The 1961 Baltimore Orioles season involved the Orioles finishing 3rd 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 |
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| 1961 Information | ||
| Owner(s) | Jerold Hoffberger | |
| General manager(s) | Lee MacPhail | |
| Manager(s) | Paul Richards, Lum Harris | |
| Local television | WJZ-TV | |
| Local radio | WBAL (AM) (Bob Murphy, Herb Carneal) |
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The 1961 Baltimore Orioles season involved the Orioles finishing 3rd 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.
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Offseason [edit]
- 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 [edit]
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 [edit]
- Jackie Brandt
- Marv Breeding
- Jim Gentile
- Ron Hansen
- Milt Pappas
- Brooks Robinson
- Russ Snyder
- Gene Stephens
- Gus Triandos[7]
Season standings [edit]
| American League | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 109 | 53 | .673 | -- |
| Detroit Tigers | 101 | 61 | .623 | 8 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 95 | 67 | .586 | 14 |
| Chicago White Sox | 86 | 76 | .531 | 23 |
| Cleveland Indians | 78 | 83 | .484 | 30.5 |
| Boston Red Sox | 76 | 86 | .469 | 33 |
| Minnesota Twins | 70 | 90 | .438 | 38 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 70 | 91 | .435 | 38.5 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 61 | 100 | .379 | 47.5 |
| Washington Senators | 61 | 100 | .379 | 47.5 |
Notable transactions [edit]
- 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 [edit]
| 1961 Baltimore Orioles | |||||||||
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| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
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Player stats [edit]
Batting [edit]
Starters by position [edit]
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 [edit]
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 |
| Charlie 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 [edit]
Starting pitchers [edit]
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 | 15 | 9 | 3.69 | 160 |
| Jack Fisher | 36 | 196 | 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 [edit]
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 | 7 | 4 | 2.02 | 100 |
| Dick Hall | 29 | 122.1 | 7 | 5 | 3.09 | 92 |
Relief pitchers [edit]
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 [edit]
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Aberdeen
Victoria club moved to Ardmore, May 27, 1961
Notes [edit]
- ^ Del Rice page at Baseball Reference
- ^ a b Dave Philley page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Whitey Herzog page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference
- ^ a b Frank House page at Baseball Reference
- ^ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=196109200BAL
- ^ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1961&t=BAL
- ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/essegch01.shtml#trans
- ^ Walt Dropo page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Marv Throneberry page at Baseball Reference
References [edit]
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
- 1961 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference
- 1961 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com
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