1961 Chicago White Sox season

1961 Chicago White Sox
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkComiskey Park
CityChicago
OwnersBill Veeck, Arthur Allyn, Jr., John Allyn
General managersHank Greenberg, Ed Short
ManagersAl López
TelevisionWGN-TV
(Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd)
RadioWCFL
(Bob Elson, Ralph Kiner)
← 1960 Seasons 1962 →

The 1961 Chicago White Sox season was the team's 61st season in the major leagues, and its 62nd season overall. They finished with a record of 86–76, good enough for fourth place in the American League, 23 games behind the first-place New York Yankees. Their pitching staff surrendered 13 of Roger Maris's 61 home runs that year, the most of any team.

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

American 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 record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
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

Notable transactions

Roster

1961 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG SB
Luis Aparicio, SS 156 625 90 170 24 4 6 45 38 33 .272 53
Andy Carey, 3B 56 143 21 38 12 3 0 14 11 24 .266 0
Cam Carreon, C 78 229 32 62 5 1 4 27 21 24 .271 0
Wes Covington, LF,RF 22 59 5 17 1 0 4 15 4 5 .288 0
Sammy Esposito, 3B,SS,2B 63 94 12 16 5 0 1 8 12 21 .170 0
Nellie Fox, 2B 159 606 67 152 11 5 2 51 59 12 .251 2
Joe Ginsberg, C 6 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 0
Billy Goodman, 3B 41 51 4 13 4 0 1 10 7 6 .255 0
Mike Hershberger, OF 15 55 9 17 3 0 0 5 2 2 .309 1
Jim Landis, CF 140 534 87 151 18 8 22 85 65 71 .283 19
Ted Lepcio, 3B 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 0
Sherm Lollar, C 116 337 38 95 10 1 7 41 37 22 .282 0
Dean Look, LF 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 0
J. C. Martin, 1B,3B 110 274 26 63 8 3 5 32 21 31 .230 1
Minnie Miñoso, LF 152 540 91 151 28 3 14 82 67 46 .280 9
Al Pilarcik, CF 47 62 9 11 1 0 1 6 9 5 .177 1
Jim Rivera, PR 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Floyd Robinson, RF 132 432 69 134 20 7 11 59 52 32 .310 7
Bob Roselli, C 22 38 2 10 3 0 0 4 0 11 .263 0
Roy Sievers, 1B 141 492 76 145 26 6 27 92 61 62 .295 1
Al Smith, 3B,OF 147 532 88 148 29 4 28 93 56 67 .278 4
Earl Torgeson, 1B 20 15 1 1 0 0 0 1 3 5 .067 0
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG SB
Frank Baumann, P 55 61 8 16 2 0 2 10 5 25 .262 1
Warren Hacker, P 42 9 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .111 0
Ray Herbert, P 21 53 7 12 1 0 2 3 3 8 .226 0
Joe Horlen, P 5 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 0
Russ Kemmerer, P 47 15 1 3 1 0 0 1 2 7 .200 0
Don Larsen, P 25 25 2 8 0 0 1 4 0 5 .320 0
Turk Lown, P 60 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 .000 0
Cal McLish, P 31 54 2 9 1 0 0 5 1 24 .167 0
Gary Peters, P 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .333 0
Billy Pierce, P 39 56 3 8 0 0 0 3 1 11 .143 0
Juan Pizarro, P 40 69 10 17 3 1 0 5 5 19 .246 1
Herb Score, P 8 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 .000 0
Bob Shaw, P 14 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 .000 0
Early Wynn, P 17 37 4 6 0 0 0 2 3 11 .162 0
Team Totals
 163 5556 765 1475 216 46 138 704 550 612 .265 100

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB K
Frank Baumann 10 13 5.61 53 23 3 187.2 249 128 117 22 63 75
Alan Brice 0 1 0.00 3 0 0 3.1 4 2 0 0 3 3
Mike DeGerick 0 0 5.40 1 0 0 1.2 2 1 1 0 1 0
Warren Hacker 3 3 3.77 42 0 8 57.1 62 26 24 8 9 40
Ray Herbert 9 6 4.05 21 20 0 137.2 142 69 62 15 38 50
Joe Horlen 1 3 6.62 5 4 0 17.2 25 15 13 2 13 11
Russ Kemmerer 3 3 4.38 47 2 2 96.2 102 53 47 10 27 35
Don Larsen 7 2 4.12 25 3 2 74.1 64 36 34 5 31 53
Turk Lown 7 5 2.76 59 0 11 101.0 87 37 31 13 38 50
Cal McLish 10 13 4.38 31 27 1 162.1 178 87 79 21 48 80
Gary Peters 0 0 1.74 3 0 1 10.1 10 2 2 0 2 6
Billy Pierce 10 9 3.80 39 28 3 180.0 190 85 76 17 57 106
Juan Pizarro 14 7 3.05 39 25 2 194.2 164 73 66 17 90 188
Herb Score 1 2 6.66 8 5 0 24.1 22 19 18 3 25 14
Bob Shaw 3 4 3.79 14 10 0 71.1 85 40 30 11 25 31
Gerry Staley 0 3 5.00 16 0 0 18.0 17 10 10 3 6 8
Early Wynn 8 2 3.51 17 16 0 110.1 88 43 43 11 47 64
Team Totals
 86 76 4.06 163 163 33 1448.2 1491 726 653 158 523 814

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA San Diego Padres Pacific Coast League Jimmie Reese, Whitey Wietelmann
and Bill Norman
A Charleston White Sox Sally League Ira Hutchinson
B Lincoln Chiefs Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League George Noga
C Idaho Falls Russets Pioneer League Herman Reich and Chips Sobek
D Harlan Smokies Appalachian League Frank Parenti and Eddie Lyons
D Daytona Beach Islanders Florida State League Homer Ray Wilson
D Clinton C-Sox Midwest League Dick Kinaman

Harlan affiliation shared with New York Yankees[6]

Notes

  1. ^ Earl Averill, Jr. page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Jim McAnany page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ a b Wes Covington page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Joe Ginsberg page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Warren Hacker page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

References