# 1961 Washington Senators season

The 1961 Washington Senators season was the team's 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 ten-team American League with a record of 61–100, 47+1⁄2 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. The expansion team drew 597,287 fans, tenth and last in the circuit. The old Senators had drawn 743,404 fans in 1960.

## 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.
A 1992 Associated Press article which looked prospectively to the Rockies and Marlins expansion draft and retroactively at previous expansion drafts stated: "The Senators drafted for experience and got burned when players such as Dave Sisler, John Klippstein, Tom Sturdivant, Dale Long, Bobby Klaus and Gene Woodling didn't produce."

### 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

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 109 | 53 | .673 | — | 65‍–‍16 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Detroit Tigers | 101 | 61 | .623 | 8 | 50‍–‍31 | 51‍–‍30 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 95 | 67 | .586 | 14 | 48‍–‍33 | 47‍–‍34 |
| Chicago White Sox | 86 | 76 | .531 | 23 | 53‍–‍28 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Cleveland Indians | 78 | 83 | .484 | 30½ | 40‍–‍41 | 38‍–‍42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 76 | 86 | .469 | 33 | 50‍–‍31 | 26‍–‍55 |
| Minnesota Twins | 70 | 90 | .438 | 38 | 36‍–‍44 | 34‍–‍46 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 70 | 91 | .435 | 38½ | 46‍–‍36 | 24‍–‍55 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 61 | 100 | .379 | 47½ | 33‍–‍47 | 28‍–‍53 |
| Washington Senators | 61 | 100 | .379 | 47½ | 33‍–‍46 | 28‍–‍54 |

### Record vs. opponents

1961 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CHW | CLE | DET | KCA | 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. With leadoff man Coot Veal getting its first-ever hit (an infield single) in the first inning, 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 a pair of 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 | RF |
| 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
## 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 |
| C | Gene Green | 110 | 364 | 102 | .280 | 18 | 62 |
| 1B | Dale Long | 123 | 377 | 94 | .249 | 17 | 49 |
| 2B | Chuck Cottier | 101 | 337 | 79 | .234 | 2 | 34 |
| SS | Coot Veal | 69 | 218 | 44 | .202 | 0 | 8 |
| 3B | Danny O'Connell | 138 | 493 | 128 | .260 | 1 | 37 |
| LF | Chuck Hinton | 106 | 339 | 88 | .260 | 6 | 34 |
| CF | Willie Tasby | 141 | 494 | 124 | .251 | 17 | 63 |
| RF | Gene Woodling | 110 | 342 | 107 | .313 | 10 | 57 |

#### 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 |
| Marty Keough | 135 | 390 | 97 | .249 | 9 | 34 |
| Jim King | 110 | 263 | 71 | .270 | 11 | 46 |
| Billy Klaus | 91 | 251 | 57 | .227 | 7 | 30 |
| Bob Johnson | 61 | 224 | 66 | .295 | 6 | 28 |
| Pete Daley | 72 | 203 | 39 | .192 | 2 | 17 |
| Harry Bright | 72 | 183 | 44 | .240 | 4 | 21 |
| Bud Zipfel | 50 | 170 | 34 | .200 | 4 | 18 |
| Jim Mahoney | 43 | 108 | 26 | .241 | 0 | 6 |
| R.C. Stevens | 33 | 62 | 8 | .129 | 0 | 2 |
| Ken Retzer | 16 | 53 | 18 | .340 | 1 | 3 |
| Joe Hicks | 12 | 29 | 5 | .172 | 1 | 1 |
| Dutch Dotterer | 7 | 19 | 5 | .263 | 0 | 1 |
| Ron Stillwell | 8 | 16 | 2 | .125 | 0 | 1 |
| Ed Brinkman | 4 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
| Chet Boak | 5 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Joe McClain | 33 | 212.0 | 8 | 18 | 3.86 | 76 |
| Bennie Daniels | 32 | 212.0 | 12 | 11 | 3.44 | 110 |
| Dick Donovan | 23 | 168.2 | 10 | 10 | 2.40 | 62 |
| Ed Hobaugh | 26 | 126.1 | 7 | 9 | 4.42 | 67 |
| Tom Sturdivant | 15 | 80.0 | 2 | 6 | 4.61 | 39 |
| Hal Woodeshick | 7 | 40.1 | 3 | 2 | 4.02 | 24 |
| Claude Osteen | 3 | 18.1 | 1 | 1 | 4.91 | 14 |
| Héctor Maestri | 1 | 6.0 | 0 | 1 | 1.50 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| Marty Kutyna | 50 | 143.0 | 6 | 8 | 3.97 | 64 |
| Pete Burnside | 33 | 113.1 | 4 | 9 | 4.53 | 56 |
| John Gabler | 29 | 92.2 | 3 | 8 | 4.86 | 33 |
| Tom Cheney | 10 | 29.2 | 1 | 3 | 8.80 | 20 |
| Carl Mathias | 4 | 13.2 | 0 | 1 | 11.20 | 7 |
| 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 |
| Dave Sisler | 45 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 4.18 | 30 |
| Johnny Klippstein | 42 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6.78 | 41 |
| Mike Garcia | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.74 | 14 |
| Rudy Hernández | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 | 4 |
| Roy Heiser | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.35 | 1 |

## Farm system

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

## Awards and honors

1961 American League ERA leader
* Dick Donovan