1961 Washington Senators season

March 2026 November 2013 Washington Senators 1961 Washington Senators Cap Logo (1961 to 1962).svg American League Griffith Stadium Washington, D.C. 61–100 (61 100) 9th Elwood Richard Quesada Ed Doherty Mickey Vernon WTOP WTOP(Dan Daniels, John MacLean) none List of Texas Rangers seasons 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, 47 1 2 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 Washington Senators Record vs. opponents WAS 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 Phttp://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1961&t=WS2 1961 Washington Senators Roster by Baseball Almanac Roster 1961 Washington Senators Roster Pitchers 34 Carl Bouldin 16 Pete Burnside 23 Tom Cheney 21 Bennie Daniels 20 Dick Donovan 26 John Gabler 19 Mike Garcia 47 Roy Heiser 23 Rudy Hernández 18 Ed Hobaugh 17 Johnny Klippstein 22 Marty Kutyna 24 Héctor Maestri 24 Carl Mathias 27 Joe McClain 34 Claude Osteen 15 Dave Sisler 35,47 Tom Sturdivant 19 Hal Woodeshick Catchers  8 Pete Daley 11 Dutch Dotterer 12 Gene Green 19 Ken Retzer Infielders 28 Chet Boak 10 Harry Bright  2 Ed Brinkman  7 Chuck Cottier 29 Bob Johnson  6 Billy Klaus 25 Dale Long 29 Jim Mahoney  4 Danny O'Connell  2 R. C. Stevens 29 Ron Stillwell  5 Coot Veal 11 Bud Zipfel Outfielders 31 Joe Hicks 32 Chuck Hinton  9 Marty Keough 30 Jim King  1 Willie Tasby 14 Gene Woodling Manager  3 Mickey Vernon Coaches 41 George Case 42 Rollie Hemsley 40 Sid Hudson 43 George Susce Game log Regular season Legend Senators win Senators loss Postponement Eliminated from playoff spotBoldSenators team member Washington Senators 1961thru1971; 1961 game log: 61–100 (Home: 33–46; Away: 28–54)https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WS2/1961-schedule-scores.shtml 1961 Washington Senators schedule and results Baseball Reference January 26, 2026 y Washington Senators 1961thru1971; April: 5–11 (Home: 2–7; Away: 3–4) # Date (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Streak |- y Washington Senators 1961thru1971; May: 17–12 (Home: 8–4; Away: 9–8) # Date (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Streak |- y Washington Senators 1961thru1971; June: 11–19 (Home: 5–7; Away: 6–12) # Date (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Streak |- y Washington Senators 1961thru1971; July: 12–14 (Home: 9–6; Away: 3–8) # Date (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Streak |- bgcolor="bbbbbb" | — || July 10, 1961 || 3:00p.m. EDT || 30th All-Star Game || colspan=8 | American League vs. National League (Candelstick Park, San Francisco, California) |- bgcolor="bbbbbb" | — || July 30, 1961 || 1:00p.m. EDT || 31st All-Star Game || colspan=8 | National League vs. American League (Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts) |- y Washington Senators 1961thru1971; August: 5–24 (Home: 4–14; Away: 1–10) # Date (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Streak |- y Washington Senators 1961thru1971; September: 11–19 (Home: 5–8; Away: 6–11) # Date (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Streak |- y Washington Senators 1961thru1971; October: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Away: 0–2) # Date (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Streak |- 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 7 11 82 96 Washington Senators — — — — — — 5–4 2–7 7–11 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 Gene Green Gene Green (baseball) 110 364 102 .280 18 62 1B Dale Long 123 377 94 .249 17 49 2B Chuck Cottier 101 337 79 .234 2 34 SS Coot Veal 69 218 44 .202 0 8 3B Danny O'Connell 138 493 128 .260 1 37 LF Chuck Hinton 106 339 88 .260 6 34 CF Willie Tasby 141 494 124 .251 17 63 RF Gene Woodling 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 Marty Keough 135 390 97 .249 9 34 Jim King Jim King (baseball) 110 263 71 .270 11 46 Billy Klaus 91 251 57 .227 7 30 Bob Johnson Bob Johnson (infielder) 61 224 66 .295 6 28 Pete Daley 72 203 39 .192 2 17 Harry Bright 72 183 44 .240 4 21 Bud Zipfel 50 170 34 .200 4 18 Jim Mahoney 43 108 26 .241 0 6 R.C. Stevens 33 62 8 .129 0 2 Ken Retzer 16 53 18 .340 1 3 Joe Hicks Joe Hicks (baseball) 12 29 5 .172 1 1 Dutch Dotterer 7 19 5 .263 0 1 Ron Stillwell 8 16 2 .125 0 1 Ed Brinkman 4 11 1 .091 0 0 Chet Boak 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 Joe McClain 33 212.0 8 18 3.86 76 Bennie Daniels 32 212.0 12 11 3.44 110 Dick Donovan 23 168.2 10 10 2.40 62 Ed Hobaugh 26 126.1 7 9 4.42 67 Tom Sturdivant 15 80.0 2 6 4.61 39 Hal Woodeshick 7 40.1 3 2 4.02 24 Claude Osteen 3 18.1 1 1 4.91 14 Héctor Maestri 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 Marty Kutyna 50 143.0 6 8 3.97 64 Pete Burnside 33 113.1 4 9 4.53 56 John Gabler 29 92.2 3 8 4.86 33 Tom Cheney Tom Cheney (baseball) 10 29.2 1 3 8.80 20 Carl Mathias 4 13.2 0 1 11.20 7 Carl Bouldin 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 Dave Sisler 45 2 8 11 4.18 30 Johnny Klippstein 42 2 2 0 6.78 41 Mike Garcia Mike Garcia (baseball, born 1923) 16 0 1 0 4.74 14 Rudy Hernández Rudy Hernández (pitcher) 7 0 1 0 3.00 4 Roy Heiser 3 0 0 0 6.35 1 Farm system Minor League Baseball D Pensacola Angels Alabama–Florida League Archie Wilson D Middlesboro Senators Appalachian League Lew Morton LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Middlesboro Awards and honors 1961 American League ERA leader Dick Donovan References 2 External links 1961 Washington Senators team page at Baseball Reference 1961 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:Washington Senators (1961–1971) seasons Washington Senators season Category:Major League Baseball inaugural teams seasons Washing