1961 San Francisco Giants season

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1961 San Francisco Giants
LeagueNational League
BallparkCandlestick Park
CitySan Francisco
OwnersHorace Stoneham
General managersChub Feeney
ManagersAlvin Dark
TelevisionKTVU
(Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons)
RadioKSFO
(Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons, Bill King)
← 1960 Seasons 1962 →

The 1961 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 79th year in Major League Baseball, their fourth season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their second season at Candlestick Park. The team finished in third place in the National League with an 85 wins and 69 losses record, eight games behind the NL Champion Cincinnati Reds. The Giants were managed by Alvin Dark. As of 2021, this remains the only Giants season in franchise history in which two players (Orlando Cepeda and Willie Mays) each hit 40 or more home runs.[1]

Regular season[edit]

Willie Mays had both a three home run game (on June 29) and a four home run game (on April 30)[2] during the 1961 season. Mays became the ninth player, and first Giant, in MLB history to hit four home runs in one game.

Season standings[edit]

National League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 93 61 0.604 — 47–30 46–31
Los Angeles Dodgers 89 65 0.578 4 45–32 44–33
San Francisco Giants 85 69 0.552 8 45–32 40–37
Milwaukee Braves 83 71 0.539 10 45–32 38–39
St. Louis Cardinals 80 74 0.519 13 48–29 32–45
Pittsburgh Pirates 75 79 0.487 18 38–39 37–40
Chicago Cubs 64 90 0.416 29 40–37 24–53
Philadelphia Phillies 47 107 0.305 46 22–55 25–52

Record vs. opponents[edit]

1961 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team CHC CIN LAD MIL PHI PIT SF STL
Chicago — 12–10 7–15 9–13–1 13–9 11–11 5–17 7–15–1
Cincinnati 10–12 — 12–10 15–7 19–3 11–11 12–10 14–8
Los Angeles 15–7 10–12 — 12–10 17–5 13–9 10–12 12–10
Milwaukee 13–9–1 7–15 10–12 — 16–6 12–10 11–11 14–8
Philadelphia 9–13 3–19 5–17 6–16 — 7–15 8–14–1 9–13
Pittsburgh 11–11 11–11 9–13 10–12 15–7 — 10–12 9–13
San Francisco 17–5 10–12 12–10 11–11 14–8–1 12–10 — 9–13
St. Louis 15–7–1 8–14 10–12 8–14 13–9 13–9 13–9 —


Opening Day starters[edit]

Roster[edit]

1961 San Francisco Giants
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats[edit]

Batting[edit]

Starters by position[edit]

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 Ed Bailey 107 340 81 .238 13 51
1B Willie McCovey 106 328 89 .271 18 50
2B Joey Amalfitano 109 384 98 .255 2 23
SS José Pagán 134 434 110 .253 5 46
3B Jim Davenport 137 436 121 .278 12 65
LF Harvey Kuenn 131 471 125 .265 5 46
CF Willie Mays 154 572 176 .308 40 123
RF Felipe Alou 132 415 120 .289 18 52

Other batters[edit]

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
Orlando Cepeda 152 585 182 .311 46 142
Chuck Hiller 70 240 57 .238 2 12
Matty Alou 81 200 62 .310 6 24
Ed Bressoud 59 114 24 .211 3 11
John Orsino 25 83 23 .277 4 12
Hobie Landrith 43 71 17 .239 2 10
Tom Haller 30 62 9 .145 2 8
Ernie Bowman 38 38 8 .211 0 2
Jim Marshall 44 36 8 .222 1 7
Bob Farley 13 20 2 .100 0 1
Bob Schmidt 2 6 1 .167 0 1
Don Blasingame 3 1 0 .000 0 0

Pitching[edit]

Starting pitchers[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Mike McCormick 40 250.0 13 16 3.20 163
Jack Sanford 38 217.1 13 9 4.22 112
Juan Marichal 29 185.0 13 10 3.89 124

Other pitchers[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Billy O'Dell 46 130.1 7 5 3.59 110
Sam Jones 37 128.1 8 8 4.49 105
Billy Loes 26 114.2 6 5 4.24 55
Dick LeMay 27 83.1 3 6 3.56 54

Relief pitchers[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Stu Miller 63 14 5 17 2.66 89
Bobby Bolin 37 2 2 5 3.19 48
Jim Duffalo 24 5 1 1 4.23 37
Eddie Fisher 15 0 2 1 5.35 16
Dom Zanni 8 1 0 0 3.95 11

Awards and honors[edit]

All-Star Game (first game) All-Star Game (second game)

Farm system[edit]

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Tacoma Giants Pacific Coast League Red Davis
AA Rio Grande Valley/Victoria Giants Texas League Ray Murray
A Springfield Giants Eastern League Andy Gilbert
B Eugene Emeralds Northwest League Richie Klaus
C Fresno Giants California League Sal Taormina
C Pocatello Bannocks Pioneer League Bert Thiel
D Salem Rebels Appalachian League Jodie Phipps
D Quincy Giants Midwest League Buddy Kerr
D El Paso Sun Kings Sophomore League George Genovese
D Belmont Chiefs Western Carolinas League Jim Poole, Whitey Ries
and Max Lanier

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tacoma, Springfield, Quincy

Rio Grande Valley club moved to Victoria, June 10, 1961; Pocatello affiliation shared with Kansas City Athletics[4]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "Player Batting Season & Career Finder: For Single Seasons, In the Regular Season, since 1871, Playing for SFG, requiring Home Runs >= 40, sorted by most instances". Stathead Baseball. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  2. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 258, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  3. ^ "1961 San Francisco Giants Roster by Baseball Almanac".
  4. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References[edit]

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