1961 Boston Red Sox season

The 1961 Boston Red Sox season was the 61st season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished sixth in the American League (AL) with a record of 76 wins and 86 losses, 33 games behind the AL and World Series champion New York Yankees.

1961 Boston Red Sox
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkFenway Park
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Record76–86 (.469)
League place6th (33 GB)
OwnersTom Yawkey
PresidentTom Yawkey
ManagersPinky Higgins
TelevisionWHDH-TV, Ch. 5
RadioWHDH-AM 850
(Curt Gowdy, Ned Martin, Art Gleeson)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
Seasons

Regular season

Future Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski made his major league debut on Opening Day, April 11. He was considered the heir apparent to Ted Williams,[1] who had retired at the end of 1960.

On June 30, Wilbur Wood made his major league baseball debut with the Red Sox. In a game against the Cleveland Indians, Wood pitched 4 innings, allowed 3 hits, and 2 earned runs. He had 3 strikeouts and allowed 1 walk.[2]

On October 1, in a game against the New York Yankees, Red Sox pitcher Tracy Stallard gave up Roger Maris' 61st home run of the season, breaking Babe Ruth's record for most home runs in a season.

Season standings
American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 10953 0.673 — 65–16 44–37
Detroit Tigers 10161 0.623 8 50–31 51–30
Baltimore Orioles 9567 0.586 14 48–33 47–34
Chicago White Sox 8676 0.531 23 53–28 33–48
Cleveland Indians 7883 0.484 30½ 40–41 38–42
Boston Red Sox 7686 0.469 33 50–31 26–55
Minnesota Twins 7090 0.438 38 36–44 34–46
Los Angeles Angels 7091 0.435 38½ 46–36 24–55
Kansas City Athletics 61100 0.379 47½ 33–47 28–53
Washington Senators 61100 0.379 47½ 33–46 28–54

Record vs. opponents
1961 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CHW CLE DET KCA LAA MIN NYY WSH
Baltimore —11–711–79–99–913–58–1011–79–9–114–4
Boston 7–11—9–95–138–1010–811–7–111–75–1310–8
Chicago 7–119–9—12–66–1214–410–89–9–16–1213–5
Cleveland 9–913–56–12—6–128–910–810–84–1412–6
Detroit 9–910–812–612–6—12–6–114–411–78–1013–5
Kansas City 5–138–104–149–86–12–1—9–97–114–149–9
Los Angeles 10–87–11–18–108–104–149–9—8–96–1210–8
Minnesota 7–117–119–9–18–107–1111–79–8—4–148–9
New York 9–9–113–512–614–410–814–412–614–4—11–7
Washington 4–148–105–136–125–139–98–109–87–11—

Notable transactions
  • May 17, 1961: Joe Ginsberg was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.[3]
  • June 26, 1961: Rip Repulski was released by the Red Sox.[4]

Opening Day lineup
  2Chuck Schilling2B
  7Gary GeigerCF
  6Vic Wertz1B
  4Jackie JensenRF
  8Carl YastrzemskiLF
  3Pete Runnels3B
22Russ NixonC
12Pumpsie GreenSS
27Bill Monbouquette    P

Roster
1961 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers
  • 21 Tom Borland
  • 23 Tom Brewer
  • 15 Galen Cisco
  • 18 Gene Conley
  • 14 Ike Delock
  • 21 Arnold Earley
  • 20 Mike Fornieles
  • 17 Dave Hillman
  • 27 Bill Monbouquette
  • 36 Billy Muffett
  • 31 Chet Nichols Jr.
  • 37 Don Schwall
  • 39 Tracy Stallard
  • 25 Ted Wills
  • 28 Wilbur Wood
 Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats
= Indicates team leader

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
CJim Pagliaroni12037691.2421658
1BPete Runnels143360114.317338
2BChuck Schilling158646167.259562
3BFrank Malzone151590157.2661487
SSDon Buddin11533989.263642
LFCarl Yastrzemski148583155.2661180
CFGary Geiger140499116.2321864
RFJackie Jensen147498131.2631366

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
Vic Wertz9931783.2621160
Carroll Hardy8528174.263336
Russ Nixon8724270.289119
Pumpsie Green8821957.260627
Lou Clinton175113.25503
Billy Harrell37376.16201
Rip Repulski15257.28001
Joe Ginsberg19246.25005
Don Gile8185.27811

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
Bill Monbouquette32236.114143.39161
Gene Conley33199.211144.91113
Don Schwall25178.21573.2291
Ike Delock28156.0694.9080

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
Galen Cisco1752.1246.7126
Chet Nichols Jr.2651.2322.0920
Tom Brewer1042.0323.4313
Ted Wills1719.2325.9511
Wilbur Wood613.0005.547
Tom Borland11.00018.000

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
Mike Fornieles5798154.6870
Tracy Stallard432724.88109
Billy Muffett3831125.6747
Arnold Earley332473.9944
Dave Hillman283202.7739

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Seattle Rainiers Pacific Coast League Johnny Pesky
A Johnstown Red Sox Eastern League Eddie Popowski
B Winston-Salem Red Sox Carolina League Elmer Yoter and Matt Sczesny
D Waterloo Hawks Midwest League Matt Sczesny and Bill Slack
D Olean Red Sox New York–Penn League Harold Holland
D Alpine Cowboys Sophomore League Mel Parnell

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Olean
Source:[5][6]

References
  1. Cole, Milton; Kaplan, Jim (2009). The Boston Red Sox: An Illustrated History. North Dighton, Massachusetts: World Publications Group. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-57215-412-4.
  2. Wilbur Wood page at Baseball-Reference
  3. Joe Ginsberg page at Baseball Reference
  4. Rip Repulski page at Baseball Reference
  5. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  6. Boston Red Sox Press TV Radio Guide. 1961. p. 2. Retrieved March 14, 2021 – via Wayback Machine.
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