1961 Los Angeles Angels season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 Los Angeles Angels 1961 70–91 (70 91) 8th American League Wrigley Field Los Angeles Gene Autry Fred Haney Bill Rigney KHJ KMPC(Bob Kelley, Don Wells, Steve Bailey) The 1961 Los Angeles Angels season was the 1st season of the Angels franchise in the American League, the 1st in Los Angeles, and their only season playing their home games at Wrigley Field. The Angels finished the season eighth in the American League with a record of 70–91, 38 1 2 games behind the World Champion New York Yankees. The team's .435 winning percentage remains the best of any expansion team's first season in MLB history. It was the Angels' first season in franchise history, and their only season at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. Gene Autry owned the franchise, which was created as a counterpart to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the two teams would even share the same stadium the following year when the Angels moved to Dodger Stadium (referring to as Chavez Ravine). Offseason The Angels, along with the new Washington Senators, were the first ever American League expansion teams. Both teams participated in Major League Baseball's first ever expansion draft. The Angels had the first pick in the 1960 Major League Baseball expansion draft, which they used to select Eli Grba from the New York Yankees. Grba wound up playing two-plus seasons for Los Angeles before returning to the minor leagues. Notable transactions December 14, 1960: 1960 Major League Baseball expansion draft Jim Fregosi was drafted by the Angels from the Boston Red Sox.Jim Fregosi https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fregoji01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en Bob Cerv was drafted by the Angels from the New York Yankees.Bob Cerv https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cervbo01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en Steve Bilko was drafted by the Angels from the Detroit Tigers.Steve Bilko https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bilkost01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en Earl Averill, Jr. was drafted by the Angels from the Chicago White Sox.Earl Averill https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/averiea02.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en Jim McAnany was drafted by the Angels from the Chicago White Sox.Jim McAnany https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mcanaji01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en December 29, 1960: Del Rice was signed as a free agent by the Angels.Del Rice https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ricede01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en Regular season As an expansion team, the Angels were not expected to do well. However, they not only finished ahead of the Senators, but also the Kansas City A's, who tied the Senators for last place, nine games behind Los Angeles. Season standings Los Angeles Angels Opening Day starting lineup The first game in franchise history took place at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, on Tuesday, April 11, 1961. Powered by Ted Kluszewski's first- and second-inning home runs, which accounted for five runs, and Grba's complete game six-hitter, the Angels defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 7–2.April 11, 1961 Retrosheet Boxscore: Los Angeles Angels 7, Baltimore Orioles 2 https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1961/B04110BAL1961.htm 2024-09-10 Retrosheet They would then lose eight games in a row, including their home opener April 27 against the Minnesota Twins at Wrigley Field, Los Angeles. 10 Eddie Yost 3B11 Ken Aspromonte    2B28 Albie Pearson RF15 Ted Kluszewski 1B30 Bob Cerv LF26 Ken Hunt CF16 Fritz Brickell SS  9 Del Rice C 33 Eli Grba P Record vs. opponents LAA Offense The Angels were no stranger to offense in their first season, with five players hitting 20 or more home runs, a mark which at the time was considered a remarkable feat.October 2010 Leon Wagner, who led the team with 28 home runs, was one of the team's best offensive threats, also leading the team by slugging .517. The other players who hit 20 home runs were Ken Hunt (25), Lee Thomas (24), Earl Averill, Jr. (21), and Steve Bilko (20). Albie Pearson, who led the team in batting average, had an on-base percentage of .420, also a mark that was considered more valuable than the current game.October 2010 Pearson led the team in several other offensive categories, leading the team in stolen bases (11), runs (92), and walks (96). Lee Thomas, who ended the season second on the team in batting at .284, led the team in hits, with 128, edging out Wagner by 1 hit. Pitching Ken McBride, who led the team with 12 wins, also led the team with 15 losses. Eli Grba had an 11–13 record, good enough for second in both wins and losses amongst the team's pitchers. Ted Bowsfield was the Angels' only starter with a winning record, going 11–8. McBride had 180 strikeouts, 75 more than Grba, who was second on the team with 105. As a team, the Angels led the American League, throwing more strikeouts than any of the other 9 teams.https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1961.shtml#teams_standard_pitching::none 1961 American League Team Statistics and Standings baseball-reference.com June 25, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110622064745/http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1961.shtml June 22, 2011 live Art Fowler and Tom Morgan were the Angels' top two in saves, with 11 and 10, respectively, leading the team to finish second in the American League in that category. Notable transactions April 1, 1961: Jim McAnany was traded by the Angels to the Chicago Cubs for Lou Johnson. April 7, 1961: Ray Semproch was purchased by the Angels from the Washington Senators.Ray Semproch https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/semprra01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en May 8, 1961: Bob Cerv and Tex Clevenger were traded by the Angels to the New York Yankees for Lee Thomas, Ryne Duren, and Johnny James.May 9, 1961 Yanks, Angels complete six player trade https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uektAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eDEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5810%2C876741 2024-09-10 Rome News-Tribune 8 Google News Archive May 26, 1961: Art Fowler was purchased by the Angels from the Los Angeles Dodgers.Art Fowler https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fowlear01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en July 22, 1961: Tom Satriano was signed as an amateur free agent by the Angels.Tom Satriano https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/satrito01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en September 8, 1961: Chuck Tanner was purchased by the Angels from the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers.September 9, 1961 Angels purchase Chuck Tanner https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5sEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qE4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2744%2C2263610 2024-09-10 The Pittsburgh Press 7 Google News Archive Roster 1961 Los Angeles Angels Roster Pitchers 43 Ted Bowsfield 40 Jerry Casale 31 Dean Chance 32 Tex Clevenger 40 Jim Donohue 30 Ryne Duren 24 Art Fowler 31 Ned Garver 33 Eli Grba 46 Russ Heman 22 Johnny James 41 Ron Kline 37 Ken McBride 39 Ron Moeller 47 Tom Morgan 35 Ray Semproch 41 Jack Spring 17 Bob Sprout Catchers  8 Earl Averill  9 Del Rice  7 Buck Rodgers  6 Ed Sadowski Infielders 35 Dan Ardell 11 Ken Aspromonte 17 Julio Bécquer 20 Steve Bilko 16 Fritz Brickell 21 Rocky Bridges 16 Jim Fregosi 12 Ken Hamlin 15 Ted Kluszewski  1 Joe Koppe 14 Gene Leek 12 Billy Moran 29 Tom Satriano 10 Eddie Yost Outfielders 30 Bob Cerv 26 Ken Hunt 27 Lou Johnson 28 Albie Pearson 11 Chuck Tanner  4 George Thomas 32 Lee Thomas 29 Faye Throneberry 27 Leon Wagner Other batters 22 Leo Burke Manager 18 Bill Rigney Coaches  3 Bob Elliott (First base)  5 Marv Grissom (Pitching)  2 Red Kress (Third base) 48 Jack Paepke (Bullpen) 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 Averill Earl Averill, Jr. 115 323 86 .266 21 59 1B Steve Bilko 114 294 82 .279 20 59 2B Ken Aspromonte 66 238 53 .223 2 14 SS Joe Koppe 91 338 85 .251 5 40 3B Eddie Yost 76 213 43 .202 3 15 LF Leon Wagner 133 453 127 .280 28 79 CF Ken Hunt Ken Hunt (outfielder) 149 479 122 .255 25 84 RF Albie Pearson 144 427 123 .288 7 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 Lee Thomas Lee Thomas (baseball) 130 450 128 .284 24 70 George Thomas George Thomas (baseball) 79 282 79 .280 13 59 Ted Kluszewski 107 263 64 .243 15 39 Rocky Bridges 84 229 55 .240 2 15 Gene Leek 57 199 45 .226 5 20 Billy Moran 54 173 45 .260 2 22 Ed Sadowski 69 164 38 .232 4 12 Tom Satriano 35 96 19 .198 1 8 Ken Hamlin Ken Hamlin (baseball) 42 91 19 .209 1 5 Del Rice 44 83 20 .241 4 11 Bob Cerv 18 57 9 .158 2 6 Buck Rodgers 16 56 18 .321 2 13 Fritz Brickell 21 49 6 .122 0 3 Faye Throneberry 24 31 6 .194 0 0 Jim Fregosi 11 27 6 .222 0 3 Chuck Tanner 7 8 1 .125 0 0 Julio Bécquer 11 8 0 .000 0 0 Leo Burke Leo Burke (baseball) 6 5 0 .000 0 0 Dan Ardell 7 4 1 .250 0 0 Lou Johnson 1 0 0 ---- 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 Ken McBride 38 241.2 12 15 3.65 180 Eli Grba 40 211.2 11 13 4.25 105 Dean Chance 5 18.1 0 2 6.87 11 Bob Sprout 1 4.0 0 0 4.50 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 Ted Bowsfield 41 157.0 11 8 3.73 88 Ron Moeller 33 112.2 4 8 5.83 87 Ron Kline 26 104.2 3 6 4.90 70 Jim Donohue 38 100.1 4 6 4.31 79 Ryne Duren 40 99.0 6 12 5.18 108 Jerry Casale 13 42.2 1 5 6.54 35 Jack Spring 18 38.0 3 0 4.26 27 Ned Garver 12 29.0 0 3 5.59 9 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 Art Fowler 53 5 8 11 3.64 78 Tom Morgan Tom Morgan (baseball) 59 8 2 10 2.36 39 Jim Donohue 38 4 6 5 4.31 79 Johnny James 36 0 2 0 5.30 41 Tex Clevenger 12 2 1 1 1.69 11 Russ Heman 6 0 0 0 1.80 2 Ray Semproch 2 0 0 0 9.00 1 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers American Association Walker Cooper D Statesville Owls Western Carolinas League George Wilson 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 Los Angeles Angels team page at Baseball Reference 1961 Los Angeles Angels team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Further reading http://sabr.org/latest/roland-hemond-creating-1961-los-angeles-angels-120-days https://web.archive.org/web/20110810201656/http://sabr.org/latest/roland-hemond-creating-1961-los-angeles-angels-120-days dead August 10, 2011 Creating the 1961 Los Angeles Angels in 120 Days Roland Hemond sabr.com Society for American Baseball Research July 22, 2011 Category:Los Angeles Angels seasons Los Angeles Angels season Category:Major League Baseball inaugural teams seasons