1961 Cleveland Indians season

1961 Cleveland Indians
Ballpark	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
City	Cleveland, Ohio
Owners	William R. Daley
Managers	Jimmy Dykes
Television	WJW-TV
Radio	WERE (1300)
Seasons

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 (out of contention by July 4) 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).

Offseason

• December 14, 1960: 1960 MLB expansion draft
  • Marty Keough was drafted from the Indians by the Washington Senators.
  • Jim King was drafted from the Indians by the Washington Senators.
• December 27, 1960: Paul Casanova was signed as a free agent by the Indians.

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 record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Team	BAL	BOS	CHW	CLE	DET	KCA	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.
• 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.
• June 12, 1961: Tommy John was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.
• September 8, 1961: Chuck Tanner was sold by Indians to the |Los Angeles Angels.
• October 5, 1961: Jimmy Piersall was traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Dick Donovan, Gene Green, and Jim Mahoney.

Roster

1961 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 24 Bob Allen 23 Johnny Antonelli 39 Gary Bell 27 Bill Dailey 38 Frank Funk 33 Mudcat Grant 27 Steve Hamilton 34 Wynn Hawkins 20 Russ Heman 18 Barry Latman 29 Bobby Locke 17 Sam McDowell 31 Jim Perry 23 Joe Schaffernoth 22 Dick Stigman		Catchers 11 Johnny Romano 15 Valmy Thomas Infielders  2 Ken Aspromonte 1,7 Mike de la Hoz  3 Woodie Held  7 Hal Jones  6 Jack Kubiszyn  5 Bubba Phillips 10 Vic Power 16 Johnny Temple		Outfielders 12 Walt Bond  9 Ty Cline 36 Don Dillard 30 Chuck Essegian 14 Tito Francona  8 Willie Kirkland 32 Al Luplow  4 Joe Morgan  4 Bob Nieman 37 Jimmy Piersall Other batters  9 Bob Hale		Manager 35 Jimmy Dykes 43 Mel Harder Coaches 40 Luke Appling 43 Mel Harder (Pitching) 42 Mel McGaha

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

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Salt Lake City Bees	Pacific Coast League	Herman Franks and Freddie 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

References

• 1961 Cleveland Indians season at Baseball Reference