1961 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1961 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Location
Forbes Field (since 1909)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[1] (since 1907)
Other information
Owner(s)	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas Johnson (minority shareholders)
General manager(s)	Joe L. Brown
Manager(s)	Danny Murtaugh
Local television	KDKA-TV Bob Prince, Jim Woods
Local radio	KDKA Bob Prince, Paul Long, Jim Woods
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The 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates fell from World Champions the previous season to sixth place in the National League, as they won 75 games and lost 79, 18 games behind NL Champion Cincinnati.

Regular season

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

• May 1961: Don Williams was purchased from the Pirates by the Chicago White Sox.^[2]
• June 20, 1961: Gene Baker was released by the Pirates.^[3]
• June 24, 1961: Ron Woods was signed by the Pirates as an amateur free agent.^[4]

Roster

1961 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers 34 Tom Cheney 26 Roy Face 37 Larry Foss 27 Earl Francis 19 Bob Friend 22 Joe Gibbon 35 Fred Green 31 Harvey Haddix 25 Al Jackson 29 Clem Labine 32 Vern Law 34 Al McBean 30 Vinegar Bend Mizell 28 Bobby Shantz 15 Tom Sturdivant 37 Jim Umbricht 39 George Witt		Catchers  6 Smoky Burgess  2 Don Leppert  2 Bob Oldis  5 Hal Smith Infielders 16 Gene Baker 24 Dick Groat 12 Don Hoak 16 Johnny Logan  9 Bill Mazeroski 14 Rocky Nelson 11 Dick Schofield  7 Dick Stuart		Outfielders 23 Joe Christopher 20 Gino Cimoli 21 Roberto Clemente 35 Donn Clendenon 15 Román Mejías 20 Walt Moryn  4 Bob Skinner 18 Bill Virdon		Manager 40 Danny Murtaugh Coaches 41 Bill Burwell 45 Lenny Levy 43 Sam Narron 42 Ron Northey 44 Frank Oceak

Statistics

Batting

Regular Season[5] Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI Umbricht, J.J. Umbricht 1 1 1 1.000 0 0 Witt, G.G. Witt 9 2 1 0.500 0 0 Shantz, B.B. Shantz 44 16 7 0.438 0 3 Clemente, R.R. Clemente 146 572 201 0.351 23 89 Clendenon, D.D. Clendenon 9 35 11 0.314 0 2 Burgess, S.S. Burgess 100 323 98 0.303 12 52 Stuart, D.D. Stuart 138 532 160 0.301 35 117 Cimoli, G.G. Cimoli 21 67 20 0.299 0 6 Hoak, D.D. Hoak 145 503 150 0.298 12 61 Groat, D.D. Groat 148 596 164 0.275 6 55 Face, R.R. Face 62 11 3 0.273 0 1 Skinner, B.B. Skinner 119 381 102 0.268 3 42 Leppert, D.D. Leppert 22 60 16 0.267 3 5 McBean, A.A. McBean 28 15 4 0.267 1 3 Mazeroski, B.B. Mazeroski 152 558 148 0.265 13 59 Christopher, J.J. Christopher 76 186 49 0.263 0 14 Law, V.V. Law 11 19 5 0.263 0 5 Virdon, B.B. Virdon 146 599 156 0.260 9 58 Sturdivant, T.T. Sturdivant 13 32 8 0.250 0 1 Logan, J.J. Logan 27 52 12 0.231 0 5 Smith, H.H. Smith 67 193 43 0.223 3 26 Moryn, W.W. Moryn 40 65 13 0.200 3 9 Nelson, R.R. Nelson 75 127 25 0.197 5 13 Schofield, D.D. Schofield 60 78 15 0.192 0 2 Foss, L.L. Foss 3 6 1 0.167 0 1 Haddix, H.H. Haddix 31 56 8 0.143 0 3 Friend, B.B. Friend 41 79 11 0.139 0 7 Gibbon, J.J. Gibbon 31 59 8 0.136 0 6 Mizell, V.V. Mizell 25 23 3 0.130 0 1 Francis, E.E. Francis 23 28 3 0.107 0 0 Baker, G.G. Baker 9 10 1 0.100 0 0 Labine, C.C. Labine 56 10 1 0.100 0 0 Green, F.F. Green 13 3 0 0.000 0 0 Jackson, A.A. Jackson 5 8 0 0.000 0 0 Mejias, R.R. Mejias 4 1 0 0.000 0 0 Oldis, B.B. Oldis 4 5 0 0.000 0 0 Cheney, T.T. Cheney 1 0 0 — 0 0

Pitching

Regular Season[6] Player G IP W L ERA SO Cheney, T.T. Cheney 1 0 0 0 — 0 Umbricht, J.J. Umbricht 1 3^1⁄3 0 0 2.70 1 Sturdivant, T.T. Sturdivant 13 85^2⁄3 5 2 2.84 45 Gibbon, J.J. Gibbon 30 195^1⁄3 13 10 3.32 145 Shantz, B.B. Shantz 43 89^1⁄3 6 3 3.32 61 Jackson, A.A. Jackson 3 23^2⁄3 1 0 3.42 15 Labine, C.C. Labine 56 92^2⁄3 4 1 3.69 49 McBean, A.A. McBean 27 74^1⁄3 3 2 3.75 49 Face, R.R. Face 62 92 6 12 3.82 55 Friend, B.B. Friend 41 236 14 19 3.85 108 Haddix, H.H. Haddix 29 156 10 6 4.10 99 Francis, E.E. Francis 23 102^2⁄3 2 8 4.21 53 Law, V.V. Law 11 59^1⁄3 3 4 4.70 20 Green, F.F. Green 13 20^2⁄3 0 0 4.79 4 Mizell, V.V. Mizell 25 100 7 10 5.04 37 Foss, L.L. Foss 3 15^1⁄3 1 1 5.87 9 Witt, G.G. Witt 9 15^2⁄3 0 1 6.32 9

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Jets	International League	Larry Shepard
A	Asheville Tourists	Sally League	Ray Hathaway
B	Burlington Bees	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Harding "Pete" Peterson
C	Grand Forks Chiefs	Northern League	Bob Clear
D	Kingsport Pirates	Appalachian League	James Gibbons
D	Batavia Pirates	New York–Penn League	James Adlam and Gene Baker
D	Hobbs Pirates	Sophomore League	Al Kubski
D	Shelby Colonels	Western Carolinas League	Aaron Robinson and James Adlam

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Asheville, Hobbs

Notes

1. From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
2. Don Williams page at Baseball Reference
3. Gene Baker page at Baseball Reference
4. Ron Woods page at Baseball Reference
5. "Major League Baseball Regular Season Hitting Stats | pirates.com: Stats". Pittsburgh Pirates.
6. "Major League Baseball Regular Season Pitching Stats | pirates.com: Stats". Pittsburgh Pirates.

References

• 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
• 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac
• 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.