The 1961 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fifth in the newly expanded 10-team American League with a record of 78–83, games behind the New York Yankees. Although the 1961 season ended up being a disappointment, the Indians had a brief flurry of pennant fever early in the 1961 season. After starting 12–13, the Indians started to streak, going 22–4 over their next 26 games to reach a record of 34–17 (were 38–20 after 58 games). However the Indians cooled off afterwards and were quickly knocked out of first place, as they went 44–66 the rest of the year. For the second year in a row, the Indians had held first place in June, only to slump to a losing record. This would happen again in 1962 as well (47–34 start in early July).

Offseason December 14, 1960: 1960 MLB expansion draft Marty Keough was drafted from the Indians by the Washington Senators.Marty Keough page at Baseball Reference Jim King was drafted from the Indians by the Washington Senators.Jim King page at Baseball Reference December 27, 1960: Paul Casanova was signed as a free agent by the Indians.Paul Casanova page at Baseball Reference

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 23, 1961: Paul Casanova was released by the Indians. May 10, 1961: Joe Morgan, a player to be named later and cash were traded by the Indians to the St. Louis Cardinals for Bob Nieman. The Indians completed the deal by sending Mike Lee to the Cardinals on June 1.Bob Nieman page at Baseball Reference June 12, 1961: Tommy John was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.Tommy John page at Baseball Reference October 5, 1961: Jimmy Piersall was traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Dick Donovan, Gene Green, and Jim Mahoney.Jim Piersall page at Baseball Reference

Opening Day Lineup +Opening Day Starters # Name Position16 Johnny Temple 2B14 Tito Francona LF37 Jimmy Piersall CF8 Willie Kirkland RF3 Woodie Held SS10 Vic Power 1B5 Bubba Phillips 3B11 Johnny Romano C31 Jim Perry P 1961 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference

Roster 1961 Cleveland Indians Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

(Pitching) (Bullpen catcher) (First Base)

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 Johnny Romano 142 509 152 .299 21 80 1B Vic Power 147 563 151 .268 5 63 2B Johnny Temple 129 518 143 .276 3 30 SS Woodie Held 146 509 136 .267 23 78 3B Bubba Phillips 143 546 144 .264 18 72 LF Tito Francona 155 592 178 .301 16 85 CF 121 484 156 .322 6 40 RF Willie Kirkland 146 525 136 .259 27 95

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 Mike de la Hoz 61 173 45 .260 3 23 Chuck Essegian 60 166 48 .289 12 35 Don Dillard 74 147 40 .272 7 17 Valmy Thomas 27 86 18 .209 2 6 Ken Aspromonte 22 70 16 .229 0 5 39 65 23 .354 2 10 Walt Bond 38 52 9 .173 2 7 Ty Cline 12 43 9 .209 0 1 Jack Kubiszyn 25 42 9 .214 0 0 Bob Hale 42 36 6 .167 0 6 Hal Jones 12 35 6 .171 2 4 Al Luplow 5 18 1 .056 0 0 4 10 2 .200 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 Mudcat Grant 35 244.2 15 9 3.86 146 Gary Bell 34 228.1 12 16 4.10 163 Jim Perry 35 223.2 10 17 4.71 90 Wynn Hawkins 30 133.0 7 9 4.06 51 Sam McDowell 1 6.1 0 0 0.00 5

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 Barry Latman 45 176.2 13 5 4.02 108 Dick Stigman 22 64.1 2 5 4.62 48 11 48.0 0 4 6.56 23

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 Frank Funk 56 11 11 11 3.31 64 48 3 2 3 3.75 42 Bobby Locke 37 4 4 2 4.53 37 Joe Schaffernoth 15 0 1 0 4.76 9 Bill Dailey 12 1 0 0 0.95 7 Russ Heman 6 0 0 1 3.60 4 Steve Hamilton 2 0 0 0 3.00 4

Awards and honors

All-Star Game Johnny Romano, Catcher, Starter (both games) Johnny Temple, Second Base, Starter (both games) Jim Perry, Pitcher, Reserve (first game) Barry Latman, Pitcher, Reserve (second game)

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: SelmaJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

External links 1961 Cleveland Indians season at Baseball Reference