1961 Cleveland Indians season

1961 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, Gabe Paul
Manager(s)	Jimmy Dykes
Local television	WJW-TV
Local radio	WERE (1300)
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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.^[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
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

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]
• September 8, 1961: Chuck Tanner was sold by Indians to the |Los Angeles Angels.^[6]
• October 5, 1961: Jimmy Piersall was traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Dick Donovan, Gene Green, and Jim Mahoney.^[7]

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	Piersall, JimmyJimmy 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
Nieman, BobBob Nieman	39	65	23	.354	2	10
Morgan, JoeJoe 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
Antonelli, JohnnyJohnny 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
Allen, BobBob 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 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^[8]

Notes

1. Marty Keough page at Baseball Reference
2. Jim King page at Baseball Reference
3. Paul Casanova page at Baseball Reference
4. Bob Nieman page at Baseball Reference
5. Tommy John page at Baseball Reference
6. Chuck Tanner Trades and Transactions by Baseball Almanac
7. Jim Piersall page at Baseball Reference
8. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1961 Cleveland Indians season at Baseball Reference