1961…the Expansion Era begins*
The
1961 season was an historic season for many reasons. For the first time,
expansion was introduced, and the American League placed a team on the West
Coast. The Washington Senators moved west to Minneapolis, only to be
replaced by...the Washington Senators. The regular season was expanded to 162
games for the Junior Circuit
The
National League, who would expand into Houston and New
York in 1962, played a shorter season, at 154 games. They too would expand
their season to the now standard 162 games that year.
Of course, there were the home runs. The New York Yankees
hit 240 homers that year, 51 more than the second-place team, the newly formed
Los Angeles Angels.
Babe Ruth's
single season home run record was in jeopardy and would eventually be eclipsed
by Roger Maris. However, there were five other players that hit 40 or more
dingers in the American League.
Mickey Mantle, the alliterative magical sounding name of the New York Yankee's
center fielder. Hard partying, hard playing switch hitter that was the golden
boy of the American League. Ted Williams retired at the end of the 1960 season,
and that left Mantle as the biggest offensive star in the league. By this time,
he had played in eight of the previous ten World Series, and there was no
reason to believe that streak wouldn't continue. He was the Commerce Comet. He
was The Mick.
Of
course, you probably already know of the legendary summer of 1961, where Mantle
and Maris (The M&M Boys) both were on pace to break Babe Ruth's single
season record. And the controversies that ensued forthwith.
That Maris
and Mantle both had the opportunity to play in more games than Ruth had in
1927, the commissioner of baseball, Ford Frick, decreed that if the record was
broken after 154 games, the record would be notated with an asterisk*. (Frick,
it should be noted was a close personal friend of Babe Ruth, and was Ruth's
ghost writer for a column in a New York newspaper for several years)
Mantle was the favorite to win the race to 60, as he had previously topped the 50-homer plateau earlier in his career, hitting 52 in 1956. Added to the chase that Mantle was perceived as a better hitter than Maris, carrying a career batting average of .307 into the season against Maris' .258. But how quickly they forget that Maris was the American League MVP in 1960, with a slash line of 39/112/.283 and .283/.371/.581.
Maris
became the first player with 50 or more homers with a batting average below
.270.
Having
Mantle’s protection in the lineup was also a big part, as Maris was not
intentionally walked during the season, while Mantle was given 9.
As
the summer wore on, the teammates neck and neck, until Mantle allegedly
received an infection from a B12 injection into his hip and missed some playing
time. Hindsight will allow one to say that without that missed time, Mantle
would have broken Ruth's record. Reality will tell you that Mantle actually
missed 9 games that season and finished with 54 home runs. He would have had to
hit 8 home runs in those 9 missed games to have beaten Roger Maris and his
total of 61 home runs.
Maris and
Mantle combined for 114 homers, while the National League Champion Cincinnati
Reds hit 112 as a team.
Many
members of that 1961 Yankees team believe that their team was one of the
greatest in the game’s history. They beat the Reds handily in the Series in
five games.
The Yankees
outfield for a majority of that season was Maris in right, Mantle in center,
and Yogi Berra in left. As potent an offensive outfield as any. Prior to the
1961 season, these three would combine for 6 AL MVP Awards. 3 from Berra, 2
from Mantle (who would win his third in 1962) and 1 from Maris (who won in 1960
before winning his second consecutive in 1961.
Otherwise
during the season:
Yankees
reliever Luis Arroyo established a new record for ‘saves’ with 29. That record
would fall in 1966. He would also set a record with 15 relief wins, also since
broken.
St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Bill White tied a pretty impressive hitting record. Over the course of 2 days, beginning on July 17th, during back-to-back doubleheaders. White amassed 14 hits. This tied the all-time record set by the immortal Ty Cobb. Cobb passed away on July 17th as White was beginning his record tying run.
Cincinnati Reds outfielder Frank Robinson would win the National League Most Valuable Player Award. He would win the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 1966, the only man to win the award in both leagues.
In Boston,
outfielder Carl Yastrzemski made his debut. He would eventually play in 3,308
games for the Red Sox.
Carroll
Hardy would pinch-hit for Yastrzemski during the season. Hardy is also the only
player to have pinch-hit for Ted Williams, who retired after the 1960 season.
And Hardy hit his first major-league home run as a pinch-hitter for Roger
Maris.
The 4th
of July doubleheader in Minnesota was a sight to behold.
With one
out bottom of the ninth of the first game, White Sox pitcher gave up a single
to Bob Allison and is replaced. Jim Lemon makes an out. Reliever Russ Kemmerer
gives up a single to Earl Battey and is replaced. Reliever Frank Baumann walks
Lenny Green to load the bases and is relieved. With two out, and Bill Tuttle
due up, Al Lopez of Chicago brings in Warren Hacker. Twins skipper Sam Mele
sends Julio Becquer to pinch-hit. Becquer hits a walk-off Grand Salm, the first
ever four pitcher grand slam in history.
In the
second game, which was a little quieter, Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew hit an
inside-the-park home run, the only one of his 573 career homers.
On August 20th, two different Twins pitcher homered off of two different Angels’ pitchers. Jack Kralick hit one off of Jim Donohue and Al Schroll hit one off of Art Fowler.
Philadelphia
Phillies pitcher John Buzhardt beat the Giants 4-3 on July 28th. He
would win his next game against the Phillies in the second game of a doubleheader
on August 20th. In the meanwhile, the Phillies would lose 23
consecutive games, and 28 of their previous 30 games.
Los Angeles
Dodger speedster Sandy Koufax (just kidding) was thrown out attempting to steal
home against the Milwaukee Braves. It was his only stolen base attempt of his
career.
On the mound, though, Koufax did strike out 243 batters, setting a new National league record for left-handed pitchers, set by Rube Marquard in 1911.
Speaking of
the Braves, lefty Warren Spahn won his 300th career game, on his way
to 363. He also pitched a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants in April.
With the expanded
schedule in the AL (and the help of rainouts) Rocky Colavito of the Tigers and
Brooks Robinson of the Orioles both set an American League record by playing in
163 games. (Cesar Tovar would play in 164 for the 1967 Twins)
San Francisco
Giants legend Willie Mays joined an exclusive club by hitting 4 home runs in a
game, and by hitting his 300th career homer. He also hit four homers in a game at Milwaukee.
In
Baltimore, first-baseman Jim Gentile became the 4th in the American League to
hit 2 Grand Slams in the same game. In fact, Gentile’s slams came in
consecutive innings, the 1st, and the 2nd.
He tied a
record with 5 Grand Slams in a season (since broken). And he was responsible
for 20% of his team’s runs batted in on the season.
Diamond Jim
Gentile, a left-handed hitting first-baseman had the misfortune of having his
greatest season in the midst of other historic performances. His 46 homers and
140 runs batted in established Orioles team records. He was an All-Star 3
times, finished 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting in 1960 and 3rd
in MVP voting in 1961.
Well, it
turns out that there was an error in calculating RBI totals, and Roger Maris
was credited with one that should have been discounted as he reached base by an
error on that play. Research from Retrosheet found and proved the
error, which eventually took one officially away from Maris, and placed Maris
and Gentile in a tie for the league lead.
Now, for
the 1961 season, Gentile had an incentive bonus in his contract that would pay
him a $5,000 bonus if he managed to lead the league in runs batted in. After discovery
of the error, and the adjustment to the historical record by the league, the
Baltimore Orioles made good on the contract, and in 2011, they awarded Gentile
with his fifty years delayed bonus check.
As a rookie
with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1957, he started at first base in the last game
played at Ebbets Field. Dodger legend Gil Hodges started the game at third
base. Gentile was pulled in the fifth for Pee Wee Reese, with Hodges moving to
first and Reese playing third. The Dodger shortstop was Don Zimmer.
Sure, Maris and Mantle captivated the country with their
exploits, but Gentile had as good, a season than the M&M Boys. The Orioles
finished in third place, winning a respectable 95 games, with an outfield that
featured two future legendary mangers in their outfield, Hall of Fame manager
Dick Williams, and Whitey Herzog.
There were
some standouts in the minor leagues as well…
Aaron
Pointer of the Salisbury Braves of the Western Carolina League hit .402 for the
season. He was the only professional player to top the .400 mark.
In the
sixth inning of a game on August 6th, Bruce Haroldson of the
Lewiston Broncs in the Northwest League came in to pitch. He threw 1 pitch to
Ray Youngdahl of the Tri-Cities Braves, which was turned into a triple play.
In a
strange game on August 11th, the Vancouver Mounties staged an
unprecedented display of baserunning prowess by stealing nine bases in the eight
inning against the Salt Lake Bees. Ed “The Glider” Charles singled, then stole
three bases (including home). Billy Consolo walked and stole two bases.
Howie Goss walked and stole two bases (including home),
Dennis Menke and Eddie Haas both walked and stole a base each.
Howie
Bedell of the Louisville Colonels in the American Association compiled a 43-game
hitting streak, which tied a record for that league, set by Eddie Marshall of
the Milwaukee Brewers in 1935. He would finish second in the league in batting,
with a .327 mark.
That tidbit
sent me looking.
In major
league history, only eight times has a player amassed a hitting streak of 30 or
more games and led the league in hitting.
Ty Cobb did
it twice (1911 &1917) Stan Musial (1950), Rico Carty (1970), George Brett
(1980) and Albert Pujols (2003).
In 1922,
both Rogers Hornsby and George Sisler accomplished the feat, the only time that
both league leaders did both.
On the face,
because of the prolific numbers put up by the American League sluggers, it
would appear that the AL was the hitters league, especially when you factor in
the expansion factor, which added two teams to the league, spreading the
pitching thin. In theory, anyway. Logic would maintain that with 2 new teams,
the addition of 10 or so pitchers to each team, who would have otherwise been
pitching in the minors, would lead to more offensive outputs across the league.
But the
addition of fifteen to twenty new offensive players to each roster would also
impact the league’s hitting if one follows the same logic. And adding seven
more games to the league offers more opportunities to increase output on both
sides.
In a
perfect season, the pitching and hitting would both be on par, balancing each
other out in parity. And in some season, those are close.
But let’s
look at the offensive averages for each league:
|
|
HR |
Runs |
RBI |
AVG |
OBP |
SLUG |
|
AL |
153 |
734 |
684 |
.256 |
.329 |
.395 |
|
NL |
150 |
700 |
653 |
.262 |
.327 |
.402 |
And now the
pitching averages:
|
|
Hits/9 |
k/9 |
WHIP |
ERA |
|
AL |
8.8 |
5.2 |
1.382 |
4.02 |
|
NL |
9.0 |
5.4 |
1.363 |
4.03 |
So, while
the AL did score more runs, they hit for a lower batting average and slugging
percentage than the NL. Statistically, the AL held a 0.04% advantage over the
National League offensively. Pitching was even closer, with the NL having a 0.01%
advantage.
Overall,
using my formula, the AL as a whole, held a scant.02% advantage, which is the closest
gap between the leagues that I have encountered.
A quick
look at the top team performances for each league, beginning with pitching:
|
American League |
|
|
Giants |
Tigers |
|
Dodgers |
Yankees |
|
Cardinals |
White Sox |
And
offensively:
|
Reds |
Yankees |
|
Giants |
Orioles |
|
Dodgers |
Tigers |
And the ‘power
rankings’ would be:
|
Yankees |
World Champions |
|
Tigers |
2nd in AL |
|
Reds |
National League Champions |
|
Orioles |
3rd in AL |
|
Giants |
3rd in NL |
The Yankees, as if you didn't already know, easily won the
American league pennant by 8 games over the Detroit Tigers. Interestingly
enough, the Tigers outscored the Yankees 841 to 827, out hit the Yankees in
batting average and hits .266 and 1481 to .263 and 1461. They even had a
better on base percentage .347 to .330. So, the Tigers were no pushovers by any
means. In fact, they were the third American League team to win 100 games, but
not win the pennant.
Let’s move on to the individual performances beginning with
the National League pitchers. The initial top ten performers were:
|
Pitcher |
Team |
W-L |
ERA |
Svs |
|
Warren Spahn |
Braves |
21-13 |
3.02 |
0 |
|
Joey Jay |
Reds |
21-10 |
3.53 |
0 |
|
Jim O’Toole |
Reds |
19-9 |
3.60 |
2 |
|
Stu Miller |
Giants |
14-5 |
2.66 |
17 |
|
Johnny Podres |
Dodgers |
18-5 |
3.74 |
0 |
|
Joe Gibbon |
Pirates |
1310 |
3.32 |
0 |
|
Bill Henry |
Reds |
2-1 |
2.19 |
16 |
|
Sandy Koufax |
Dodgers |
18-13 |
3.52 |
1 |
|
Jim Brosnan |
Reds |
10-4 |
3.04 |
16 |
|
Bob Purkey |
Reds |
16-12 |
3.73 |
1 |
And as
compared to their team’s averages, we get this list:
|
Warren Spahn |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Barney Schultz |
Cubs |
7-6 |
2.70 |
7 |
|
Art Mahaffey |
Phillies |
11-19 |
4.10 |
0 |
|
Don Cardwell |
Cubs |
15-14 |
3.82 |
0 |
|
Joe Gibbon |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Joey Jay |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Stu Miller |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Johnny Podres |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Jim O’Toole |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Bob Gibson |
Cardinals |
13-12 |
3.24 |
1 |
And our
finalized top ten pitching performers would then be:
|
Warren Spahn |
2nd in Cy Young, 10th
in MVP vote (tie) |
|
Joey Jay |
5th in MVP vote |
|
Jim O’Toole |
10th in MVP vote (tie) |
|
Stu Miller |
12th in MVP vote |
|
Johnny Podres |
14th in MVP vote |
|
Joe Gibbon |
No votes |
|
Barney Schultz |
No votes |
|
Sandy Koufax |
18th in MVP vote |
|
Bill Henry |
No votes |
|
Bob Gibson |
No votes |
Remember,
during this time, there was only one Cy Young Award handed out, and it was won
by Whitey Ford of the Yankees.
Speaking of…here
is the American League initial top ten performances:
|
Whitey Ford |
Yankees |
25-4 |
3.21 |
0 |
|
Luis Arroyo |
Yankees |
15-5 |
2.19 |
29 |
|
Frank Lary |
Tigers |
23-9 |
3.24 |
0 |
|
Terry Fox |
Tigers |
5-2 |
1.41 |
12 |
|
Dick Donovan |
Senators |
10-10 |
2.40 |
0 |
|
Milt Pappas |
Orioles |
13-9 |
3.04 |
1 |
|
Ralph Terry |
Yankees |
16-3 |
3.15 |
0 |
|
Don Schwall |
Red Sox |
15-7 |
3.22 |
0 |
|
Bill Stafford |
Yankees |
14-9 |
2.68 |
2 |
|
Hoyt Wilhelm |
Orioles |
9-7 |
2.30 |
18 |
Then, as
compared to their team’s performances, we get this list:
|
Dick Donovan |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Camilo Pascual |
Twins |
15-16 |
3.46 |
0 |
|
Don Schwall |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Jim Archer |
A’s |
9-15 |
3.20 |
5 |
|
Jack Kralick |
Twins |
13-11 |
3.61 |
0 |
|
Tom Morgan |
Angels |
8-2 |
2.36 |
10 |
|
Bennie Daniels |
Senators |
12-11 |
3.44 |
0 |
|
Bill Monboquette |
Red Sox |
14-14 |
3.39 |
0 |
|
Frank Lary |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Terry Fox |
Above |
|
|
|
And then we
reach this final top ten list of American league pitching performances:
|
Dick Donovan |
17th in MVP vote (tied) |
|
Don Schwall |
AL Rookie of the Year 14th
in MVP (tied) |
|
Frank Lary |
3rd in Cy Young, 7th
in MVP vote |
|
Terry Fox |
No votes |
|
Whitey Ford |
Cy Young Award winner, 5th
in MVP vote |
|
Luis Arroyo |
6th in MVP vote |
|
Milt Pappas |
No votes |
|
Camilo Pascual |
No votes |
|
Ralph Terry |
No votes |
|
Tom Morgan |
21st in MVP vote (tied) |
Before we get to the offense, I have earlier mentioned a
benchmark for a great season, which is 3/4/5. 300+batting average/ .400+on base
percentage/ .500+ slugging percentage.
In 1961, six players reached that mark, three in each
league.
They were:
|
Norm Cash |
.361 |
.487 |
.662 |
|
Jim Gentile |
.302 |
.423 |
.646 |
|
Mickey Mantle |
.317 |
3448 |
.687 |
|
Eddie Mathews |
.306 |
.402 |
.535 |
|
Wally Moon |
.328 |
.434 |
.505 |
|
Frank Robinson |
.323 |
.404 |
.611 |
So, the initial top ten National League batters were:
|
Player |
Team |
HR |
RBI |
AVG |
RC/G |
|
Frank Robinson |
Reds |
37 |
124 |
.323 |
1.33 |
|
Willie Mays |
Giants |
40 |
123 |
.308 |
1.38 |
|
Orlando Cepeda |
Giants |
46 |
142 |
.311 |
1.32 |
|
Hank Aaron |
Braves |
34 |
120 |
.327 |
1.30 |
|
Dick Stuart |
Pirates |
35 |
117 |
.301 |
1.20 |
|
Ken Boyer |
Cardinals |
24 |
95 |
.329 |
1.18 |
|
Roberto Clemente |
Pirates |
23 |
89 |
.351 |
1.14 |
|
Wally Moon |
Dodgers |
17 |
88 |
.328 |
1.12 |
|
Vada Pinson |
Reds |
16 |
87 |
.343 |
1.12 |
|
Eddie Mathews |
Braves |
32 |
91 |
.306 |
1.07 |
Then, compared to their team averages, we get the following
list:
|
Hank Aaron |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Frank Robinson |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Willie Mays |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Orlando Cepeda |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Dick Stuart |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Roberto Clemente |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
George Altman |
Cubs |
27 |
96 |
.303 |
1.06 |
|
Ken Boyer |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Don Demeter |
Dodgers/Phillies |
21 |
70 |
.251 |
0.88 |
|
Eddie Mathews |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Which brings our final ranking for National League hitters
to this:
|
Frank Robinson |
National League MVP |
|
Willie Mays |
6th in MVP vote |
|
Hank Aaron |
8th in MVP vote |
|
Orlando Cepeda |
2nd in MVP vote |
|
Dick Stuart |
22nd in MVP vote (tied) |
|
Ken Boyer |
7th in MVP vote |
|
Roberto Clemente |
4th in MVP vote |
|
Wally Moon |
13th in MVP vote |
|
Eddie Mathews |
17th in MVP vote |
|
George Altman |
14th in MVP vote (tied) |
Now, over to the headline grabbing American League, where
our initial top ten list is as follows:
|
Mickey Mantle |
Yankees |
54 |
128 |
.317 |
1.34 |
|
Norm Cash |
Tigers |
41 |
132 |
.361 |
1.32 |
|
Jim Gentile |
Orioles |
46 |
141 |
.302 |
1.29 |
|
Rocky Colavito |
Tigers |
45 |
140 |
.290 |
1.37 |
|
Roger Maris |
Yankees |
61 |
141 |
.269 |
1.32 |
|
Harmon Killebrew |
Twins |
46 |
122 |
.288 |
1.13 |
|
Al Kaline |
Tigers |
19 |
82 |
.324 |
1.17 |
|
Elston Howard |
Yankees |
21 |
77 |
.348 |
0.93 |
|
Roy Sievers |
White Sox |
27 |
92 |
.295 |
1.00 |
|
Al Smith |
White Sox |
28 |
93 |
.278 |
1.04 |
Then, compared to their team performances, we have:
|
Jim Gentile |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Mickey Mantle |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Norm Cash |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Gene Green |
Senators |
18 |
62 |
.280 |
0.87 |
|
Harmon Killebrew |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Roger Maris |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Rocky Colavito |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Lee Thomas |
Yankees/White Sox |
24 |
70 |
.285 |
0.93 |
|
Elston Howard |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Gene Woodling |
Senators |
10 |
57 |
.313 |
0.78 |
And that brings our final top ten American League batters to
this:
|
Mickey Mantle |
2nd in MVP vote |
|
Jim Gentile |
3rd in MVP vote |
|
Norm Cash |
4th in MVP vote |
|
Rocky Colavito |
8th in MVP vote |
|
Roger Maris |
American League MVP |
|
Harmon Killebrew |
11th in MVP vote |
|
Elston Howard |
10th in MVP vote |
|
Al Kaline |
9th in MVP vote |
|
Gene Green |
No votes |
|
Roy Sievers |
No vote |
Mickey
Mantle, it should be noted, was the second to hit fifty or more homers in a
season, and not lead the league. (Jimmie Foxx hit 50 in 1938, behind Hank Greenberg’s
58) And that Roger Maris still holds the American League record for homers in a
season.
Eight
players hit 40 or more homers during the season (Maris, Mantle, Killebrew,
Cepeda, Gentile, Colavito, Cash and Mays). This would be the record for the most
times players topped the forty-homer mark until the offensive explosion in
1998, when it would be done thirteen times.
For the final tally in each league, although the two halves were statistically close, the offensive players dominated the final rankings.
In the
National League, the top five players were:
Frank Robinson
Player of the Year
Willie Mays
Hank Aaron
Orlando Cepeda
Warren Spahn
Pitcher of the Year
And in the
American League:
Mickey Mantle
Player of the Year
Jim Gentile
Norm Cash
Dick Donovan
Pitcher of the Year
Rocky Colavito
