1961 Milwaukee Braves season

1961 Milwaukee Braves
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Location
Milwaukee County Stadium (since 1953)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (since 1953)
Results
Record	83–71 (.539)
League place	4th
Other information
Owner(s)	Louis R. Perini
General manager(s)	John McHale
Manager(s)	Chuck Dressen, Birdie Tebbetts
Local television	none
Local radio	WEMP (Earl Gillespie, Blaine Walsh)
< Previous season     Next season  >

The Milwaukee Braves' 1961 season saw the team win 83 games and lose 71, good for fourth place in the final National League standings, ten games short of the NL Champion Cincinnati Reds.

Offseason

• October 14, 1960: Red Schoendienst was released by the Braves.^[1]
• October 14, 1960: Stan Lopata was released by the Braves.^[2]
• December 3, 1960: Billy Martin was purchased by the Braves from the Cincinnati Reds.^[3]
• December 14, 1960: Joe Azcue was purchased by the Braves from the Cincinnati Reds.^[4]
• Prior to 1961 season (exact date unknown)
  • Jim Campbell was traded by the Braves to the Houston Colt .45s for Morrie Martin.^[5]
  • Clay Carroll was signed by the Braves as an amateur free agent.^[6]

Regular season

On April 28, Warren Spahn threw a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants.

On June 8, against the Cincinnati Reds, four consecutive Braves batters hit home runs off pitchers Jim Maloney (two) and Marshall Bridges (two more) in the seventh inning. The batters who accomplished this feat were Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock, and Frank Thomas. Oddly, both Adcock and Thomas were former players for the Reds.

Season standings

National League	W	L	GB	Pct.
Cincinnati Reds	93	61	--	.604
Los Angeles Dodgers	89	65	4	.578
San Francisco Giants	85	69	8	.552
Milwaukee Braves	83	71	10	.539
St. Louis Cardinals	80	74	13	.519
Pittsburgh Pirates	75	79	18	.487
Chicago Cubs	64	90	29	.416
Philadelphia Phillies	47	107	46	.305

Record vs. opponents

1961 National League Records Sources:
Team	CHC	CIN	LAD	MIL	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Chicago	—	12–10	7–15	9–13–1	13–9	11–11	5–17	7–15–1
Cincinnati	10–12	—	12–10	15–7	19–3	11–11	12–10	14–8
Los Angeles	15–7	10–12	—	12–10	17–5	13–9	10–12	12–10
Milwaukee	13–9–1	7–15	10–12	—	16–6	12–10	11–11	14–8
Philadelphia	9–13	3–19	5–17	6–16	—	7–15	8–14–1	9–13
Pittsburgh	11–11	11–11	9–13	10–12	15–7	—	10–12	9–13
San Francisco	17–5	10–12	12–10	11–11	14–8–1	12–10	—	9–13
St. Louis	15–7–1	8–14	10–12	8–14	13–9	13–9	13–9	—

Notable transactions

• April 1961: Morrie Martin was released by the Braves.^[5]
• May 9, 1961: Mel Roach was traded by the Braves to the Chicago Cubs for Frank Thomas.^[7]
• May 10, 1961: Wes Covington was selected off waivers from the Braves by the Chicago White Sox.^[8]
• June 1, 1961: Billy Martin was traded by the Braves to the Minnesota Twins for Billy Consolo.^[3]

Managerial turnover

Chuck Dressen, 66, was fired September 4, 1961, less than a month shy of finishing his second year as the Braves' manager. The club was 71–58 (.558) and in third place, seven games in arrears of the front-running Cincinnati Reds, when the change was announced. The Braves were 159–124 (.562) under Dressen's command. His successor was executive vice president Birdie Tebbetts, 48, a former Cincinnati manager, who came down from the Milwaukee front office to take the reins; Tebbetts was signed through the 1963 season but he would spend only 1962 as the Braves' skipper before leaving to become manager of the 1963 Cleveland Indians. Tebbetts retained two of Dressen's coaches, Andy Pafko and Whit Wyatt, while George Myatt departed for the American League Detroit Tigers.^[9]

Roster

1961 Milwaukee Braves
Roster
Pitchers 43 Johnny Antonelli 30 George Brunet 10 Bob Buhl 33 Lew Burdette 40 Tony Cloninger 17 Moe Drabowsky 36 Bob Hendley 36 Ken MacKenzie 20 Don McMahon 19 Seth Morehead 32 Don Nottebart 40 Chi-Chi Olivo 35 Ron Piché 35 Claude Raymond 21 Warren Spahn 16 Carl Willey		Catchers  1 Del Crandall  6 Charley Lau 40 Phil Roof 15 Joe Torre 22 Sammy White Infielders  9 Joe Adcock  2 Frank Bolling  3 Bob Boyd 23 Johnny Logan 18 Félix Mantilla 41 Eddie Mathews 11 Roy McMillan		Outfielders 44 Hank Aaron 19 Gino Cimoli 43 Wes Covington 29 John DeMerit 30 Mack Jones 24 Lee Maye 12 Mel Roach 25 Al Spangler 26 Hawk Taylor 12 Frank Thomas Other batters 30 Neil Chrisley  3 Billy Martin		Manager  7 Chuck Dressen  4 Birdie Tebbetts Coaches  8 George Myatt 48 Andy Pafko  5 Whit Wyatt

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
1B	Adcock, JoeJoe Adcock	152	562	160	.285	35	108
3B	Mathews, EddieEddie Mathews	152	572	175	.306	32	91
LF	Thomas, FrankFrank Thomas	124	423	120	.284	25	67
CF	Aaron, HankHank Aaron	155	603	197	.327	34	120
RF	Maye, LeeLee Maye	110	373	101	.271	14	41

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
White, SammySammy White	21	63	14	.222	0	5
Boyd, BobBob Boyd	36	41	10	.244	0	3
Roach, MelMel Roach	13	36	6	.167	1	6
Covington, WesWes Covington	9	21	4	.190	0	0
Martin, BillyBilly Martin	6	6	0	.000	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
Burdette, LewLew Burdette	40	272.1	18	11	4.00	92
Spahn, WarrenWarren Spahn	38	262.2	21	13	3.02	115
Buhl, BobBob Buhl	32	188.1	9	10	4.11	77
Hendley, BobBob Hendley	19	97	5	7	3.90	44

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
Cloninger, TonyTony Cloninger	19	84	7	2	5.25	51

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
Drabowsky, MoeMoe Drabowsky	16	0	2	2	4.62	5
Piché, RonRon Piché	12	2	2	1	3.47	16
Antonelli, JohnnyJohnny Antonelli	9	1	0	0	7.59	8
MacKenzie, KenKen MacKenzie	5	0	1	0	5.14	5
Brunet, GeorgeGeorge Brunet	5	0	0	0	5.40	0
Olivo, Chi-ChiChi-Chi Olivo	3	0	0	0	18.00	1

Awards and honors

League leaders

• Warren Spahn, National League leader, wins^[10]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Louisville Colonels	American Association	Ben Geraghty
AAA	Vancouver Mounties	Pacific Coast League	Billy Hitchcock
AA	Austin Senators	Texas League	Bill Adair
B	Cedar Rapids Braves	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Jimmy Brown
B	Yakima Bears	Northwest League	Buddy Hicks
C	Eau Claire Braves	Northern League	Jim Fanning
C	Boise Braves	Pioneer League	Gordon Maltzberger
D	Palatka Azaleas	Florida State League	Mike Fandozzi
D	Quad Cities Braves	Midwest League	Alex Monchak
D	Wellsville Braves	New York–Penn League	Bill Steinecke
D	Newton-Conover Twins	Western Carolinas League	Joe Abernethy

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville

Notes

1. Red Schoendienst page at Baseball Reference
2. Stan Lopata page at Baseball Reference
3. Billy Martin page at Baseball Reference
4. Joe Azcue page at Baseball-Reference
5. Morrie Martin page at Baseball Reference
6. Clay Carroll page at Baseball-Reference
7. Frank Thomas page at Baseball Reference
8. Wes Covington page at Baseball Reference
9. The Associated Press, September 4, 1961
10. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.99, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1961 Milwaukee Braves season at Baseball Reference