1961 Minnesota Twins season

In 1961 the Twins finished the season with a record of 70–90, good for seventh in the American League, which had expanded from 8 to 10 teams during the 1960–61 offseason. It was the franchise's first season in Minnesota after 60 seasons in Washington, D.C. The Twins played their home games at Metropolitan Stadium.

Offseason

After 60 seasons in Washington, the Senators franchise moved to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area – or, more precisely, Bloomington, Minnesota – in 1961. In honor of the cities' nickname, "The Twin Cities", the franchise changed the team's name to the Twins. As one of the conditions to allow the team to move, there would be a new Senators franchise in Washington in 1961, an expansion team that joined the league along with the Los Angeles Angels.

Regular season

The move to Minnesota immediately paid dividends at the turnstiles, where they drew 1,256,723 fans, the third highest total in the American League. The previous year in Washington, the Senators drew just 743,404 fans, worst in the league. However, the team's record went in the other direction, as they dropped from 73–81 and fifth place in 1960 to 70–90 and seventh place under the new 162-game AL schedule.

In early June, after a losing streak that reached eleven games, Twins owner Calvin Griffith directed manager Cookie Lavagetto to take a week-long sabbatical. Two weeks after his return, Lavagetto was fired by Griffith. Cookie had been managing the club since the 1957 season. He was replaced by his first base coach Sam Mele.

In a home Fourth of July double-header against Chicago, the Twins' Julio Bécquer hit a pinch hit grand slam home run that was the first of its kind in major league history -- each run was credited to a different Chicago pitcher (Billy Pierce, Russ Kemmerer, Frank Baumann and Warren Hacker). In the second game, Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew hit an inside-the-park home run -- the only one he would hit in his 573-homer career.

Two Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Harmon Killebrew (both games) and pitcher Camilo Pascual (second game). Pedro Ramos was the first pitcher to lead the American League in losses for four years in a row.

Harmon Killebrew led the team with 46 home runs, 122 runs batted in, and 94 runs scored. Camilo Pascual led the Twins with 15 wins and a 3.46 ERA. Catcher Earl Battey won his second Gold Glove Award.

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Yankees	109	53	.673	--
Detroit Tigers	101	61	.623	8
Baltimore Orioles	95	67	.586	14
Chicago White Sox	86	76	.531	23
Cleveland Indians	78	83	.484	30.5
Boston Red Sox	76	86	.469	33
Minnesota Twins	70	90	.438	38
Los Angeles Angels	70	91	.435	38.5
Kansas City Athletics	61	100	.379	47.5
Washington Senators	61	100	.379	47.5

Record vs. opponents

1961 American League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	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

• December 14, 1960: Faye Throneberry was drafted from the Twins by the Los Angeles Angels in the 1960 MLB expansion draft.
• Prior to 1961 season: Jackie Collum was acquired by the Twins from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• June 1, 1961: Billy Consolo was traded by the Twins to the Milwaukee Braves for Billy Martin.
• June 1, 1961: Reno Bertoia, Paul Giel and a player to be named later were traded by the Twins to the Kansas City Athletics for Bill Tuttle and a player to be named later. The Athletics completed the deal by returning Paul Giel to the Twins in exchange for cash on June 10.

Roster

1961 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers 42 Gerry Arrigo 38 Fred Bruckbauer 16 Bert Cueto 41 Gary Dotter 36 Paul Giel 36 Jim Kaat 15 Jack Kralick 20 Don Lee 18 Danny McDevitt 21 Ray Moore 24,40 Ed Palmquist 17 Camilo Pascual 40 Bill Pleis 14,28 Pedro Ramos 36 Ted Sadowski 43 Al Schroll 39 Lee Stange 27 Chuck Stobbs		Catchers 10 Earl Battey 11 Ron Henry  8 Hal Naragon Infielders 29 Julio Becquer  1 Reno Bertoia  6 Billy Consolo  9 Billy Gardner  3 Harmon Killebrew  6 Ted Lepcio  1 Billy Martin 28 Don Mincher  9 Rich Rollins  6 Jim Snyder 13 Bill Tuttle  5 José Valdivielso  2 Zoilo Versalles		Outfielders  4 Bob Allison 35 Joe Altobelli 22 Dan Dobbek  7 Lenny Green 25 Jake Jacobs 23,44 Jim Lemon 32 Elmer Valo 24 Pete Whisenant		Manager 51 Cookie Lavagetto 14 Sam Mele Coaches 53 Floyd Baker 52 Eddie Lopat 55 Clyde McCullough 54 Sam Mele

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	Earl Battey	133	460	139	.302	17	55
1B	Harmon Killebrew	150	541	156	.288	46	122
2B	Billy Martin	108	374	92	.246	6	36
CF	Lenny Green	156	600	171	.285	9	50
RF	Bob Allison	159	556	136	.245	29	105

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
José Valdivielso	76	149	29	.195	1	9
Reno Bertoia	39	104	22	.212	1	8
Ron Henry	20	28	4	.143	0	3
Billy Consolo	11	5	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
Pedro Ramos	42	264.1	11	20	3.95	174
Camilo Pascual	35	252.1	15	16	3.46	221
Jim Kaat	36	200.2	9	17	3.90	122
Bert Cueto	7	21.1	1	3	7.17	5

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
Gerry Arrigo	7	9.2	0	1	10.24	6

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
Ray Moore	46	4	4	14	3.67	45
Gary Dotter	2	0	0	0	9.00	2
Fred Bruckbauer	1	0	0	0	∞	0

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Syracuse Chiefs	International League	Gene Verble and Frank Verdi
AA	Nashville Vols	Southern Association	Spencer "Red" Robbins
A	Charlotte Hornets	Sally League	Ellis Clary
B	Wilson Tobs	Carolina League	Jack McKeon
D	Fort Walton Beach Jets	Alabama-Florida League	Vern Morgan
D	Wytheville Twins	Appalachian League	Red Norwood
D	Erie Sailors	New York-Penn League	Harry Warner

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Wilson

References

• Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
• Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com