# 1961 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1961 Baltimore Orioles season involved the Orioles finishing third in the American League with a record of 95 wins and 67 losses, 14 games behind the AL and World Series champion New York Yankees. The team was managed by Paul Richards and Lum Harris, and played their home games at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium.

## Offseason

* October 13, 1960: Del Rice was released by the Orioles.
* October 13, 1960: Dave Philley was released by the Orioles.
* January 24, 1961: Bob Boyd, Al Pilarcik, Jim Archer, Wayne Causey, and Clint Courtney were traded by the Orioles to the Kansas City Athletics for Whitey Herzog and Russ Snyder. Clint Courtney was returned to the Orioles on April 14.
* January 31, 1961: Dave Philley was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.
* February 9, 1961: Darold Knowles was signed as an amateur free agent by the Orioles.
* February 24, 1961: Frank House was purchased by the Orioles from the Cincinnati Reds.

## Regular season

Roger Maris of the Yankees hit his 59th and 60th home runs of the season against the Orioles, tying what was at the time Babe Ruth's single-season record. The 59th was hit on September 20 at Memorial Stadium, and the 60th was hit on September 26 at Yankee Stadium.

### Opening Day starters

* Jackie Brandt
* Marv Breeding
* Jim Gentile
* Ron Hansen
* Milt Pappas
* Brooks Robinson
* Russ Snyder
* Gene Stephens
* Gus Triandos

### 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

* April 12, 1961: Chuck Essegian and Jerry Walker were traded by the Orioles to the Kansas City Athletics in exchange for Dick Hall and Dick Williams.
* May 24, 1961: Walt Dropo was released by the Orioles.
* June 8, 1961: Gene Stephens was traded by the Orioles to the Kansas City Athletics for Marv Throneberry.
* July 21, 1961: Frank House was traded by the Orioles to the Detroit Tigers for Harry Chiti.

### 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 | Gus Triandos | 115 | 397 | 97 | .244 | 17 | 63 |
| 1B | Jim Gentile | 148 | 486 | 147 | .302 | 46 | 141 |
| 2B | Jerry Adair | 133 | 386 | 102 | .264 | 9 | 37 |
| 3B | Brooks Robinson | 163 | 668 | 192 | .287 | 7 | 61 |
| SS | Ron Hansen | 155 | 533 | 132 | .248 | 12 | 51 |
| LF | Dick Williams | 103 | 310 | 64 | .206 | 8 | 24 |
| CF | Jackie Brandt | 139 | 516 | 153 | .297 | 16 | 72 |
| RF | Whitey Herzog | 113 | 323 | 94 | .291 | 5 | 35 |

#### 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 |
| Russ Snyder | 115 | 312 | 91 | .292 | 1 | 13 |
| Marv Breeding | 90 | 244 | 51 | .209 | 1 | 16 |
| Earl Robinson | 96 | 222 | 59 | .266 | 8 | 30 |
| Dave Philley | 99 | 144 | 36 | .250 | 1 | 23 |
| Hank Foiles | 43 | 124 | 34 | .274 | 6 | 19 |
| Marv Throneberry | 56 | 96 | 20 | .208 | 5 | 11 |
| Jim Busby | 75 | 89 | 23 | .258 | 0 | 6 |
| Gene Stephens | 32 | 58 | 11 | .190 | 0 | 2 |
| Charley Lau | 17 | 47 | 8 | .170 | 1 | 4 |
| Clint Courtney | 22 | 45 | 12 | .267 | 0 | 4 |
| Walt Dropo | 14 | 27 | 7 | .259 | 1 | 2 |
| Boog Powell | 4 | 13 | 1 | .077 | 0 | 1 |
| Barry Shetrone | 3 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| Frank Zupo | 5 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
| Chuck Essegian | 1 | 1 | 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 |
| Steve Barber | 37 | 248.1 | 18 | 12 | 3.33 | 150 |
| Chuck Estrada | 33 | 212.0 | 15 | 9 | 3.69 | 160 |
| Jack Fisher | 36 | 196.0 | 10 | 13 | 3.90 | 118 |
| Milt Pappas | 26 | 177.2 | 13 | 9 | 3.04 | 89 |
| Hal Brown | 27 | 166.2 | 10 | 6 | 3.19 | 61 |

#### 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 |
| Billy Hoeft | 35 | 138.0 | 7 | 4 | 2.02 | 100 |
| Dick Hall | 29 | 122.1 | 7 | 5 | 3.09 | 92 |

#### 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 |
| Hoyt Wilhelm | 51 | 9 | 7 | 18 | 2.30 | 87 |
| Wes Stock | 35 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3.01 | 47 |
| Dick Hyde | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5.57 | 15 |
| Gordon Jones | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5.40 | 4 |
| Jim Lehew | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| John Papa | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 3 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Clyde King |
| AA | Little Rock Travelers | Southern Association | Fred Hatfield |
| AA | Victoria/Ardmore Rosebuds | Texas League | George Staller |
| B | Tri-City Braves | Northwest League | Whitey McDowell and Billy DeMars |
| B | Fox Cities Foxes | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Earl Weaver |
| C | Stockton Ports | California League | Harry Dunlop |
| C | Aberdeen Pheasants | Northern League | Lou Fitzgerald |
| D | Bluefield Orioles | Appalachian League | Dee Phillips, Walter Youse, Joe Cusick and Bud Bates |
| D | Leesburg Orioles | Florida State League | Billy DeMars, Cal Ripken Sr. and Ray Scarborough |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Aberdeen Victoria club moved to Ardmore, May 27, 1961