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. It was the Braves' lowest attendance to date in Milwaukee, and was the last season surpassing one million fans.
Offseason October 14, 1960: Red Schoendienst was released by the Braves.Red Schoendienst page at Baseball Reference October 14, 1960: Stan Lopata was released by the Braves.Stan Lopata page at Baseball Reference December 3, 1960: Billy Martin was purchased by the Braves from the Cincinnati Reds.Billy Martin page at Baseball Reference December 14, 1960: Joe Azcue was purchased by the Braves from the Cincinnati Reds.Joe Azcue page at Baseball-Reference Prior to 1961 season (exact date unknown) Jim Campbell was traded by the Braves to the Houston Colt .45s for Morrie Martin.Morrie Martin page at Baseball Reference Clay Carroll was signed by the Braves as an amateur free agent.Clay Carroll page at Baseball-Reference
Regular season 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.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions April 1961: Morrie Martin was released by the Braves. May 9, 1961: Mel Roach was traded by the Braves to the Chicago Cubs for Frank Thomas.Braves trade Mel Roach for Frank Thomas May 10, 1961: Wes Covington was selected off waivers from the Braves by the Chicago White Sox.Wes Covington page at Baseball Reference June 1, 1961: Billy Martin was traded by the Braves to the Minnesota Twins for Billy Consolo.
Managerial turnover 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.
Roster 1961 Milwaukee Braves Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
Player stats
Batting
= Indicates team leader 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 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
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 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
Pitching
= Indicates league leader 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 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
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 35 159.2 6 12 3.83 91 38 126.1 6 7 4.06 66 19 84.0 7 2 5.25 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 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
Awards and honors
League leaders Warren Spahn, National League leader, winsGreat Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.99, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville
Notes
References
1961 Milwaukee Braves season at Baseball Reference