1961 Los Angeles Angels season

The 1961 Los Angeles Angels season ended with the Angels finishing eighth in the American League with a record of 70–91, 38+1⁄2 games behind the World Champion New York Yankees. 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.
- Bob Cerv was drafted by the Angels from the New York Yankees.
- Steve Bilko was drafted by the Angels from the Detroit Tigers.
- Earl Averill, Jr. was drafted by the Angels from the Chicago White Sox.
- Jim McAnany was drafted by the Angels from the Chicago White Sox.
December 29, 1960: Del Rice was signed as a free agent by the Angels.

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

v
t
e
American League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	109	53	.673	—	65‍–‍16	44‍–‍37
Detroit Tigers	101	61	.623	8	50‍–‍31	51‍–‍30
Baltimore Orioles	95	67	.586	14	48‍–‍33	47‍–‍34
Chicago White Sox	86	76	.531	23	53‍–‍28	33‍–‍48
Cleveland Indians	78	83	.484	30½	40‍–‍41	38‍–‍42
Boston Red Sox	76	86	.469	33	50‍–‍31	26‍–‍55
Minnesota Twins	70	90	.438	38	36‍–‍44	34‍–‍46
Los Angeles Angels	70	91	.435	38½	46‍–‍36	24‍–‍55
Kansas City Athletics	61	100	.379	47½	33‍–‍47	28‍–‍53
Washington Senators	61	100	.379	47½	33‍–‍46	28‍–‍54

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. 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	3B
11	Ken Aspromonte	2B
28	Albie Pearson	RF
15	Ted Kluszewski	1B
30	Bob Cerv	LF
26	Ken Hunt	CF
16	Fritz Brickell	SS
9	Del Rice	C
33	Eli Grba	P

Record vs. opponents

1961 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CHW	CLE	DET	KCA	LAA	MIN	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	11–7	11–7	9–9	9–9	13–5	8–10	11–7	9–9–1	14–4
Boston	7–11	—	9–9	5–13	8–10	10–8	11–7–1	11–7	5–13	10–8
Chicago	7–11	9–9	—	12–6	6–12	14–4	10–8	9–9–1	6–12	13–5
Cleveland	9–9	13–5	6–12	—	6–12	8–9	10–8	10–8	4–14	12–6
Detroit	9–9	10–8	12–6	12–6	—	12–6–1	14–4	11–7	8–10	13–5
Kansas City	5–13	8–10	4–14	9–8	6–12–1	—	9–9	7–11	4–14	9–9
Los Angeles	10–8	7–11–1	8–10	8–10	4–14	9–9	—	8–9	6–12	10–8
Minnesota	7–11	7–11	9–9–1	8–10	7–11	11–7	9–8	—	4–14	8–9
New York	9–9–1	13–5	12–6	14–4	10–8	14–4	12–6	14–4	—	11–7
Washington	4–14	8–10	5–13	6–12	5–13	9–9	8–10	9–8	7–11	—

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. 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. 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. 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.
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 26, 1961: Art Fowler was purchased by the Angels from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
July 22, 1961: Tom Satriano was signed as an amateur free agent by the Angels.
September 8, 1961: Chuck Tanner was purchased by the Angels from the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers.

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)

1961 Los Angeles Angels

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

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

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	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	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	130	450	128	.284	24	70
George Thomas	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	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	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	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

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers	American Association	Walker Cooper
D	Statesville Owls	Western Carolinas League	George Wilson

Notes

"Jim Fregosi". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
"Bob Cerv". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
"Steve Bilko". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
"Earl Averill". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
^ "Jim McAnany". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
"Del Rice". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
"Retrosheet Boxscore: Los Angeles Angels 7, Baltimore Orioles 2". Retrosheet. April 11, 1961. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
"1961 American League Team Statistics and Standings". baseball-reference.com. Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
"Ray Semproch". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
"Yanks, Angels complete six player trade". Rome News-Tribune. May 9, 1961. p. 8. Retrieved September 10, 2024 – via Google News Archive.
"Art Fowler". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
"Tom Satriano". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
"Angels purchase Chuck Tanner". The Pittsburgh Press. September 9, 1961. p. 7. Retrieved September 10, 2024 – via Google News Archive.

References

Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 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

v t e 1961 MLB season by team
American League	Baltimore Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit Kansas City Los Angeles Minnesota New York Washington
National League	Chicago Cincinnati Los Angeles Milwaukee Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis San Francisco
1961 All-Star Game (1st, 2nd) 1961 World Series 1961 MLB expansion draft

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