1961 Milwaukee Braves season

March 2026 November 2013 Milwaukee Braves 1961 National League Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee, Wisconsin 83 71 y 4th Louis R. Perini John McHale Chuck Dressen 71 58 yBirdie Tebbetts 12 13 y 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 83 71 y record, ten games behind the National League champion Cincinnati Reds.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GZ8oAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FmwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2711%2C745581 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The Major Leagues (final standings) October 2, 1961 22https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=F3ZSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2BAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3369%2C1194406 Milwaukee Sentinel Braves split, finish 4th Thisted Red October 2, 1961 2, part 2 October 2026 InternetArchiveBot The home attendance at County Stadium was 1,101,411, fifth in the eight-team National League.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GHZSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2BAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3957%2C1334912 Milwaukee Sentinel Associated Press Attendance down 5.6% in majors October 3, 1961 5, part 2 October 2026 InternetArchiveBot 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 MIL 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' manager.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=73NQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KREEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4699%2C812196 Milwaukee Sentinel Chapman Lou Fire Dressen, hire Birdie September 3, 1961 1, part 1 October 2026 InternetArchiveBot https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jwcqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FScEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6220%2C443867 Milwaukee Journal Kuehele Oliver E. Dressen fired by Braves; Tebbetts is new manager September 3, 1961 1, part 1 October 2026 InternetArchiveBot The club was in third place at 71 58 y, seven games behind the league-leading Cincinnati Reds, when the change was announced after a Saturday home win over the Dodgers.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jwcqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FScEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3965%2C537641 Milwaukee Journal Walfoort Cleon Dressen is shocked by his dismissal, 'So many vice presidents,' he says September 3, 1961 1, part 2 October 2026 InternetArchiveBot https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=73NQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KREEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7289%2C855580 Milwaukee Sentinel Anheuser Ernie (photos) Bring on the new...Tebbetts...farewell to the old...Dressen September 3, 1961 1, part 2 October 2026 InternetArchiveBot The Braves were 159 124 y 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 12 13 y 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.https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19610904&id=u5gtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kZ0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2330,482895 Montreal Gazette Associated Press Charlie Dressen fired by Braves, Tebbetts named as successor September 4, 1961 14 Roster 1961 Milwaukee Braves Roster Pitchers 43 Johnny Antonelli 30 George Brunet 10 Bob Buhl 33 Lew Burdette 40 Tony Cloninger 17 Moe Drabowsky 36 Bob Hendley 36 Ken MacKenzie 20 Don McMahon 19 Seth Morehead 32 Don Nottebart 40 Chi-Chi Olivo 35 Ron Piché 35 Claude Raymond 21 Warren Spahn 16 Carl Willey Catchers  1 Del Crandall  6 Charley Lau 40 Phil Roof 15 Joe Torre 22 Sammy White Infielders  9 Joe Adcock  2 Frank Bolling  3 Bob Boyd 23 Johnny Logan 18 Félix Mantilla 41 Eddie Mathews 11 Roy McMillan Outfielders 44 Hank Aaron 19 Gino Cimoli 43 Wes Covington 29 John DeMerit 30 Mack Jones 24 Lee Maye 12 Mel Roach 25 Al Spangler 26 Hawk Taylor 12 Frank Thomas Other batters 30 Neil Chrisley  3 Billy Martin Manager  7 Chuck Dressen  4 Birdie Tebbetts Coaches  8 George Myatt 48 Andy Pafko  5 Whit Wyatt 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 Joe Torre 113 406 113 .278 10 42 1B Joe Adcock 152 562 160 .285 35 108 2B Frank Bolling 148 585 153 .262 15 56 SS Roy McMillan 154 505 111 .220 7 48 3B Eddie Mathews 152 572 175 .306 32 91 LF Frank Thomas Frank Thomas (outfielder) 124 423 120 .284 25 67 CF Hank Aaron 155 603 197 .327 34 120 RF Lee Maye 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 Gino Cimoli 37 117 23 .197 3 4 Mack Jones 28 104 24 .231 0 12 Al Spangler 68 97 26 .268 0 6 Félix Mantilla Félix Mantilla (baseball) 45 93 20 .215 1 5 Charley Lau 28 82 17 .207 0 5 John DeMerit 32 74 12 .162 2 5 Sammy White Sammy White (baseball) 21 63 14 .222 0 5 Bob Boyd Bob Boyd (baseball) 36 41 10 .244 0 3 Mel Roach 13 36 6 .167 1 6 Del Crandall 15 30 6 .200 0 1 Hawk Taylor 20 26 5 .192 1 1 Wes Covington 9 21 4 .190 0 0 Johnny Logan Johnny Logan (baseball) 18 19 2 .105 0 1 Neil Chrisley 10 9 2 .222 0 0 Billy Martin 6 6 0 .000 0 0 Phil Roof 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 Lew Burdette 40 272.1 18 11 4.00 92 Warren Spahn 38 262.2 21 13 3.02 115 Bob Buhl 32 188.1 9 10 4.11 77 Bob Hendley 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 Carl Willey 35 159.2 6 12 3.83 91 Don Nottebart 38 126.1 6 7 4.06 66 Tony Cloninger 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 Don McMahon 53 6 4 8 2.84 55 Moe Drabowsky 16 0 2 2 4.62 5 Claude Raymond 13 1 0 2 3.98 13 Ron Piché 12 2 2 1 3.47 16 Seth Morehead 12 1 0 0 6.46 13 Johnny Antonelli 9 1 0 0 7.59 8 Ken MacKenzie Ken MacKenzie (baseball) 5 0 1 0 5.14 5 George Brunet 5 0 0 0 5.40 0 Chi-Chi Olivo 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, 978-0-451-22363-0 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Louisville Colonels American Association Ben Geraghty AAA Vancouver Mounties Pacific Coast League Billy Hitchcock AA Austin Senators Texas League Bill Adair B Cedar Rapids Braves Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Jimmy Brown B Yakima Bears Northwest League Buddy Hicks C Eau Claire Braves Northern League Jim Fanning C Boise Braves Pioneer League Gordon Maltzberger D Palatka Azaleas Florida State League Mike Fandozzi D Quad Cities Braves Midwest League Alex Monchak D Wellsville Braves New York–Penn League Bill Steinecke D Newton-Conover Twins Western Carolinas League Joe Abernethy LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville 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 Milwaukee Braves season at Baseball Reference Category:Milwaukee Braves seasons Milwaukee Braves season Category:1961 in sports in Wisconsin