The 1961 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 80th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 70th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 80–74 during the season and finished fifth in the National League. It was the last season before the NL went to a 162-game schedule the following season to adjust for the new ten-team league.
Offseason October 11, 1960: Leon Wagner, Cal Browning, a player to be named later, and cash were traded by the Cardinals to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Al Cicotte. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Ellis Burton to the Maple Leafs on January 26, 1961.Al Cicotte page at Baseball Reference December 29, 1960: Marv Grissom was released by the Cardinals.Marv Grissom page at Baseball Reference March 15, 1961: Red Schoendienst was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.Red Schoendienst page at Baseball Reference Prior to 1961 season: Don Taussig was acquired by the Cardinals from the Portland Beavers as part of a minor league working agreement.Don Taussig page at Baseball Reference
Regular season On July 6, with the Cardinals at 33–41, manager Solly Hemus was fired and replaced by Johnny Keane. The team went 47–33 under Keane.
First baseman Bill White and third baseman Ken Boyer won Gold Gloves this year.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions May 10, 1961: Bob Nieman was traded by the Cardinals to the Cleveland Indians for Joe Morgan, a player to be named later, and cash. The Indians sent Mike Lee to the Cardinals on June 1 to complete the trade.Bob Nieman page at Baseball-Reference May 16, 1961: Duke Carmel was traded by the Cardinals to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Joe Koppe.Duke Carmel page at Baseball Reference May 30, 1961: Daryl Spencer was traded by the Cardinals to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Bob Lillis and Carl Warwick.Bob Lillis page at Baseball Reference
Roster 1961 St. Louis Cardinals 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 Jimmie Schaffer 68 153 39 .255 1 16 1B Bill White 153 591 169 .286 20 90 2B Julián Javier 113 445 124 .279 2 41 SS Bob Lillis 86 230 50 .217 0 21 3B Ken Boyer 153 589 194 .329 24 95 LF Stan Musial 123 372 107 .288 15 70 CF Curt Flood 132 335 108 .322 2 21 RF Joe Cunningham 113 322 92 .286 7 40
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 Charlie James 108 349 89 .255 4 44 98 188 54 .287 2 25 Carl Sawatski 86 174 52 .299 10 33 Alex Grammas 89 170 36 .212 0 21 Carl Warwick 55 152 38 .250 4 16 Daryl Spencer 37 130 33 .254 4 21 Hal Smith 45 125 31 .248 0 10 Red Schoendienst 72 120 36 .300 1 12 Jerry Buchek 31 90 12 .133 0 9 Tim McCarver 22 67 16 .239 1 6 Don Landrum 28 66 11 .167 1 3 Gene Oliver 22 52 14 .269 4 9 Julio Gotay 10 45 11 .244 0 5 Walt Moryn 17 32 4 .125 0 2 Ed Olivares 21 30 5 .167 0 1 Bob Nieman 6 17 8 .471 0 2 Doug Clemens 6 12 2 .167 0 0 George Crowe 7 7 1 .143 0 0 Chris Cannizzaro 6 2 1 .500 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 Ray Sadecki 31 222.2 14 10 3.72 114 Bob Gibson 35 211.1 13 12 3.24 166 Larry Jackson 33 211.0 14 11 3.75 113 Curt Simmons 30 195.2 9 10 3.13 99 Ernie Broglio 29 174.2 9 12 4.12 113
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 29 75.0 2 6 5.28 51 Bob Miller 34 74.1 1 3 4.24 39 Ray Washburn 3 20.1 1 1 1.77 12
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 Lindy McDaniel 55 10 6 9 4.87 65 25 4 3 1 3.26 21 Mickey McDermott 19 1 0 4 3.67 15 Ed Bauta 13 2 0 5 1.40 12 Bobby Tiefenauer 3 0 0 0 6.23 3
Farm system
San Juan franchise moved to Charleston (WV), May 19, 1961Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
References
External links 1961 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1961 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com