1961 Minnesota Twins season

March 2026 November 2013 Minnesota Twins 1961 American League Metropolitan Stadium Bloomington, Minnesota Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes) Calvin Griffith Cookie Lavagetto, Sam Mele WTCN-TV 830 WCCO AM(Bob Wolff, Ray Scott, Halsey Hall) 1960 Washington Senators season 70-90 (.438) 7th The 1961 Minnesota Twins season was the 61st in franchise history and its first in Minneapolis–Saint Paul after it transferred from Washington following a six-decade tenure in late October 1960. The maiden edition of the Twins finished 1961 with a record of 70–90, good for seventh place in the American League, which had expanded from eight to ten teams during the 1960–61 offseason. The Twins played their home games at Metropolitan Stadium, where they set a franchise record for home attendance.Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/attend.shtml 2024-09-11 Baseball-Reference.com en Offseason After 60 seasons in Washington, the Senators franchise moved to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area – or, more precisely, Bloomington, Minnesota – in 1961. In honor of the cities' nickname, "The Twin Cities", the franchise changed the team's name to the Twins. As one of the conditions to allow the team to move, there would be a new Senators franchise in Washington in 1961, an expansion team that joined the league along with the Los Angeles Angels. Opening Day The Twins won their first-ever game, when Pedro Ramos shut out the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium on April 11. In beating the defending American League champs 6–0, Ramos out-dueled New York ace Whitey Ford, allowing just three hits and a walk. Ramos drove in two runs with a single himself. Bob Allison hit the first home run in Minnesota big-league history with a solo shot off Ford in the seventh inning, and Reno Bertoia followed with another homer, a two-run blast, an inning later off Ralph Terry.April 11, 1961 Retrosheet Boxscore: Minnesota Twins 6, New York Yankees 0 https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1961/B04110NYA1961.htm 2024-09-11 www.retrosheet.org On April 21, the Twins lost their home opener to the expansion team that replaced them in the nation's capital, the second edition of the Senators, 5–3, before 24,606 at Metropolitan Stadium.1961-04-21 Retrosheet Boxscore: Washington Senators 5, Minnesota Twins 3 https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1961/B04210MIN1961.htm 2024-09-11 www.retrosheet.org Starting lineup, April 11, 1961   2 Zoilo Versalles    SS  7 Lenny Green CF  3 Harmon Killebrew    1B23 Jim Lemon LF  4 Bob Allison RF10 Earl Battey C  1 Reno Bertoia 3B  9 Billy Gardner 2B 14 Pedro Ramos P Regular season The move to Minnesota immediately paid dividends at the turnstiles, where they drew 1,256,723 fans, the third highest total in the American League. The previous year in Washington, the Senators drew just 743,404 fans, worst in the league.1960 Washington Senators Statistics https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WSH/1960.shtml 2024-09-11 Baseball-Reference.com en However, the team's record went in the other direction, as they dropped from 73–81 and fifth place in 1960 to 70–90 and seventh place under the new 162-game AL schedule. In early June, after a losing streak that reached eleven games, Twins owner Calvin Griffith directed manager Cookie Lavagetto to take a week-long sabbatical. Two weeks after his return, Lavagetto was fired by Griffith. Cookie had been managing the club since the 1957 season. He was replaced by his first base coach Sam Mele.Brackin Dennis Minnesota Twins: the complete illustrated history Reusse Patrick 2010 MVP Books 978-0-7603-3684-7 Minneapolis, MN In a home Fourth of July double-header against Chicago, the Twins' Julio Bécquer hit a pinch hit grand slam home run that was the first of its kind in major league history—each run was credited to a different Chicago pitcher (Billy Pierce, Russ Kemmerer, Frank Baumann and Warren Hacker). In the second game, Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew hit an inside-the-park home run—the only one he would hit in his 573-homer career. Two Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Harmon Killebrew (both games) and pitcher Camilo Pascual (second game). On August 20, pitchers Jack Kralick and Al Schroll each hit a home run against the Los Angeles Angels2016-08-16 Twins Almanac for August 20–26 https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/8563-twins-almanac-for-august-20-26/ 2024-09-11 Twins Daily en-US—the sixth and final pitching duo to do so in the same game.September 2024 On September 27, Schroll took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before giving up four runs on two walks and two hits.September 27, 1961 Cleveland Indians vs Minnesota Twins Box Score: September 27, 1961 https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN196109270.shtml 2024-09-11 Baseball-Reference.com en Pedro Ramos was the first pitcher to lead the American League in losses for four years in a row.Nemec David Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Firsts Flatow Scott SIGNET 2008 978-0-45-122363-0 384 Both Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison topped 100 in RBIs, walks and strikeouts. Harmon Killebrew led the team with 46 home runs, 122 runs batted in, and 94 runs scored. Camilo Pascual led the Twins with 15 wins and a 3.46 ERA. Catcher Earl Battey won his second Gold Glove Award.1961 Minnesota Twins Statistics https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/1961.shtml 2024-09-11 Baseball-Reference.com en Season standings Minnesota Twins Record vs. opponents MIN Notable transactions December 14, 1960: Faye Throneberry was drafted from the Twins by the Los Angeles Angels in the 1960 MLB expansion draft.Faye Throneberry https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/thronfa01.shtml 2024-09-11 Baseball-Reference.com en Prior to 1961 season: Jackie Collum was acquired by the Twins from the Los Angeles Dodgers.Jackie Collum https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/colluja01.shtml 2024-09-11 Baseball-Reference.com en June 1, 1961: Billy Consolo was traded by the Twins to the Milwaukee Braves for Billy Martin.Billy Martin https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martibi02.shtml 2024-09-11 Baseball-Reference.com en June 1, 1961: Reno Bertoia, Paul Giel and a player to be named later were traded by the Twins to the Kansas City Athletics for Bill Tuttle and a player to be named later. The Athletics completed the deal by returning Paul Giel to the Twins in exchange for cash on June 10.Bill Tuttle https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/tuttlbi01.shtml 2024-09-11 Baseball-Reference.com en Roster 1961 Minnesota Twins Roster Pitchers 42 Gerry Arrigo 38 Fred Bruckbauer 16 Bert Cueto 41 Gary Dotter 18 Paul Giel 36 Jim Kaat 15 Jack Kralick 20 Don Lee 18 Danny McDevitt 21 Ray Moore 24,40 Ed Palmquist 17 Camilo Pascual 40 Bill Pleis 14,28 Pedro Ramos 35 Ted Sadowski 43 Al Schroll 39 Lee Stange 27 Chuck Stobbs Catchers 10 Earl Battey 11 Ron Henry  8 Hal Naragon Infielders 29 Julio Bécquer  1 Reno Bertoia  6 Billy Consolo  9 Billy Gardner  3 Harmon Killebrew  6 Ted Lepcio  1 Billy Martin 28 Don Mincher  9 Rich Rollins  6 Jim Snyder 13 Bill Tuttle  5 José Valdivielso  2 Zoilo Versalles Outfielders  4 Bob Allison 35 Joe Altobelli 22 Dan Dobbek  7 Lenny Green 25 Jake Jacobs 23 Jim Lemon 32 Elmer Valo 24 Pete Whisenant Manager 51 Cookie Lavagetto 32,14 Sam Mele Coaches 53 Floyd Baker 52 Eddie Lopat 55 Clyde McCullough 54 Sam Mele 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 Earl Battey 133 460 139 .302 17 55 1B Harmon Killebrew 150 541 156 .288 46 122 2B Billy Martin 108 374 92 .246 6 36 SS Zoilo Versalles 129 510 143 .280 7 53 3B Bill Tuttle 113 370 91 .246 5 38 LF Jim Lemon 129 423 109 .258 14 52 CF Lenny Green 156 600 171 .285 9 50 RF Bob Allison 159 556 136 .245 29 105 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 Billy Gardner 45 154 36 .234 1 11 José Valdivielso 76 149 29 .195 1 9 Hal Naragon 57 139 42 .302 2 11 Dan Dobbek 72 125 21 .168 4 14 Ted Lepcio 47 112 19 .170 7 19 Reno Bertoia 39 104 22 .212 1 8 Don Mincher 35 101 19 .188 5 11 Joe Altobelli 41 95 21 .221 3 14 Julio Bécquer 57 84 20 .238 5 18 Elmer Valo 33 32 5 .156 0 4 Ron Henry Ron Henry (baseball) 20 28 4 .143 0 3 Rich Rollins 13 17 5 .294 0 3 Jake Jacobs 4 8 2 .250 0 0 Pete Whisenant 10 6 0 .000 0 0 Billy Consolo 11 5 0 .000 0 0 Jim Snyder Jim Snyder (second baseman) 3 5 0 .000 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 Pedro Ramos 42 264.1 11 20 3.95 174 Camilo Pascual 35 252.1 15 16 3.46 221 Jack Kralick 33 242.0 13 11 3.61 137 Jim Kaat 36200.29173.90122 Bert Cueto 7 21.1 1 3 7.17 5 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 Don Lee Don Lee (baseball) 37 115.0 3 6 3.52 65 Al Schroll 11 50.0 4 4 5.22 24 Bert Cueto 7 21.1 1 3 7.17 5 Ed Palmquist 9 21.0 1 1 9.43 13 Gerry Arrigo 7 9.2 0 1 10.24 6 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 Ray Moore Ray Moore (baseball) 46 4 4 14 3.67 45 Bill Pleis 37 4 2 2 4.95 32 Chuck Stobbs 24 2 3 2 7.46 17 Ted Sadowski 15 0 2 0 6.82 12 Paul Giel 12 1 0 0 9.78 14 Lee Stange 7 1 0 0 2.92 10 Gary Dotter 2 0 0 0 9.00 2 Julio Bécquer 1 0 0 0 20.25 0 Fred Bruckbauer 1 0 0 0 inf 0 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Syracuse Chiefs International League Gene Verble and Frank Verdi AA Nashville Vols Southern Association Spencer "Red" Robbins A Charlotte Hornets Sally League Ellis Clary B Wilson Tobs Carolina League Jack McKeon D Fort Walton Beach Jets Alabama–Florida League Vern Morgan D Wytheville Twins Appalachian League Red Norwood D Erie Sailors New York–Penn League Harry Warner LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Wilson Notes 2 References Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 Category:Minnesota Twins seasons Minn Category:1961 in sports in Minnesota