1961 Major League Baseball season

## Awards and honors ### Regular season ::data[format=table] | Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards | BBWAA Award | National League | American League | Gold Glove Awards | Position | National League | American League | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Rookie of the Year | Billy Williams (CHC) | Don Schwall (BOS) | | | | | | | Cy Young Award | — | Whitey Ford (NYY) | | | | | | | Most Valuable Player | Frank Robinson (CIN) | Roger Maris (NYY) | | | | | | | Babe Ruth Award (World Series MVP) | — | Whitey Ford (NYY) | | | | | | | Pitcher | Bobby Shantz (PIT) | Frank Lary (DET) | | | | | | | Catcher | John Roseboro (LAD) | Earl Battey (MIN) | | | | | | | 1st Base | Bill White (STL) | Vic Power (CLE) | | | | | | | 2nd Base | Bill Mazeroski (PIT) | Bobby Richardson (NYY) | | | | | | | 3rd Base | Ken Boyer (STL) | Brooks Robinson (BAL) | | | | | | | Shortstop | Maury Wills (LAD) | Luis Aparicio (CWS) | | | | | | | Outfield | Vada Pinson (CIN) | Jim Landis (CWS) | | | | | | | Roberto Clemente (PIT) | Al Kaline (DET) | | | | | | | | Willie Mays (SF) | Jimmy Piersall (CLE) | | | | | | | :: ### Other awards - *Sport* Magazine's World Series Most Valuable Player Award: Whitey Ford (NYY) ::data[format=table] | *The Sporting News* Awards | Award | National League | American League | |---|---|---|---| | Player of the Year | — | Roger Maris (NYY) | | | Pitcher of the Year | Warren Spahn (MIL) | Whitey Ford (NYY) | | | Fireman of the Year (Relief pitcher) | Stu Miller (SF) | Luis Arroyo (NYY) | | | Rookie of the Year (Player) | Billy Williams (CHC) | Dick Howser (KCA) | | | Rookie of the Year (Pitcher) | Ken Hunt (CIN) | Don Schwall (BOS) | | | Manager of the Year | — | Ralph Houk (NYY) | | | Executive of the Year | — | Dan Topping (NYY) | | :: ### Monthly awards #### Player of the Month *Main article: Major League Baseball Player of the Month Award* ::data[format=table] | Month | National League | May | June | July | August | September | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Joey Jay (CIN) | | | | | | | | George Altman (CHC) | | | | | | | | Frank Robinson (CIN) | | | | | | | | Warren Spahn (MIL) | | | | | | | | Jim O'Toole (CIN) | | | | | | | :: ### Baseball Hall of Fame *Main article: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum* - Max Carey - Billy Hamilton ## Home field attendance ::data[format=table] | Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Los Angeles Dodgers | 89 | 8.5% | 1,804,250 | −19.9% | 23,432 | | New York Yankees | 109 | 12.4% | 1,747,725 | 7.4% | 21,577 | | Detroit Tigers | 101 | 42.3% | 1,600,710 | 37.1% | 19,521 | | San Francisco Giants | 85 | 7.6% | 1,390,679 | −22.5% | 18,061 | | Minnesota Twins | 70 | −4.1% | 1,256,723 | 69.0% | 15,515 | | Pittsburgh Pirates | 75 | −21.1% | 1,199,128 | −29.7% | 15,573 | | Chicago White Sox | 86 | −1.1% | 1,146,019 | −30.3% | 14,148 | | Cincinnati Reds | 93 | 38.8% | 1,117,603 | 68.4% | 14,514 | | Milwaukee Braves | 83 | −5.7% | 1,101,441 | −26.5% | 14,304 | | Baltimore Orioles | 95 | 6.7% | 951,089 | −19.9% | 11,599 | | St. Louis Cardinals | 80 | −7.0% | 855,305 | −22.0% | 10,965 | | Boston Red Sox | 76 | 16.9% | 850,589 | −24.7% | 10,373 | | Cleveland Indians | 78 | 2.6% | 725,547 | −23.7% | 8,957 | | Kansas City Athletics | 61 | 5.2% | 683,817 | −11.8% | 8,548 | | Chicago Cubs | 64 | 6.7% | 673,057 | −16.9% | 8,629 | | Los Angeles Angels | 70 | | 603,510 | | 7,360 | | Washington Senators | 61 | | 597,287 | | 7,561 | | Philadelphia Phillies | 47 | −20.3% | 590,039 | −31.6% | 7,565 | :: ## Venues The 1961 season saw two new teams in the American League, and with it, one new venue and one returning venue: - The Los Angeles Angels played their first and only season at Wrigley Field. Their final game was on October 1 against the Cleveland Indians, moving into Dodger Stadium (referred to as "Chavez Ravine Stadium" when the Angels played) for the start of the season. - The Washington Senators played their first and only season at Griffith Stadium, the longtime home of the original AL Washington Senators. Their final game was on September 21 against the Minnesota Twins, moving into District of Columbia Stadium for the start of the season. The Minnesota Twins, newly relocated from their long-time home in Washington, D.C. as the Washington Senators, leave Griffith Stadium after playing there for 50 seasons, moving into Metropolitan Stadium where they would play for 21 seasons through . Briggs Stadium, home of the Detroit Tigers, is renamed to Tiger Stadium. The Los Angeles Dodgers would play their final game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 20 against the Chicago Cubs, moving into Dodger Stadium for the start of the season. ## Television coverage CBS and NBC continued to air weekend *Game of the Week* broadcasts, while ABC televised several games in prime time. One of ABC's prime time games occurred as Roger Maris was poised to tie and subsequently break Babe Ruth's regular season home run record of 60. As with all MLB games in those days, the action was totally blacked out of major league markets. As a matter of fact, as documented in the HBO film *[61*](61)*, the Maris family was welcomed into ABC's Kansas City, Missouri affiliate KMBC-TV so they could watch the in-house feed of the game, which was blacked out of Kansas City. The [All-Star Game](1961-major-league-baseball-all-star-game) and [World Series](1961-world-series) aired on NBC. ## References ## References 1. ["Rules History"](https://www.retrosheet.org/rules/rules.htm). 2. Henry, Alan P.. ["1960 Winter Meetings: The Missouri Compromise – Society for American Baseball Research"](https://sabr.org/journal/article/1960-winter-meetings-the-missouri-compromise/). 3. ["1961 Major League Baseball Managers"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/1961-managers.shtml). 4. ["1961 American League Batting Leaders"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1961-batting-leaders.shtml). 5. ["1961 American League Pitching Leaders"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1961-pitching-leaders.shtml). 6. ["1961 National League Batting Leaders"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1961-batting-leaders.shtml). 7. ["1961 National League Pitching Leaders"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1961-pitching-leaders.shtml). 8. ["Major League Player of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac"](https://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_snml.shtml). 9. ["Pitcher of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac"](https://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_snpy2.shtml). 10. ["Fireman of the Year Award / Reliever of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac"](https://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_snfi.shtml). 11. ["Rookie of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac"](https://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_snrp3.shtml). 12. ["Manager of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac"](https://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_snmy.shtml). 13. ["MLB Executive of the Year Award {{!}} Baseball Almanac"](https://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_sney.shtml). 14. ["Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/LAD/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 15. ["New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 16. ["Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DET/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 17. ["San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SFG/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 18. ["Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 19. ["Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/PIT/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 20. ["Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 21. ["Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 22. ["Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ATL/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 23. ["Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BAL/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 24. ["St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 25. ["Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 26. ["Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLE/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 27. ["Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/OAK/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 28. ["Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 29. ["Los Angeles Angels Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ANA/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 30. ["Texas Rangers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TEX/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 31. ["Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/PHI/attend.shtml). *[[Baseball-Reference.com]]*. 32. Adams, Val. (September 19, 1961). "NETWORKS PLAN WIDE U.N. REPORT". *New York Times*. 33. (September 19, 1961). "ABC-TV to Film Tilt 154". *Daytona Beach Morning Journal*. 34. (March 27, 1960). "ABC Lands a 3-Sport TV Contract". *The Milwaukee Sentinel*. ::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Major_League_Baseball_season) and is available under the [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the [article history page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Major_League_Baseball_season?action=history). ::