1961 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1961 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Location
Forbes Field (since 1909)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (since 1907)
Other information
Owner(s)	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas Johnson (minority shareholders)
General manager(s)	Joe L. Brown
Manager(s)	Danny Murtaugh
Local television	KDKA-TV Bob Prince, Jim Woods
Local radio	KDKA Bob Prince, Paul Long, Jim Woods
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The 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates fell from World Champions the previous season to sixth place in the National League, as they won 75 games and lost 79, 18 games behind NL Champion Cincinnati.

Regular season

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 Records 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

• May 1961: Don Williams was purchased from the Pirates by the Chicago White Sox.
• June 20, 1961: Gene Baker was released by the Pirates.
• June 24, 1961: Ron Woods was signed by the Pirates as an amateur free agent.

Roster

1961 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers 34 Tom Cheney 26 Roy Face 37 Larry Foss 27 Earl Francis 19 Bob Friend 22 Joe Gibbon 35 Fred Green 31 Harvey Haddix 25 Al Jackson 29 Clem Labine 32 Vern Law 34 Al McBean 30 Vinegar Bend Mizell 28 Bobby Shantz 15 Tom Sturdivant 37 Jim Umbricht 39 George Witt		Catchers  6 Smoky Burgess  2 Don Leppert  2 Bob Oldis  5 Hal Smith Infielders 16 Gene Baker 24 Dick Groat 12 Don Hoak 16 Johnny Logan  9 Bill Mazeroski 14 Rocky Nelson 11 Dick Schofield  7 Dick Stuart		Outfielders 23 Joe Christopher 20 Gino Cimoli 21 Roberto Clemente 35 Donn Clendenon 15 Román Mejías 20 Walt Moryn  4 Bob Skinner 18 Bill Virdon		Manager 40 Danny Murtaugh Coaches 41 Bill Burwell 45 Lenny Levy 43 Sam Narron 42 Ron Northey 44 Frank Oceak

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

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
Gene Baker	9	10	1	.100	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
Vinegar Bend Mizell	25	100	7	10	5.04	37

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

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
Tom Cheney	1	0	0	0	∞	0

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Jets	International League	Larry Shepard
A	Asheville Tourists	Sally League	Ray Hathaway
B	Burlington Bees	Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League	Harding "Pete" Peterson
C	Grand Forks Chiefs	Northern League	Bob Clear
D	Kingsport Pirates	Appalachian League	James Gibbons
D	Batavia Pirates	New York-Penn League	James Adlam and Gene Baker
D	Hobbs Pirates	Sophomore League	Al Kubski
D	Shelby Colonels	Western Carolinas League	Aaron Robinson and James Adlam

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Asheville, Hobbs

References

• 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
• 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac