1961 St. Louis Cardinals season

1961 St. Louis Cardinals
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1892)
Location
Busch Stadium I (since 1920)
St. Louis, Missouri (since 1882)
Results
Record	80–74 (.519)
League place	5th
Other information
Owner(s)	August "Gussie" Busch
General manager(s)	Bing Devine
Manager(s)	Solly Hemus, Johnny Keane
Local television	KPLR (Buddy Blattner, Jerry Gross, Joe Garagiola)
Local radio	KMOX (Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Joe Garagiola)
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The 1961 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 80th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 70th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 80–74 during the season and finished fifth in the National League. It was the last season before the NL went to a 162-game schedule the following season to adjust for the new ten-team league.

Offseason

• October 11, 1960: Leon Wagner, Cal Browning, a player to be named later, and cash were traded by the Cardinals to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Al Cicotte. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Ellis Burton to the Blue Jays on January 26, 1961.^[1]
• December 29, 1960: Marv Grissom was released by the Cardinals.^[2]
• March 15, 1961: Red Schoendienst was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.^[3]
• Prior to 1961 season: Don Taussig was acquired by the Cardinals from the Portland Beavers as part of a minor league working agreement.^[4]

Regular season

On July 6, with the Cardinals at 33–41, manager Solly Hemus was fired and replaced by Johnny Keane. The team went 47–33 under Keane.

First baseman Bill White and third baseman Ken Boyer won Gold Gloves this year.

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	93	61	0.604	—	47–30	46–31
Los Angeles Dodgers	89	65	0.578	4	45–32	44–33
San Francisco Giants	85	69	0.552	8	45–32	40–37
Milwaukee Braves	83	71	0.539	10	45–32	38–39
St. Louis Cardinals	80	74	0.519	13	48–29	32–45
Pittsburgh Pirates	75	79	0.487	18	38–39	37–40
Chicago Cubs	64	90	0.416	29	40–37	24–53
Philadelphia Phillies	47	107	0.305	46	22–55	25–52

Record vs. opponents

1961 National League Records 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	—

Notable transactions

• May 10, 1961: Bob Nieman was traded by the Cardinals to the Cleveland Indians for Joe Morgan, a player to be named later, and cash. The Indians sent Mike Lee to the Cardinals on June 1 to complete the trade.^[5]
• May 16, 1961: Duke Carmel was traded by the Cardinals to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Joe Koppe.^[6]
• May 30, 1961: Daryl Spencer was traded by the Cardinals to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Bob Lillis and Carl Warwick.^[7]

Roster

1961 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 47 Craig Anderson 38 Ed Bauta 32 Ernie Broglio 33 Al Cicotte 45 Bob Gibson 39 Larry Jackson 41 Lindy McDaniel 38 Mickey McDermott 36 Bob Miller 37 Ray Sadecki 31 Curt Simmons 43 Bobby Tiefenauer 44 Ray Washburn		Catchers 34 Chris Cannizzaro 20 Tim McCarver 29 Gene Oliver  1 Carl Sawatski  4 Jimmie Schaffer  2 Hal Smith Infielders 14 Ken Boyer 17 Jerry Buchek 19 Julio Gotay 10 Alex Grammas 25 Julián Javier 35 Bob Lillis  2 Red Schoendienst 20 Daryl Spencer 12 Bill White		Outfielders 40 Doug Clemens 15 Joe Cunningham 21 Curt Flood 23 Charlie James 24 Don Landrum 28 Walt Moryn  6 Stan Musial  4 Bob Nieman 24 Ed Olivares 27 Don Taussig 24,42 Carl Warwick Other batters 18 George Crowe		Manager  7 Solly Hemus  5 Johnny Keane Coaches  8 Vern Benson  8 Darrell Johnson  5 Johnny Keane 26 Howie Pollet  3 Harry Walker

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

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
Taussig, DonDon Taussig	98	188	54	.287	2	25

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

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
Cicotte, AlAl Cicotte	29	75	2	6	5.28	51

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
Anderson, CraigCraig Anderson	25	4	3	1	3.26	21

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	San Juan/Charleston Marlins	International League	Joe Schultz
AAA	Portland Beavers	Pacific Coast League	Vern Benson and Ray Katt
AA	Tulsa Oilers	Texas League	Whitey Kurowski
A	Lancaster Red Roses	Eastern League	Chase Riddle
C	Winnipeg Goldeyes	Northern League	Grover Resinger and Owen Friend
C	Billings Mustangs	Pioneer League	Owen Friend and Grover Resinger
D	Johnson City Cardinals	Appalachian League	Ed Lyons, George Kissell, Charlie Frey, Mo Mozzali and Johnny Grodzicki
D	Keokuk Cardinals	Midwest League	Al Unser

San Juan franchise moved to Charleston, May 19, 1961^[8]

References

1. Al Cicotte page at Baseball Reference
2. Marv Grissom page at Baseball Reference
3. Red Schoendienst page at Baseball Reference
4. Don Taussig page at Baseball Reference
5. Bob Nieman page at Baseball-Reference
6. Duke Carmel page at Baseball Reference
7. Bob Lillis page at Baseball Reference
8. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

• 1961 St. Louis Cardinals
• 1961 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com