1961 Chicago Cubs season

March 2026 November 2013 Chicago Cubs 1961 National League Wrigley Field Chicago, IL 64 90 y 7th Philip K. Wrigley Vedie Himsl (31 games) Harry Craft (16 games) El Tappe (96 games) Lou Klein (11 games) John Holland WGN-TV(Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd) WGN(Jack Quinlan, Lou Boudreau) CHC The 1961 Chicago Cubs season was the 90th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 86th in the National League and the 46th at Wrigley Field. In the first season under their College of Coaches, the Cubs finished seventh in the National League with a record of 64–90, 29 games behind the Cincinnati Reds. Offseason January 12, 1961: Billy Cowan was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.Billy Cowan page at Baseball-Reference Regular season The College of Coaches This season marked the introduction of the so-called "College of Coaches", a system instituted by owner Philip K. Wrigley after input from El Tappe. Under this system, the Cubs would have no single manager, but instead would have a rotating series of eight coaches, with one managing the team while others served as either assistant coaches or minor league field personnel. Four different men served as manager during 1961: Tappe, who served the most games in the position and had a record of 42–54; Harry Craft, who had a record of 7–9; Vedie Himsl, who had a record of 10–21; and Lou Klein, who was brought on board in midseason and had a record of 5–6. Other coaches in the system during the season were Charlie Grimm – the team's manager in 1960 – Bobby Adams, Dick Cole, Ripper Collins, Goldie Holt, Fred Martin and Verlon Walker. The team improved to 64–90, four games better than their 1960 record, although none of the four managers posted a winning record individually. The experiment would be carried over into the 1962 season. Season standings Chicago Cubs Record vs. opponents CHC Notable transactions April 1, 1961: Lou Johnson was traded by the Cubs to the Los Angeles Angels for Jim McAnany.Jim McAnany page at Baseball Reference May 9, 1961: Frank Thomas was traded by the Cubs to the Milwaukee Braves for Mel Roach.Braves trade Mel Roach for Frank Thomas July 20, 1961: Curt Motton was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.Curt Motton page at Baseball Reference September 21, 1961: Paul Casanova was signed as a free agent the Cubs.Paul Casanova page at Baseball Reference Roster 1961 Chicago Cubs Roster Pitchers 32 Bob Anderson 48 Jim Brewer 34 Dick Burwell 43 Don Cardwell 42 Jack Curtis 30 Dick Drott 37 Dick Ellsworth 36 Don Elston 40 Glen Hobbie 46 Joe Schaffernoth 41 Barney Schultz 45 Mel Wright Catchers  9 Cuno Barragan  6 Dick Bertell  7 Sammy Taylor  8 Moe Thacker Infielders 14 Ernie Banks 11 Ed Bouchee 33 Ken Hubbs 16 Jerry Kindall 25 Moe Morhardt 12 Mel Roach 18 Andre Rodgers 10 Ron Santo 17 Don Zimmer Outfielders 21 George Altman  1 Richie Ashburn 24 Lou Brock 19 Sammy Drake 22 Al Heist 23 Nelson Mathews 20 Jim McAnany 27 Danny Murphy 25 Frank Thomas 28 Bob Will 26 Billy Williams Other batters  8 George Freese Head coach 53 Harry Craft 54 Vedie Himsl 60 Lou Klein 52 El Tappe Coaches College of Coaches 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 Dick Bertell 92 267 73 .273 2 33 1B Ed Bouchee 112 319 79 .248 12 38 2B Don Zimmer 128 477 120 .252 13 40 SS Ernie Banks 138 511 142 .278 29 80 3B Ron Santo 154 578 164 .284 23 83 LF Billy Williams Billy Williams (left fielder) 146 529 147 .278 25 86 CF Al Heist 109 321 82 .255 7 37 RF George Altman 138 518 157 .303 27 96 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 Jerry Kindall 96 310 75 .242 9 44 Richie Ashburn 109 307 79 .257 0 19 Sammy Taylor Sammy Taylor (baseball) 89 235 56 .238 8 23 Andre Rodgers 73 214 57 .266 6 23 Bob Will Bob Will (baseball) 86 113 29 .257 0 8 Frank Thomas Frank Thomas (outfielder) 15 50 13 .260 2 6 Mel Roach 23 39 5 .128 0 1 Moe Thacker 25 35 6 .171 0 2 Cuno Barragan 10 28 6 .214 1 2 Ken Hubbs 10 28 5 .179 1 2 Moe Morhardt 7 18 5 .278 0 1 Danny Murphy Danny Murphy (pitcher) 4 13 5 .385 2 3 Lou Brock 4 11 1 .091 0 0 Jim McAnany 11 10 3 .300 0 0 Nelson Mathews 3 9 1 .111 0 0 George Freese 9 7 2 .286 0 1 Sammy Drake 13 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 Don Cardwell 39 259.1 15 14 3.82 156 Glen Hobbie 36 198.2 7 13 4.26 103 Dick Ellsworth 37 186.2 10 11 3.86 91 Jack Curtis Jack Curtis (baseball) 31 180.1 10 13 4.89 57 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 Bob Anderson Bob Anderson (baseball) 57 152.0 7 10 4.26 96 Dick Drott 35 98.0 1 4 4.22 48 Jim Brewer baseball 36 86.2 1 7 5.82 57 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 Don Elston 58 6 7 8 5.59 59 Barney Schultz 41 7 6 7 2.70 59 Joe Schaffernoth 21 0 4 0 6.34 23 Mel Wright 11 0 1 0 10.71 6 Dick Burwell 2 0 0 0 9.00 0 Awards and honors All-Star Game Don Zimmer, Second Base, Reserve, First and Second Game George Altman, Outfield, Reserve, First and Second Game Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Houston Buffaloes American Association Grady Hatton, Fred Martin, Lou Klein and Harry Craft AA San Antonio Missions Texas League Ripper Collins, Harry Craft, Bobby Adams and Verlon Walker B Wenatchee Chiefs Northwest League Verlon Walker, Vedie Himsl, Dick Cole and Bobby Adams C St. Cloud Rox Northern League Joe Macko D Morristown Cubs Appalachian League John Fitzpatrick D Carlsbad Potashes Sophomore League Lou Klein and Walt Dixon LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: San Antonio Notes 2 References Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 1961 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference Category:Chicago Cubs seasons Chicago Cubs season Chicago Cubs Category:1961 in Chicago