1960 Cleveland Indians season

The 1960 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Indians' fourth-place finish in the American League with a record of 76 wins and 78 losses, 21 games behind the AL Champion New York Yankees. This season was notable for the infamous trade of Rocky Colavito.

1960 Cleveland Indians
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Cleveland Municipal Stadium (since 1932) Cleveland, Ohio (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	William R. Daley
General manager(s)	Frank Lane
Manager(s)	Joe Gordon, Jimmy Dykes
Local television	WEWS-TV (Ken Coleman, Bill McColgan)
Local radio	WERE (Jimmy Dudley, Bob Neal)
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Offseason

• December 6, 1959: Minnie Miñoso, Dick Brown, Don Ferrarese, and Jake Striker were traded by the Indians to the Chicago White Sox for Johnny Romano, Bubba Phillips, and Norm Cash.[1]
• December 15, 1959: Billy Martin, Gordy Coleman and Cal McLish were traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Reds for Johnny Temple.[2]
• Prior to 1960 season: Jim King was obtained by the Indians from the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of a minor league working agreement.[3]

Regular season

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	57	0.630	—	55–22	42–35
Baltimore Orioles	89	65	0.578	8	44–33	45–32
Chicago White Sox	87	67	0.565	10	51–26	36–41
Cleveland Indians	76	78	0.494	21	39–38	37–40
Washington Senators	73	81	0.474	24	32–45	41–36
Detroit Tigers	71	83	0.461	26	40–37	31–46
Boston Red Sox	65	89	0.422	32	36–41	29–48
Kansas City Athletics	58	96	0.377	39	34–43	24–53

Record vs. opponents

1960 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	16–6	13–9	14–8	13–9	13–9	9–13	11–11
Boston	6–16	—	5–17	9–13	14–8	13–9	7–15	11–11
Chicago	9–13	17–5	—	11–11	11–11	15–7	10–12	14–8
Cleveland	8–14	13–9	11–11	—	7–15	15–7	6–16	16–6
Detroit	9–13	8–14	11–11	15–7	—	10–12	8–14	10–12
Kansas City	9–13	9–13	7–15	7–15	12–10	—	7–15–1	7–15
New York	13–9	15–7	12–10	16–6	14–8	15–7–1	—	12–10
Washington	11–11	11–11	8–14	6–16	12–10	15–7	10–12	—

Notable transactions

• April 3, 1960: Al Cicotte was purchased by the Toronto Maple Leafs from the Indians.[4]
• April 12, 1960: Norm Cash was traded by the Indians to the Detroit Tigers for Steve Demeter.[5]
• April 17, 1960: 1959 AL home run king Rocky Colavito was traded by the Indians to the Detroit Tigers for 1959 AL batting champion Harvey Kuenn.[6]
• April 18, 1960: Herb Score was traded by the Indians to the Chicago White Sox for Barry Latman.[7]
• June 11, 1960: Paul Casanova was released by the Indians.[8]
• June 13, 1960: Russ Nixon and Carroll Hardy were traded by the Indians to the Boston Red Sox for Marty Keough and Ted Bowsfield.[9] It was he second time the Indians traded Nixon to the Red Sox in three months: a March 16 deal sent Nixon to Boston for fellow catcher Sammy White, but White retired rather than report to Cleveland and the trade was nullified March 25.
• August 3, 1960: In the first (and, as of September 2010, only) trade of managers in baseball history, Cleveland sent skipper Joe Gordon to the Tigers for their manager, Jimmy Dykes.[10] In the days that followed, the two teams also traded coaches, as the Indians' Jo-Jo White and the Tigers' Luke Appling swapped jobs to remain aides to Gordon and Dykes.

Roster

1960 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 39 Gary Bell 30 Ted Bowsfield 32,16 John Briggs 38 Frank Funk 33 Mudcat Grant 26 Bob Grim 23 Jack Harshman 34 Wynn Hawkins 17 Johnny Klippstein 18 Barry Latman 20 Mike Lee 29 Bobby Locke 32,30 Carl Mathias 25 Don Newcombe 31 Jim Perry 22 Dick Stigman 25 Carl Thomas 28 Bobby Tiefenauer		Catchers  8 Hank Foiles 15 Russ Nixon 11 Johnny Romano 27 Red Wilson Infielders  2 Ken Aspromonte  8 Rocky Bridges 34,1 Mike de la Hoz  5 Steve Demeter 8,9 Bob Hale  3 Woodie Held  4 Joe Morgan 7,5 Bubba Phillips 10 Vic Power  4 George Strickland 1,16 Johnny Temple		Outfielders 12 Walt Bond 26 Ty Cline 38 Don Dillard 14 Tito Francona 30 Carroll Hardy 15 Marty Keough 7,6 Harvey Kuenn 37 Jimmy Piersall  8 John Powers 6,5 Chuck Tanner  8 Pete Whisenant		Manager 35 Joe Gordon 40 Jo-Jo White 35 Jimmy Dykes Coaches 40 Luke Appling 41 Ed Fitz Gerald 43 Mel Harder (Pitching) 42 Red Kress 21 Bob Lemon 40 Jo-Jo White 45 Ted Wilks

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
C	Johnny Romano	108	316	86	.272	16	52
1B	Vic Power	147	580	167	.288	10	84
2B	Ken Aspromonte	117	459	133	.290	1	10
3B	Bubba Phillips	113	304	63	.207	4	33
SS	Woodie Held	109	376	97	.258	1	21
LF	Tito Francona	147	544	159	.292	17	79
CF	Jimmy Piersall	138	486	137	.282	18	66
RF	Harvey Kuenn	126	474	146	.308	9	54

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
Johnny Temple	98	381	102	.268	2	19

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
Jim Perry	36	261.1	18	10	3.62	120
Mudcat Grant	19	159.2	9	8	4.40	75
Gary Bell	23	154.2	9	10	4.13	109
Barry Latman	20	147.1	7	7	4.03	94
Dick Stigman	18	133.2	5	11	4.51	104
Bobby Locke	11	123.0	3	5	3.37	53

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

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

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Toronto Maple Leafs	International League	Mel McGaha
AA	Mobile Bears	Southern Association	Al Hollingsworth and Johnny Lipon
A	Reading Indians	Eastern League	Ray Mueller
B	Burlington Indians	Carolina League	Pinky May
C	Minot Mallards	Northern League	Walt Novick
D	Selma Cloverleafs	Alabama–Florida League	Ken Landenberger and Paul O'Dea
D	Lakeland Indians	Florida State League	Johnny Lipon and Charlie Gassaway

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Toronto[11]

Notes

1. Minnie Miñoso at Baseball-Reference
2. Billy Martin at Baseball-Reference
3. Jim King at Baseball-Reference
4. Al Cicotte at Baseball-Reference
5. Norm Cash at Baseball-Reference
6. Rocky Colavito at Baseball-Reference
7. Herb Score at Baseball-Reference
8. Paul Casanova at Baseball-Reference
9. "Indians, Red Sox exchange players". Milwaukee Journal. AP. June 13, 1960. p. 16. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
10. Joe Gordon at Baseball-Reference
11. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1960 Cleveland Indians season at Baseball Reference