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
← 1960 Seasons 1962 →

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.

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 109 53 0.673 — 65–16 44–37
Detroit Tigers 101 61 0.623 8 50–31 51–30
Baltimore Orioles 95 67 0.586 14 48–33 47–34
Chicago White Sox 86 76 0.531 23 53–28 33–48
Cleveland Indians 78 83 0.484 30½ 40–41 38–42
Boston Red Sox 76 86 0.469 33 50–31 26–55
Minnesota Twins 70 90 0.438 38 36–44 34–46
Los Angeles Angels 70 91 0.435 38½ 46–36 24–55
Kansas City Athletics 61 100 0.379 47½ 33–47 28–53
Washington Senators 61 100 0.379 47½ 33–46 28–54

Record vs. opponents

1961 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Team BAL BOS CHW CLE DET KCA 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

Opening Day lineup

  2 Chuck Schilling 2B
  7 Gary Geiger CF
  6 Vic Wertz 1B
  4 Jackie Jensen RF
  8 Carl Yastrzemski LF
  3 Pete Runnels 3B
22 Russ Nixon C
12 Pumpsie Green SS
27 Bill Monbouquette     P

Roster

1961 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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
C Jim Pagliaroni 120 376 91 .242 16 58
1B Pete Runnels 143 360 114 .317 3 38
2B Chuck Schilling 158 646 167 .259 5 62
3B Frank Malzone 151 590 157 .266 14 87
SS Don Buddin 115 339 89 .263 6 42
LF Carl Yastrzemski 148 583 155 .266 11 80
CF Gary Geiger 140 499 116 .232 18 64
RF Jackie Jensen 147 498 131 .263 13 66

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 Wertz 99 317 83 .262 11 60
Carroll Hardy 85 281 74 .263 3 36
Russ Nixon 87 242 70 .289 1 19
Pumpsie Green 88 219 57 .260 6 27
Lou Clinton 17 51 13 .255 0 3
Billy Harrell 37 37 6 .162 0 1
Rip Repulski 15 25 7 .280 0 1
Joe Ginsberg 19 24 6 .250 0 5
Don Gile 8 18 5 .278 1 1

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
Bill Monbouquette 32 236.1 14 14 3.39 161
Gene Conley 33 199.2 11 14 4.91 113
Don Schwall 25 178.2 15 7 3.22 91
Ike Delock 28 156.0 6 9 4.90 80

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 Cisco 17 52.1 2 4 6.71 26
Chet Nichols Jr. 26 51.2 3 2 2.09 20
Tom Brewer 10 42.0 3 2 3.43 13
Ted Wills 17 19.2 3 2 5.95 11
Wilbur Wood 6 13.0 0 0 5.54 7
Tom Borland 1 1.0 0 0 18.00 0

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 Fornieles 57 9 8 15 4.68 70
Tracy Stallard 43 2 7 2 4.88 109
Billy Muffett 38 3 11 2 5.67 47
Arnold Earley 33 2 4 7 3.99 44
Dave Hillman 28 3 2 0 2.77 39

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.

External links

1961 MLB season by team
Boston Red Sox
Categories