy Martin was traded by the Braves to the Minnesota Twins for Billy Consolo.[3]
Managerial turnover
Chuck Dressen, 66, was fired September 4, 1961, less than a month shy of finishing his second year as the Braves' manager. The club was 71–58 (.558) and in third place, seven games in arrears of the front-running Cincinnati Reds, when the change was announced. The Braves were 159–124 (.562) under Dressen's command. His successor was executive vice president Birdie Tebbetts, 48, a former Cincinnati manager, who came down from the Milwaukee front office to take the reins; Tebbetts was signed through the 1963 season but he would spend only 1962 as the Braves' skipper before leaving to become manager of the 1963 Cleveland Indians. Tebbetts retained two of Dressen's coaches, Andy Pafko and Whit Wyatt, while George Myatt departed for the American League Detroit Tigers.[9]
Roster
| 1961 Milwaukee Braves | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
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Player stats
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Adcock, JoeJoe Adcock | 152 | 562 | 160 | .285 | 35 | 108 |
| 3B | Mathews, EddieEddie Mathews | 152 | 572 | 175 | .306 | 32 | 91 |
| LF | Thomas, FrankFrank Thomas | 124 | 423 | 120 | .284 | 25 | 67 |
| CF | Aaron, HankHank Aaron | 155 | 603 | 197 | .327 | 34 | 120 |
| RF | Maye, LeeLee Maye | 110 | 373 | 101 | .271 | 14 | 41 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White, SammySammy White | 21 | 63 | 14 | .222 | 0 | 5 |
| Boyd, BobBob Boyd | 36 | 41 | 10 | .244 | 0 | 3 |
| Roach, MelMel Roach | 13 | 36 | 6 | .167 | 1 | 6 |
| Covington, WesWes Covington | 9 | 21 | 4 | .190 | 0 | 0 |
| Martin, BillyBilly Martin | 6 | 6 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burdette, LewLew Burdette | 40 | 272.1 | 18 | 11 | 4.00 | 92 |
| Spahn, WarrenWarren Spahn | 38 | 262.2 | 21 | 13 | 3.02 | 115 |
| Buhl, BobBob Buhl | 32 | 188.1 | 9 | 10 | 4.11 | 77 |
| Hendley, BobBob Hendley | 19 | 97 | 5 | 7 | 3.90 | 44 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloninger, TonyTony Cloninger | 19 | 84 | 7 | 2 | 5.25 | 51 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drabowsky, MoeMoe Drabowsky | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4.62 | 5 |
| Piché, RonRon Piché | 12 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3.47 | 16 |
| Antonelli, JohnnyJohnny Antonelli | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7.59 | 8 |
| MacKenzie, KenKen MacKenzie | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.14 | 5 |
| Brunet, GeorgeGeorge Brunet | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 0 |
| Olivo, Chi-ChiChi-Chi Olivo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 |
Awards and honors
League leaders
- Warren Spahn, National League leader, wins[10]
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Louisville Colonels | American Association | Ben Geraghty |
| AAA | Vancouver Mounties | Pacific Coast League | Billy Hitchcock |
| AA | Austin Senators | Texas League | Bill Adair |
| B | Cedar Rapids Braves | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Jimmy Brown |
| B | Yakima Bears | Northwest League | Buddy Hicks |
| C | Eau Claire Braves | Northern League | Jim Fanning |
| C | Boise Braves | Pioneer League | Gordon Maltzberger |
| D | Palatka Azaleas | Florida State League | Mike Fandozzi |
| D | Quad Cities Braves | Midwest League | Alex Monchak |
| D | Wellsville Braves | New York–Penn League | Bill Steinecke |
| D | Newton-Conover Twins | Western Carolinas League | Joe Abernethy |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville
Notes
- ↑ Red Schoendienst page at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Stan Lopata page at Baseball Reference
- 1 2 Billy Martin page at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Joe Azcue page at Baseball-Reference
- 1 2 Morrie Martin page at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Clay Carroll page at Baseball-Reference
- ↑ Braves trade Mel Roach for Frank Thomas
- ↑ Wes Covington page at Baseball Reference
- ↑ The Associated Press, September 4, 1961
- ↑ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.99, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
References
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
- 1961 Milwaukee Braves season at Baseball Reference