# 1961 San Francisco Giants season

The 1961 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 79th year in Major League Baseball, their fourth season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their second season at Candlestick Park. The team finished in third place in the National League with an 85 wins and 69 losses record, eight games behind the NL Champion Cincinnati Reds. The Giants were managed by Alvin Dark. As of 2021, this remains the only Giants season in franchise history in which two players (Orlando Cepeda and Willie Mays) each hit 40 or more home runs.

## Regular season

Willie Mays had both a three home run game (on June 29) and a four home run game (on April 30) during the 1961 season. Mays became the ninth player, and first Giant, in MLB history to hit four home runs in one game.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 93 | 61 | .604 | — | 47‍–‍30 | 46‍–‍31 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 89 | 65 | .578 | 4 | 45‍–‍32 | 44‍–‍33 |
| San Francisco Giants | 85 | 69 | .552 | 8 | 45‍–‍32 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 83 | 71 | .539 | 10 | 45‍–‍32 | 38‍–‍39 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 80 | 74 | .519 | 13 | 48‍–‍29 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 75 | 79 | .487 | 18 | 38‍–‍39 | 37‍–‍40 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | 90 | .416 | 29 | 40‍–‍37 | 24‍–‍53 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 47 | 107 | .305 | 46 | 22‍–‍55 | 25‍–‍52 |

### Record vs. opponents

1961 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | CHC | CIN | LAD | MIL | PHI | PIT | SF | STL |
| Chicago | — | 12–10 | 7–15 | 9–13–1 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 5–17 | 7–15–1 |
| Cincinnati | 10–12 | — | 12–10 | 15–7 | 19–3 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 14–8 |
| Los Angeles | 15–7 | 10–12 | — | 12–10 | 17–5 | 13–9 | 10–12 | 12–10 |
| Milwaukee | 13–9–1 | 7–15 | 10–12 | — | 16–6 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 14–8 |
| Philadelphia | 9–13 | 3–19 | 5–17 | 6–16 | — | 7–15 | 8–14–1 | 9–13 |
| Pittsburgh | 11–11 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 10–12 | 15–7 | — | 10–12 | 9–13 |
| San Francisco | 17–5 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 14–8–1 | 12–10 | — | 9–13 |
| St. Louis | 15–7–1 | 8–14 | 10–12 | 8–14 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 13–9 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Felipe Alou
* Ed Bressoud
* Orlando Cepeda
* Tom Haller
* Chuck Hiller
* Sam Jones
* Harvey Kuenn
* Willie Mays
* Willie McCovey

### 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 | Ed Bailey | 107 | 340 | 81 | .238 | 13 | 51 |
| 1B | Willie McCovey | 106 | 328 | 89 | .271 | 18 | 50 |
| 2B | Joey Amalfitano | 109 | 384 | 98 | .255 | 2 | 23 |
| SS | José Pagán | 134 | 434 | 110 | .253 | 5 | 46 |
| 3B | Jim Davenport | 137 | 436 | 121 | .278 | 12 | 65 |
| LF | Harvey Kuenn | 131 | 471 | 125 | .265 | 5 | 46 |
| CF | Willie Mays | 154 | 572 | 176 | .308 | 40 | 123 |
| RF | Felipe Alou | 132 | 415 | 120 | .289 | 18 | 52 |

#### 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 |
| Orlando Cepeda | 152 | 585 | 182 | .311 | 46 | 142 |
| Chuck Hiller | 70 | 240 | 57 | .238 | 2 | 12 |
| Matty Alou | 81 | 200 | 62 | .310 | 6 | 24 |
| Ed Bressoud | 59 | 114 | 24 | .211 | 3 | 11 |
| John Orsino | 25 | 83 | 23 | .277 | 4 | 12 |
| Hobie Landrith | 43 | 71 | 17 | .239 | 2 | 10 |
| Tom Haller | 30 | 62 | 9 | .145 | 2 | 8 |
| Ernie Bowman | 38 | 38 | 8 | .211 | 0 | 2 |
| Jim Marshall | 44 | 36 | 8 | .222 | 1 | 7 |
| Bob Farley | 13 | 20 | 2 | .100 | 0 | 1 |
| Bob Schmidt | 2 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 1 |
| Don Blasingame | 3 | 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 |
| Mike McCormick | 40 | 250.0 | 13 | 16 | 3.20 | 163 |
| Jack Sanford | 38 | 217.1 | 13 | 9 | 4.22 | 112 |
| Juan Marichal | 29 | 185.0 | 13 | 10 | 3.89 | 124 |

#### 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 O'Dell | 46 | 130.1 | 7 | 5 | 3.59 | 110 |
| Sam Jones | 37 | 128.1 | 8 | 8 | 4.49 | 105 |
| Billy Loes | 26 | 114.2 | 6 | 5 | 4.24 | 55 |
| Dick LeMay | 27 | 83.1 | 3 | 6 | 3.56 | 54 |

#### 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 |
| Stu Miller | 63 | 14 | 5 | 17 | 2.66 | 89 |
| Bobby Bolin | 37 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3.19 | 48 |
| Jim Duffalo | 24 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4.23 | 37 |
| Eddie Fisher | 15 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5.35 | 16 |
| Dom Zanni | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.95 | 11 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game (first game) All-Star Game (second game)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tacoma Giants | Pacific Coast League | Red Davis |
| AA | Rio Grande Valley/Victoria Giants | Texas League | Ray Murray |
| A | Springfield Giants | Eastern League | Andy Gilbert |
| B | Eugene Emeralds | Northwest League | Richie Klaus |
| C | Fresno Giants | California League | Sal Taormina |
| C | Pocatello Bannocks | Pioneer League | Bert Thiel |
| D | Salem Rebels | Appalachian League | Jodie Phipps |
| D | Quincy Giants | Midwest League | Buddy Kerr |
| D | El Paso Sun Kings | Sophomore League | George Genovese |
| D | Belmont Chiefs | Western Carolinas League | Jim Poole, Whitey Ries and Max Lanier |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tacoma, Springfield, Quincy
Rio Grande Valley club moved to Victoria, June 10, 1961; Pocatello affiliation shared with Kansas City Athletics