1971 Washington Senators season

March 2026 November 2013 Washington Senators 1971 Washington Senators Cap Logo (1968 to 1971).svg American League East RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. 63 96 y 6th Bob Short Ted Williams WTOP – (Warner Wolf,Ray Scott, Tony Roberts) WWDC (FM)(Ron Menchine, Tony Roberts) 1972 Texas Rangers season List of Texas Rangers seasons The 1971 Washington Senators season involved the Senators finishing fifth in the American League East with a record of 63 wins and 96 losses (63 96). This was the Senators' 11th and last season in Washington, D.C.; they moved to Arlington, Texas, and became the Texas Rangers in 1972. The previous Senators (now Minnesota Twins) were in Washington from 1901 through 1960. The move to Texas left Washington without a Major League Baseball team for 33 seasons, until the Montreal Expos of the National League relocated there in 2005 and became the current Washington Nationals. Offseason thumb|right|Opening Day 1971 October 9, 1970: Ed Brinkman, Aurelio Rodríguez, Joe Coleman, and Jim Hannan were traded by the Senators to the Detroit Tigers for Denny McLain, Elliott Maddox, Norm McRae, and Don Wert.Denny McLain page at Baseball Reference November 3, 1970: Greg Goossen and Gene Martin were traded by the Senators to the Philadelphia Phillies for Curt Flood and a player to be named. The Phillies completed the deal by sending Jeff Terpko to the Senators on April 10, 1971.Curt Flood page at Baseball Reference November 30, 1970: Joe Foy was drafted by the Washington Senators from the New York Mets in the 1970 rule 5 draft.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/foyjo01.shtml Joe Foy Stats March 29, 1971: Ed Stroud was traded by the Senators to the Chicago White Sox for Tommy McCraw.Ed Stroud page at Baseball Reference Regular season The acquisition of former Cy Young Award winner Denny McLain did not pay dividends for the franchise. Amid constant run-ins with no-nonsense Washington manager Ted Williams, McLain lost 22 games in 1971.https://baseballbiography.com/denny-mclain-1944 Denny McLain October 4, 2008 mdy-all Relocation to Texas By the end of the 1970 season, Senators owner Bob Short had issued an ultimatum: unless someone was willing to buy the Senators for $12 million, he would not renew his lease at RFK Stadium and move elsewhere. Several parties offered to buy the team, but all fell short of Short's asking price.May 2026 Short was especially receptive to an offer from Arlington mayor Tom Vandergriff, who had been trying to get a major league team to play in the Metroplex for over a decade. Years earlier, Charlie Finley, the owner of the Kansas City Athletics, sought to move his team to Dallas, but the idea was rebuffed by the other AL team owners. Arlington's hole card was Turnpike Stadium, a 10,000-seat park which opened in 1965 to house the AA Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs of the Texas League. Built to major league specifications, it was located in a natural bowl, and only minor excavations were necessary to expand the park to major-league size. After Vandergriff offered a multimillion-dollar up-front payment, Short finally decided to pull up stakes and move. On September 21, 1971, he got his wish, receiving approval from AL owners to move the franchise to Arlington for the 1972 season. Washington fans were outraged, leaving public relations director Ted Rodgers with the unenviable task of putting a positive spin on such events as fans unfurling a giant banner that contained Short's name, preceded by a popular four-letter invective. A photo of the banner appeared on the front page of a DC newspaper the following day. Fan enmity came to a head in the team's last game in Washington, on September 30. Thousands of fans simply walked in without paying because the security guards left early in the game, swelling the paid attendance of 14,460 to around 25,000. The Senators led 7–5 with two outs in the top of the ninth. Just then, fans poured onto the field, thinking the final out had already been made. A teenager scooped up first base and ran away. With no security guards in sight, the game was forfeited to the Yankees, 9–0. Opening Day starters Dick Bosman Paul Casanova Tim Cullen Mike Epstein Curt Flood Joe Foy Toby Harrah Frank Howard Elliott Maddoxhttp://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1971&t=WS2 1971 Washington Senators Roster by Baseball Almanac Season standings Washington Senators Record vs. opponents WAS Notable transactions May 8: Darold Knowles and Mike Epstein were traded to the Oakland Athletics for Frank Fernández, Don Mincher, Paul Lindblad, and cash.Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference June 8: 1971 Major League Baseball draft Stan Thomas was selected in the 27th round.Stan Thomas page at Baseball Reference Mike Cubbage was selected in the second round of the secondary phase.Mike Cubbage page at Baseball Reference July 16: Joe Foy was released.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/foyjo01.shtml Joe Foy Stats September 27: Jim French was released.Jim French page at Baseball Reference Roster 1971 Washington Senators Roster Pitchers 27 Dick Bosman 18 Pete Broberg 23 Jackie Brown 29 Casey Cox 13 Bill Gogolewski 31 Joe Grzenda 26 Gerry Janeski 32 Darold Knowles 32 Paul Lindblad 17 Denny McLain 28 Horacio Piña 19 Denny Riddleberger 16 Jim Shellenback 24 Mike Thompson Catchers  8 Dick Billings  5 Paul Casanova 10 Bill Fahey 10 Jim French 20 Rick Stelmaszek Infielders  7 Bernie Allen  1 Tim Cullen  6 Mike Epstein 14 Joe Foy 11 Toby Harrah 14 Jim Mason  6 Don Mincher 15 Dave Nelson 15,21 Tom Ragland  2 Len Randle  2 Don Wert Outfielders  4 Larry Biittner 20 Jeff Burroughs 25 Frank Fernández 21 Curt Flood 33 Frank Howard 37 Elliott Maddox  3 Tommy McCraw 35 Richie Scheinblum 30 Del Unser Manager  9 Ted Williams Coaches 40 Joe Camacho 42 Nellie Fox 41 Sid Hudson 43 George Susce 44 Wayne Terwilliger 45 Al Zarilla Player stats 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 Paul Casanova 94 311 63 .203 5 26 1B Don Mincher 100 323 94 .291 10 45 2B Tim Cullen 125 403 77 .191 2 26 SS Toby Harrah 127 383 88 .230 2 22 3B Dave Nelson 85 329 92 .280 5 33 LF Frank Howard 153 549 153 .279 26 83 CF Del Unser 153 581 148 .255 9 41 RF Larry Biittner 66 171 44 .257 0 16 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 Dick Billings 116 349 86 .246 6 48 Elliott Maddox 128 258 56 .217 1 18 Bernie Allen 97 229 61 .266 4 22 Lenny Randle 75 215 47 .219 2 13 Tommy McCraw 122 207 44 .213 7 25 Jeff Burroughs 59 181 42 .232 5 25 Joe Foy 41 128 30 .234 0 11 Mike Epstein 24 85 21 .247 1 9 Richie Scheinblum 27 49 7 .143 0 4 Jim French 14 41 6 .146 0 4 Don Wert 20 40 2 .050 0 2 Curt Flood 13 35 7 .200 0 2 Frank Fernández 18 30 3 .100 0 4 Tom Ragland 10 23 4 .174 0 0 Jim Mason Jim Mason (baseball) 3 9 3 .333 0 0 Rick Stelmaszek 6 9 0 .000 0 0 Bill Fahey 2 8 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 Dick Bosman 35 236.2 12 16 3.73 113 Denny McLain 33 216.2 10 22 4.28 103 Pete Broberg 18 124.2 5 9 3.47 89 Mike Thompson 16 66.2 1 6 4.86 41 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 Casey Cox 54 124.1 5 7 3.98 43 Bill Gogolewski 27 124.1 6 5 2.75 70 Jim Shellenback 40 120.0 3 11 3.53 47 Gerry Janeski 23 61.2 1 5 4.96 19 Jackie Brown Jackie Brown (baseball) 14 47.0 3 4 5.94 21 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 Paul Lindblad 43 6 4 8 2.58 50 Denny Riddleberger 57 3 1 1 3.23 56 Horacio Piña 56 1 1 2 3.59 38 Joe Grzenda 46 5 2 5 1.92 56 Darold Knowles 12 2 2 2 3.52 16 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Denver Bears American Association Del Wilber AA Pittsfield Senators Eastern League Joe Klein A Burlington Senators Carolina League Whitey Kurowski A Anderson Senators Western Carolinas League Frank Gable and Bill Haywood A-Short Season Geneva Senators New York–Penn League Frank GableLEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Denver Notes 30em References Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 3rd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 2007 978-1-932391-17-6 1971 Washington Senators team page at Baseball Reference 1971 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:Washington Senators (1961–1971) seasons Washington Senators season Washing