The 1961 Washington Senators season was the team's inaugural season, having been established as a replacement for the previous franchise of the same name, which relocated to the Twin Cities of Minnesota following the 1960 season, becoming the Minnesota Twins. The Senators finished in a tie for ninth place in the ten-team American League with a record of 61–100, games behind the World Champion New York Yankees. It was also the team's only season at Griffith Stadium before moving its games to D.C. Stadium for the following season. The expansion team drew 597,287 fans, tenth and last in the circuit.Baseball Reference 1961 Miscellaneous Team Records The old Senators had drawn 743,404 fans in 1960.

Offseason The Senators, along with the Los Angeles Angels, were the first ever American League expansion teams. Both teams participated in Major League Baseball's first ever expansion draft. The Senators used their first pick in the 1960 Major League Baseball expansion draft to select pitcher Bobby Shantz from the New York Yankees (while the Angels picked Eli Grba). Grba wound up playing two-plus seasons for Los Angeles before returning to the minor leagues. However, Shantz never played for the Senators, as he was traded just two days later to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Harry Bright, Bennie Daniels, and R. C. Stevens,Bobby Shantz page at Baseball Reference all of whom played for the Senators in 1961.

A 1992 Associated Press article which looked prospectively to the Rockies and Marlins expansion draft and retroactively at previous expansion drafts stated: "The Senators drafted for experience and got burned when players such as Dave Sisler, John Klippstein, Tom Sturdivant, Dale Long, Bobby Klaus and Gene Woodling didn't produce."Rockies, Marlins Are Gearing Up : Expansion: Lessons of the past indicate that drafting young players is the key to success, Associated Press (Los Angeles Times), Nov. 14, 1992.

Notable transactions November 28, 1960: Ray Semproch was drafted by the Senators from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1960 rule 5 draft.Ray Semproch page at Baseball-Reference December 14, 1960: 1960 MLB expansion draft Jim King was drafted by the Senators from the Cleveland Indians.Jim King page at Baseball Reference Coot Veal was drafted by the Senators from the Detroit Tigers.Coot Veal page at Baseball Reference

Regular season As an expansion team, the Senators were not expected to do well. They finished tied for last in the league with the Kansas City Athletics. They also finished 9 games behind their expansion brethren, the Angels. One bright spot was pitcher Dick Donovan, who led the American League in earned run average and WHIP, making the All-Star team and finishing 17th in league MVP voting.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup In the first game in franchise history, the "Presidential Opener" then held every year in Washington, the Senators were defeated by the Chicago White Sox, 4–3, on Monday, April 10, 1961. With leadoff man Coot Veal getting its first-ever hit (an infield single) in the first inning, Washington jumped out to a quick 2–0 advantage and led 3–1 after two innings. But the Senators were blanked thereafter and committed four errors, leading to two unearned runs, as Chicago battled back to win. Roy Sievers, former star of the previous Washington franchise, drove in a pair of White Sox runs with a home run and a sacrifice fly.Retrosheet box score, 1961-04-10 It was the last Presidential Opener in the history of Griffith Stadium, and the first one in which John F. Kennedy threw out the first ball.

  5 Coot Veal SS  6 Billy Klaus 3B  9 Marty Keough RF25 Dale Long 1B14 Gene Woodling LF  1 Willie Tasby CF  4 Danny O'Connell    2B  8 Pete Daley C 20 Dick Donovan P

Roster 1961 Washington Senators Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Game log Regular season

Legend Senators win Senators loss Postponement Eliminated from playoff spotBoldSenators team member

|- bgcolor="bbbbbb" | — || || 3:00p.m. EDT || 30th All-Star Game || colspan=8 | American League vs. National League (Candelstick Park, San Francisco, California) |- bgcolor="bbbbbb" | — || || 1:00p.m. EDT || 31st All-Star Game || colspan=8 | National League vs. American League (Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts)

Detailed records American League Opponent Home Away Total Pct. Runs scored Runs allowed Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox Chicago White Sox Cleveland Indians Detroit Tigers Kansas City Athletics Los Angeles Angels Minnesota Twins New York Yankees 5–4 2–7 7–11 82 96 Washington Senators — — — — — — 5–4 2–7 7–11 82 96

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 110 364 102 .280 18 62 1B 123 377 94 .249 17 49 2B 101 337 79 .234 2 34 SS 69 218 44 .202 0 8 3B 138 493 128 .260 1 37 LF 106 339 88 .260 6 34 CF 141 494 124 .251 17 63 RF 110 342 107 .313 10 57

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 135 390 97 .249 9 34 110 263 71 .270 11 46 91 251 57 .227 7 30 61 224 66 .295 6 28 72 203 39 .192 2 17 72 183 44 .240 4 21 50 170 34 .200 4 18 43 108 26 .241 0 6 33 62 8 .129 0 2 16 53 18 .340 1 3 12 29 5 .172 1 1 7 19 5 .263 0 1 8 16 2 .125 0 1 4 11 1 .091 0 0 5 7 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 33 212.0 8 18 3.86 76 32 212.0 12 11 3.44 110 23 168.2 10 10 2.40 62 26 126.1 7 9 4.42 67 15 80.0 2 6 4.61 39 7 40.1 3 2 4.02 24 3 18.1 1 1 4.91 14 1 6.0 0 1 1.50 2

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 50 143.0 6 8 3.97 64 33 113.1 4 9 4.53 56 29 92.2 3 8 4.86 33 10 29.2 1 3 8.80 20 4 13.2 0 1 11.20 7 2 3.1 0 1 16.20 2

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 45 2 8 11 4.18 30 42 2 2 0 6.78 41 16 0 1 0 4.74 14 7 0 1 0 3.00 4 3 0 0 0 6.35 1

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Middlesboro

Awards and honors 1961 American League ERA leader Dick Donovan

References

External links 1961 Washington Senators team page at Baseball Reference 1961 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com