1961 Milwaukee Braves
LeagueNational League
BallparkMilwaukee County Stadium
CityMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Record83–71 (.539)
League place4th
OwnersLouis R. Perini
General managersJohn McHale
ManagersChuck Dressen 71–58 (.550)
Birdie Tebbetts 12–13 (.480)
RadioWEMP
(Earl Gillespie, Blaine Walsh)
← 1960
1962 →

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

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 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 93 61 0.604 — 47–30 46–31
Los Angeles Dodgers 89 65 0.578 4 45–32 44–33
San Francisco Giants 85 69 0.552 8 45–32 40–37
Milwaukee Braves 83 71 0.539 10 45–32 38–39
St. Louis Cardinals 80 74 0.519 13 48–29 32–45
Pittsburgh Pirates 75 79 0.487 18 38–39 37–40
Chicago Cubs 64 90 0.416 29 40–37 24–53
Philadelphia Phillies 47 107 0.305 46 22–55 25–52

Record vs. opponents

1961 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
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

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
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

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
C Joe Torre 113 406 113 .278 10 42
1B Joe Adcock 152 562 160 .285 35 108
2B Frank Bolling 148 585 153 .262 15 56
SS Roy McMillan 154 505 111 .220 7 48
3B Eddie Mathews 152 572 175 .306 32 91
LF Frank Thomas 124 423 120 .284 25 67
CF Hank Aaron 155 603 197 .327 34 120
RF Lee 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
Gino Cimoli 37 117 23 .197 3 4
Mack Jones 28 104 24 .231 0 12
Al Spangler 68 97 26 .268 0 6
Félix Mantilla 45 93 20 .215 1 5
Charley Lau 28 82 17 .207 0 5
John DeMerit 32 74 12 .162 2 5
Sammy White 21 63 14 .222 0 5
Bob Boyd 36 41 10 .244 0 3
Mel Roach 13 36 6 .167 1 6
Del Crandall 15 30 6 .200 0 1
Hawk Taylor 20 26 5 .192 1 1
Wes Covington 9 21 4 .190 0 0
Johnny Logan 18 19 2 .105 0 1
Neil Chrisley 10 9 2 .222 0 0
Billy Martin 6 6 0 .000 0 0
Phil Roof 1 0 0 ---- 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
Lew Burdette 40 272.1 18 11 4.00 92
Warren Spahn 38 262.2 21 13 3.02 115
Bob Buhl 32 188.1 9 10 4.11 77
Bob Hendley 19 97.0 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
Carl Willey 35 159.2 6 12 3.83 91
Don Nottebart 38 126.1 6 7 4.06 66
Tony Cloninger 19 84.0 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
Don McMahon 53 6 4 8 2.84 55
Moe Drabowsky 16 0 2 2 4.62 5
Claude Raymond 13 1 0 2 3.98 13
Ron Piché 12 2 2 1 3.47 16
Seth Morehead 12 1 0 0 6.46 13
Johnny Antonelli 9 1 0 0 7.59 8
Ken MacKenzie 5 0 1 0 5.14 5
George Brunet 5 0 0 0 5.40 0
Chi-Chi Olivo 3 0 0 0 18.00 1

Awards and honors

League leaders

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
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. ^ "The Major Leagues". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (final standings). October 2, 1961. p. 22.
  2. ^ a b 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. ^ a b Billy Martin page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Joe Azcue page at Baseball-Reference
  8. ^ a b 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

Categories