| Milwaukee Braves | |
| Season: | 1961 |
| League: | National League |
| Ballpark: | Milwaukee County Stadium |
| City: | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| League Place: | 4th |
| Owners: | Louis R. Perini |
| General Managers: | John McHale |
| Radio: | WEMP (Earl Gillespie, Blaine Walsh) |
The 1961 Milwaukee Braves season was the ninth in Milwaukee and the 91st overall season of the franchise.
The fourth-place Braves finished the season with an record, ten games behind the National League champion The home attendance at County Stadium fifth in the eight-team National League.[1] It was the Braves' lowest attendance to date in Milwaukee, and was the last season surpassing one million fans.
On April 28, Warren Spahn threw a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants.
On June 8, against the Cincinnati Reds, four consecutive Braves batters hit home runs off pitchers Jim Maloney (two) and Marshall Bridges (two more) in the seventh inning. The batters who accomplished this feat were Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock, and Frank Thomas. Oddly, both Adcock and Thomas were former players for the Reds.
Chuck Dressen, 66, was fired on September 2, less than a month shy of finishing his second year as the Braves' The club was in third place at seven games behind the league-leading Cincinnati Reds, when the change was announced after a Saturday home win over The Braves were under Dressen's command.
His successor was executive vice president Birdie Tebbetts, 48, a former Cincinnati manager, who came down from the Milwaukee front office to take the reins; the Braves went under him to finish the season. Tebbetts was signed through the 1963 season but he would spend only 1962 as the Braves' skipper before leaving to become manager of the Cleveland Indians in 1963. Tebbetts retained two of Dressen's coaches, Andy Pafko and Whit Wyatt, while George Myatt departed for the American League Detroit Tigers.[10]
| 1961 Milwaukee Braves | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | CatchersInfielders | OutfieldersOther batters | ManagerCoaches | ||||||
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 | 113 | 406 | 113 | .278 | 10 | 42 | ||
| 1B | 152 | 562 | 160 | .285 | 35 | 108 | ||
| 2B | 148 | 585 | 153 | .262 | 15 | 56 | ||
| SS | 154 | 505 | 111 | .220 | 7 | 48 | ||
| 3B | 152 | 572 | 175 | .306 | 32 | 91 | ||
| LF | 124 | 423 | 120 | .284 | 25 | 67 | ||
| CF | 155 | 603 | 197 | .327 | 34 | 120 | ||
| RF | 110 | 373 | 101 | .271 | 14 | 41 |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 117 | 23 | .197 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 28 | 104 | 24 | .231 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 68 | 97 | 26 | .268 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 45 | 93 | 20 | .215 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 28 | 82 | 17 | .207 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 32 | 74 | 12 | .162 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 21 | 63 | 14 | .222 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 36 | 41 | 10 | .244 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 13 | 36 | 6 | .167 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 15 | 30 | 6 | .200 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 20 | 26 | 5 | .192 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 9 | 21 | 4 | .190 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 18 | 19 | 2 | .105 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 10 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 6 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 272.1 | 18 | 11 | 4.00 | 92 | ||
| 38 | 262.2 | 21 | 13 | 3.02 | 115 | ||
| 32 | 188.1 | 9 | 10 | 4.11 | 77 | ||
| 19 | 97.0 | 5 | 7 | 3.90 | 44 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 159.2 | 6 | 12 | 3.83 | 91 | ||
| 38 | 126.1 | 6 | 7 | 4.06 | 66 | ||
| 19 | 84.0 | 7 | 2 | 5.25 | 51 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 2.84 | 55 | ||
| 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4.62 | 5 | ||
| 13 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3.98 | 13 | ||
| 12 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3.47 | 16 | ||
| 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.46 | 13 | ||
| 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7.59 | 8 | ||
| 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.14 | 5 | ||
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 0 | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 |
See also: Minor League Baseball.
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville