1961 Cleveland Indians season
The 1961 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fifth in the newly expanded 10-team American League with a record of 78–83, 30½ games behind the New York Yankees. Although the 1961 season ended up being a disappointment, the Indians had a brief flurry of pennant fever early in the 1961 season. After starting 12-13, the Indians started to streak, going 22-4 over their next 26 games to reach a record of 34-17 (were 38-20 after 58 games). However the Indians cooled off afterwards and were quickly knocked out of first place, as they went 44-66 the rest of the year. For the 2nd year in a row, the Indians had held first place in June, only to slump to a losing record. This would happen again in 1962 as well (47-34 start in early July).
1961 Cleveland Indians | |
---|---|
Major League affiliations | |
| |
Location | |
| |
Other information | |
Owner(s) | William R. Daley |
General manager(s) | Frank Lane, Gabe Paul |
Manager(s) | Jimmy Dykes |
Local television | WJW-TV (Ken Coleman, Harry Jones) |
Local radio | WERE (Jimmy Dudley, Bob Neal) |
< Previous season Next season > |
Offseason
- December 14, 1960: 1960 MLB expansion draft
- Marty Keough was drafted from the Indians by the Washington Senators.[1]
- Jim King was drafted from the Indians by the Washington Senators.[2]
- December 27, 1960: Paul Casanova was signed as a free agent by the Indians.[3]
Regular season
Season standings
American League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
Record vs. opponents
1961 American League Records Sources: | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | LAA | MIN | NYY | WSH | |||
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 23, 1961: Paul Casanova was released by the Indians.[3]
- May 10, 1961: Joe Morgan, a player to be named later and cash were traded by the Indians to the St. Louis Cardinals for Bob Nieman. The Indians completed the deal by sending Mike Lee to the Cardinals on June 1.[4]
- June 12, 1961: Tommy John was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.[5]
- October 5, 1961: Jimmy Piersall was traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Dick Donovan, Gene Green, and Jim Mahoney.[6]
Roster
1961 Cleveland Indians | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters
|
Manager
Coaches
|
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CF | Jimmy Piersall | 121 | 484 | 156 | .322 | 6 | 40 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bob Nieman | 39 | 65 | 23 | .354 | 2 | 10 |
Joe Morgan | 4 | 10 | 2 | .200 | 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Antonelli | 11 | 48 | 0 | 4 | 6.56 | 23 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bob Allen | 48 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3.75 | 42 |
Farm system
Level | Team | League | Manager |
---|---|---|---|
AAA | Salt Lake City Bees | Pacific Coast League | Herman Franks and Fred Fitzsimmons |
A | Reading Indians | Eastern League | Ray Mueller |
B | Burlington Indians | Carolina League | Bill Herring and Walt Novick |
D | Selma Cloverleafs | Alabama–Florida League | Walt Novick and Joe Morlan |
D | Dubuque Packers | Midwest League | Pinky May |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Selma[7]
Notes
- Marty Keough page at Baseball Reference
- Jim King page at Baseball Reference
- Paul Casanova page at Baseball Reference
- Bob Nieman page at Baseball Reference
- Tommy John page at Baseball Reference
- Jim Piersall page at Baseball Reference
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007