# 1961 Boston Red Sox season

The 1961 Boston Red Sox season was the 61st season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished sixth in the American League (AL) with a record of 76 wins and 86 losses, 33 games behind the AL and World Series champion New York Yankees.

## Regular season

Future Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski made his major league debut on Opening Day, April 11. He was considered the heir apparent to Ted Williams, who had retired at the end of 1960.
On June 30, Wilbur Wood made his major league baseball debut with the Red Sox. In a game against the Cleveland Indians, Wood pitched 4 innings, allowed 3 hits, and 2 earned runs. He had 3 strikeouts and allowed 1 walk.
On October 1, in a game against the New York Yankees, Red Sox pitcher Tracy Stallard gave up Roger Maris' 61st home run of the season, breaking Babe Ruth's record for most home runs in a season.

### 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 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 17, 1961: Joe Ginsberg was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.
* June 26, 1961: Rip Repulski was released by the Red Sox.

### Opening Day lineup

| 2 | Chuck Schilling | 2B |
| 7 | Gary Geiger | CF |
| 6 | Vic Wertz | 1B |
| 4 | Jackie Jensen | RF |
| 8 | Carl Yastrzemski | LF |
| 3 | Pete Runnels | 3B |
| 22 | Russ Nixon | C |
| 12 | Pumpsie Green | SS |
| 27 | Bill Monbouquette | P |

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### 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 | Jim Pagliaroni | 120 | 376 | 91 | .242 | 16 | 58 |
| 1B | Pete Runnels | 143 | 360 | 114 | .317 | 3 | 38 |
| 2B | Chuck Schilling | 158 | 646 | 167 | .259 | 5 | 62 |
| 3B | Frank Malzone | 151 | 590 | 157 | .266 | 14 | 87 |
| SS | Don Buddin | 115 | 339 | 89 | .263 | 6 | 42 |
| LF | Carl Yastrzemski | 148 | 583 | 155 | .266 | 11 | 80 |
| CF | Gary Geiger | 140 | 499 | 116 | .232 | 18 | 64 |
| RF | Jackie Jensen | 147 | 498 | 131 | .263 | 13 | 66 |

#### 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 |
| Vic Wertz | 99 | 317 | 83 | .262 | 11 | 60 |
| Carroll Hardy | 85 | 281 | 74 | .263 | 3 | 36 |
| Russ Nixon | 87 | 242 | 70 | .289 | 1 | 19 |
| Pumpsie Green | 88 | 219 | 57 | .260 | 6 | 27 |
| Lou Clinton | 17 | 51 | 13 | .255 | 0 | 3 |
| Billy Harrell | 37 | 37 | 6 | .162 | 0 | 1 |
| Rip Repulski | 15 | 25 | 7 | .280 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Ginsberg | 19 | 24 | 6 | .250 | 0 | 5 |
| Don Gile | 8 | 18 | 5 | .278 | 1 | 1 |

### 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 |
| Bill Monbouquette | 32 | 236.1 | 14 | 14 | 3.39 | 161 |
| Gene Conley | 33 | 199.2 | 11 | 14 | 4.91 | 113 |
| Don Schwall | 25 | 178.2 | 15 | 7 | 3.22 | 91 |
| Ike Delock | 28 | 156.0 | 6 | 9 | 4.90 | 80 |

#### 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 |
| Galen Cisco | 17 | 52.1 | 2 | 4 | 6.71 | 26 |
| Chet Nichols Jr. | 26 | 51.2 | 3 | 2 | 2.09 | 20 |
| Tom Brewer | 10 | 42.0 | 3 | 2 | 3.43 | 13 |
| Ted Wills | 17 | 19.2 | 3 | 2 | 5.95 | 11 |
| Wilbur Wood | 6 | 13.0 | 0 | 0 | 5.54 | 7 |
| Tom Borland | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 0 |

#### 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 |
| Mike Fornieles | 57 | 9 | 8 | 15 | 4.68 | 70 |
| Tracy Stallard | 43 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 4.88 | 109 |
| Billy Muffett | 38 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 5.67 | 47 |
| Arnold Earley | 33 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 3.99 | 44 |
| Dave Hillman | 28 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2.77 | 39 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Seattle Rainiers | Pacific Coast League | Johnny Pesky |
| A | Johnstown Red Sox | Eastern League | Eddie Popowski |
| B | Winston-Salem Red Sox | Carolina League | Elmer Yoter and Matt Sczesny |
| D | Waterloo Hawks | Midwest League | Matt Sczesny and Bill Slack |
| D | Olean Red Sox | New York–Penn League | Harold Holland |
| D | Alpine Cowboys | Sophomore League | Mel Parnell |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Olean
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