1961 Washington Senators season

1961 Washington Senators
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1961)
Location
Griffith Stadium (since 1961)
Washington, D.C. (since 1961)
Other information
Owner(s)	Elwood Richard Quesada
General manager(s)	Ed Doherty
Manager(s)	Mickey Vernon
Local television	WTOP
Local radio	WTOP (Dan Daniels, John MacLean)
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The 1961 Washington Senators season was a season in American baseball. The team was in its inaugural season, having been established as a replacement for the previous franchise of the same name, which relocated to the Twin Cities of Minnesota following the 1960 season, becoming the Minnesota Twins. The Senators finished in a tie for ninth place in the American League with a record of 61 wins and 100 losses, 47½ games behind the World Champion New York Yankees. It was also the team's only season at Griffith Stadium before moving its games to D.C. Stadium for the following season.

Offseason

The Senators, along with the Los Angeles Angels, were the first ever American League expansion teams. Both teams participated in Major League Baseball's first ever expansion draft. The Senators used their first pick in the 1960 Major League Baseball expansion draft to select pitcher Bobby Shantz from the New York Yankees (while the Angels picked Eli Grba). Grba wound up playing two-plus seasons for Los Angeles before returning to the minor leagues. However, Shantz never played for the Senators, as he was traded just two days later to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Harry Bright, Bennie Daniels, and R. C. Stevens, all of whom played for the Senators in 1961.

Notable transactions

• November 28, 1960: Ray Semproch was drafted by the Senators from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1960 rule 5 draft.
• December 14, 1960: 1960 MLB expansion draft
  • Jim King was drafted by the Senators from the Cleveland Indians.
  • Coot Veal was drafted by the Senators from the Detroit Tigers.

Regular season

As an expansion team, the Senators were not expected to do well. They finished tied for last in the league with the Kansas City Athletics. They also finished 9 games behind their expansion brethren, the Angels. One bright spot was pitcher Dick Donovan, who led the American League in earned run average and WHIP, making the All-Star team and finishing 17th in league MVP voting.

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Yankees	109	53	.673	--
Detroit Tigers	101	61	.623	8
Baltimore Orioles	95	67	.586	14
Chicago White Sox	86	76	.531	23
Cleveland Indians	78	83	.484	30.5
Boston Red Sox	76	86	.469	33
Minnesota Twins	70	90	.438	38
Los Angeles Angels	70	91	.435	38.5
Kansas City Athletics	61	100	.379	47.5
Washington Senators	61	100	.379	47.5

Record vs. opponents

1961 American League Records Sources: [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	LAA	MIN	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	11–7	11–7	9–9	9–9	13–5	8–10	11–7	9–9–1	14–4
Boston	7–11	—	9–9	5–13	8–10	10–8	11–7–1	11–7	5–13	10–8
Chicago	7–11	9–9	—	12–6	6–12	14–4	10–8	9–9–1	6–12	13–5
Cleveland	9–9	13–5	6–12	—	6–12	8–9	10–8	10–8	4–14	12–6
Detroit	9–9	10–8	12–6	12–6	—	12–6–1	14–4	11–7	8–10	13–5
Kansas City	5–13	8–10	4–14	9–8	6–12–1	—	9–9	7–11	4–14	9–9
Los Angeles	10–8	7–11–1	8–10	8–10	4–14	9–9	—	8–9	6–12	10–8
Minnesota	7–11	7–11	9–9–1	8–10	7–11	11–7	9–8	—	4–14	8–9
New York	9–9–1	13–5	12–6	14–4	10–8	14–4	12–6	14–4	—	11–7
Washington	4–14	8–10	5–13	6–12	5–13	9–9	8–10	9–8	7–11	—

Opening Day lineup

In the first game in franchise history, the "Presidential Opener" then held every year in Washington, the Senators were defeated by the Chicago White Sox, 4–3, on Monday, April 10, 1961. Washington jumped out to a quick 2–0 advantage and led 3–1 after two innings, but the Senators were blanked thereafter and committed four errors, leading to two unearned runs, as Chicago battled back to win. Roy Sievers, former star of the previous Washington franchise, drove in three White Sox runs with a home run and a sacrifice fly. It was the last Presidential Opener in the history of Griffith Stadium, and the first one in which John F. Kennedy threw out the first ball.

5	Coot Veal	SS
6	Billy Klaus	3B
9	Marty Keough	LF
25	Dale Long	1B
14	Gene Woodling	LF
1	Willie Tasby	CF
4	Danny O'Connell	2B
8	Pete Daley	C
20	Dick Donovan	P

Roster

1961 Washington Senators
Roster
Pitchers 34 Carl Bouldin 16 Pete Burnside 23 Tom Cheney 21 Bennie Daniels 20 Dick Donovan 26 John Gabler 19 Mike Garcia 47 Roy Heiser 23 Rudy Hernández 18 Ed Hobaugh 17 Johnny Klippstein 22 Marty Kutyna 24 Héctor Maestri 24 Carl Mathias 27 Joe McClain 34 Claude Osteen 15 Dave Sisler 35,47 Tom Sturdivant 19 Hal Woodeshick		Catchers  8 Pete Daley 11 Dutch Dotterer 12 Gene Green 19 Ken Retzer Infielders 28 Chet Boak 10 Harry Bright  2 Ed Brinkman  7 Chuck Cottier 29 Bob Johnson  6 Billy Klaus 25 Dale Long 29 Jim Mahoney  4 Danny O'Connell  2 R. C. Stevens 29 Ron Stillwell  5 Coot Veal 11 Bud Zipfel		Outfielders 31 Joe Hicks 32 Chuck Hinton  9 Marty Keough 30 Jim King  1 Willie Tasby 14 Gene Woodling		Manager  3 Mickey Vernon Coaches 41 George Case 42 Rollie Hemsley 40 Sid Hudson 43 George Susce

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
SS	Coot Veal	69	218	44	.202	0	8

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
Jim King	110	263	71	.270	11	46
Harry Bright	72	183	44	.240	4	21

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

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
Pete Burnside	33	113.1	4	9	4.53	56
Carl Bouldin	2	3.1	0	1	16.20	2

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

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
D	Pensacola Angels	Alabama–Florida League	Archie Wilson
D	Middlesboro Senators	Appalachian League	Lew Morton

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Middlesboro

External links

• 1961 Washington Senators team page at Baseball Reference
• 1961 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com