1961 Boston Red Sox season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 Boston Red Sox 1961 American League Fenway Park Boston, Massachusetts 76–86 (.469) 6th Tom Yawkey Tom Yawkey Pinky Higgins WHDH-TV, Ch. 5 WHDH-AM 850(Curt Gowdy, Ned Martin, Art Gleeson) bos BOS The 1961 Boston Red Sox season was the 61st season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished sixth in the American League (AL) with a record of 76 wins and 86 losses, 33 games behind the AL and World Series champion New York Yankees. Regular season Future Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski made his major league debut on Opening Day, April 11. He was considered the heir apparent to Ted Williams,The Boston Red Sox: An Illustrated History Milton Cole Jim Kaplan 32 World Publications Group North Dighton, Massachusetts 2009 978-1-57215-412-4 who had retired at the end of 1960. On June 30, Wilbur Wood made his major league baseball debut with the Red Sox. In a game against the Cleveland Indians, Wood pitched 4 innings, allowed 3 hits, and 2 earned runs. He had 3 strikeouts and allowed 1 walk.Wilbur Wood page at Baseball-Reference On October 1, in a game against the New York Yankees, Red Sox pitcher Tracy Stallard gave up Roger Maris' 61st home run of the season, breaking Babe Ruth's record for most home runs in a season. Season standings Record vs. opponents BOS Notable transactions May 17, 1961: Joe Ginsberg was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.Joe Ginsberg page at Baseball Reference June 26, 1961: Rip Repulski was released by the Red Sox.Rip Repulski page at Baseball Reference Opening Day lineup   2 Chuck Schilling 2B  7 Gary Geiger CF  6 Vic Wertz 1B  4 Jackie Jensen RF  8 Carl Yastrzemski LF  3 Pete Runnels 3B22 Russ Nixon C 12 Pumpsie Green SS27 Bill Monbouquette     P Roster 1961 Boston Red Sox Roster Pitchers 21 Tom Borland 23 Tom Brewer 15 Galen Cisco 18 Gene Conley 14 Ike Delock 21 Arnold Earley 20 Mike Fornieles 17 Dave Hillman 27 Bill Monbouquette 36 Billy Muffett 31 Chet Nichols Jr. 37 Don Schwall 39 Tracy Stallard 25 Ted Wills 28 Wilbur Wood Catchers 24 Joe Ginsberg 22 Russ Nixon 29 Jim Pagliaroni Infielders  1 Don Buddin 38 Don Gile 12 Pumpsie Green 10 Billy Harrell 11 Frank Malzone  3 Pete Runnels  2 Chuck Schilling  6 Vic Wertz Outfielders 19 Lou Clinton  7 Gary Geiger 16 Carroll Hardy  4 Jackie Jensen 28 Rip Repulski  8 Carl Yastrzemski Manager  5 Pinky Higgins Coaches 35 Billy Herman (Third base) 33 Sal Maglie (Pitching) 32 Len Okrie (Bullpen) 34 Rudy York (First base & Hitting) 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 Jim Pagliaroni 120 376 91 .242 16 58 1B Pete Runnels 143 360 114 .317 3 38 2B Chuck Schilling 158 646 167 .259 5 62 3B Frank Malzone 151 590 157 .266 14 87 SS Don Buddin 115 339 89 .263 6 42 LF Carl Yastrzemski 148 583 155 .266 11 80 CF Gary Geiger 140 499 116 .232 18 64 RF Jackie Jensen 147 498 131 .263 13 66 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 Vic Wertz 99 317 83 .262 11 60 Carroll Hardy 85 281 74 .263 3 36 Russ Nixon 87 242 70 .289 1 19 Pumpsie Green 88 219 57 .260 6 27 Lou Clinton 17 51 13 .255 0 3 Billy Harrell 37 37 6 .162 0 1 Rip Repulski 15 25 7 .280 0 1 Joe Ginsberg 19 24 6 .250 0 5 Don Gile 8 18 5 .278 1 1 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 Bill Monbouquette 32 236.1 14 14 3.39 161 Gene Conley 33 199.2 11 14 4.91 113 Don Schwall 25 178.2 15 7 3.22 91 Ike Delock 28 156.0 6 9 4.90 80 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 Galen Cisco 17 52.1 2 4 6.71 26 Chet Nichols Jr. 26 51.2 3 2 2.09 20 Tom Brewer 10 42.0 3 2 3.43 13 Ted Wills 17 19.2 3 2 5.95 11 Wilbur Wood 6 13.0 0 0 5.54 7 Tom Borland 1 1.0 0 0 18.00 0 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 Mike Fornieles 57 9 8 15 4.68 70 Tracy Stallard 43 2 7 2 4.88 109 Billy Muffett 38 3 11 2 5.67 47 Arnold Earley 33 2 4 7 3.99 44 Dave Hillman 28 3 2 0 2.77 39 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Seattle Rainiers Pacific Coast League Johnny Pesky A Johnstown Red Sox Eastern League Eddie Popowski B Winston-Salem Red Sox Carolina League Elmer Yoter and Matt Sczesny D Waterloo Hawks Midwest League Matt Sczesny and Bill Slack D Olean Red Sox New York–Penn League Harold Holland D Alpine Cowboys Sophomore League Mel Parnell LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Olean Source:Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007https://archive.org/details/bostonredsoxpres1961bost/page/2/mode/2up Boston Red Sox Press TV Radio Guide 1961 2 March 14, 2021 Wayback Machine References 30em External links 1961 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference 1961 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com Category:Boston Red Sox seasons Boston Red Sox Boston Red Sox Category:1961 in Boston