1961 Milwaukee Braves season

Last updated

1961  Milwaukee Braves
League National League
Ballpark Milwaukee County Stadium
City Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Record83–71 (.539)
League place4th
Owners Louis R. Perini
General managers John McHale
Managers Chuck Dressen 71–58 (.550)
Birdie Tebbetts 12–13 (.480)
Radio WEMP
(Earl Gillespie, Blaine Walsh)
  1960
1962  

The 1961 Milwaukee Braves season was the ninth in Milwaukee and the 91st overall season of the franchise.

Contents

The fourth-place Braves finished the season with an 83–71 (.539) record, ten games behind the National League champion Cincinnati Reds. [1] [2] The home attendance at County Stadium was 1,101,411, [2] fifth in the eight-team National League. [3] It was the Braves' lowest attendance to date in Milwaukee, and was the last season surpassing one million fans.

Offseason

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
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 9361.60447304631
Los Angeles Dodgers 8965.578445324433
San Francisco Giants 8569.552845324037
Milwaukee Braves 8371.5391045323839
St. Louis Cardinals 8074.5191348293245
Pittsburgh Pirates 7579.4871838393740
Chicago Cubs 6490.4162940372453
Philadelphia Phillies 47107.3054622552552

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
TeamCHCCINLADMILPHIPITSFSTL
Chicago 12–107–159–13–113–911–115–177–15–1
Cincinnati 10–1212–1015–719–311–1112–1014–8
Los Angeles 15–710–1212–1017–513–910–1212–10
Milwaukee 13–9–17–1510–1216–612–1011–1114–8
Philadelphia 9–133–195–176–167–158–14–19–13
Pittsburgh 11–1111–119–1310–1215–710–129–13
San Francisco 17–510–1212–1011–1114–8–112–109–13
St. Louis 15–7–18–1410–128–1413–913–913–9

Notable transactions

Managerial turnover

Chuck Dressen, 66, was fired on September 2, less than a month shy of finishing his second year as the Braves' manager. [12] [13] The club was in third place at 71–58 (.550), seven games behind the league-leading Cincinnati Reds, when the change was announced after a Saturday home win over the Dodgers. [14] [15] 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; the Braves went 12–13 (.480) under him to finish the season. Tebbetts was signed through the 1963 season but he would spend only 1962 as the Braves' skipper before leaving to become manager of the Cleveland Indians in 1963. Tebbetts retained two of Dressen's coaches, Andy Pafko and Whit Wyatt, while George Myatt departed for the American League Detroit Tigers. [16]

Roster

1961 Milwaukee Braves
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

= 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

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C Joe Torre 113406113.2781042
1B Joe Adcock 152562160.28535108
2B Frank Bolling 148585153.2621556
SS Roy McMillan 154505111.220748
3B Eddie Mathews 152572175.3063291
LF Frank Thomas 124423120.2842567
CF Hank Aaron 155603197.32734120
RF Lee Maye 110373101.2711441

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Gino Cimoli 3711723.19734
Mack Jones 2810424.231012
Al Spangler 689726.26806
Félix Mantilla 459320.21515
Charley Lau 288217.20705
John DeMerit 327412.16225
Sammy White 216314.22205
Bob Boyd 364110.24403
Mel Roach 13366.16716
Del Crandall 15306.20001
Hawk Taylor 20265.19211
Wes Covington 9214.19000
Johnny Logan 18192.10501
Neil Chrisley 1092.22200
Billy Martin 660.00000
Phil Roof 100----00

Pitching

= Indicates league leader

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Lew Burdette 40272.118114.0092
Warren Spahn 38262.221133.02115
Bob Buhl 32188.19104.1177
Bob Hendley 1997.0573.9044

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Carl Willey 35159.26123.8391
Don Nottebart 38126.1674.0666
Tony Cloninger 1984.0725.2551

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Don McMahon 536482.8455
Moe Drabowsky 160224.625
Claude Raymond 131023.9813
Ron Piché 122213.4716
Seth Morehead 121006.4613
Johnny Antonelli 91007.598
Ken MacKenzie 50105.145
George Brunet 50005.400
Chi-Chi Olivo 300018.001

Awards and honors

League leaders

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
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. "The Major Leagues". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (final standings). October 2, 1961. p. 22.
  2. 1 2 Thisted, Red (October 2, 1961). "Braves split, finish 4th". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 2, part 2.
  3. "Attendance down 5.6% in majors". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. October 3, 1961. p. 5, part 2.
  4. Red Schoendienst page at Baseball Reference
  5. Stan Lopata page at Baseball Reference
  6. 1 2 Billy Martin page at Baseball Reference
  7. Joe Azcue page at Baseball-Reference
  8. 1 2 Morrie Martin page at Baseball Reference
  9. Clay Carroll page at Baseball-Reference
  10. Braves trade Mel Roach for Frank Thomas
  11. Wes Covington page at Baseball Reference
  12. Chapman, Lou (September 3, 1961). "Fire Dressen, hire Birdie". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1, part 1.
  13. Kuehele, Oliver E. (September 3, 1961). "Dressen fired by Braves; Tebbetts is new manager". Milwaukee Journal. p. 1, part 1.
  14. Walfoort, Cleon (September 3, 1961). "Dressen is shocked by his dismissal, 'So many vice presidents,' he says". Milwaukee Journal. p. 1, part 2.
  15. Anheuser, Ernie (September 3, 1961). "Bring on the new...Tebbetts...farewell to the old...Dressen". Milwaukee Sentinel. (photos). p. 1, part 2.
  16. "Charlie Dressen fired by Braves, Tebbetts named as successor". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. September 4, 1961. p. 14.
  17. 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