1961 Chicago Cubs season

1961 Chicago Cubs
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Location
Wrigley Field (since 1916)
Chicago (since 1870)
Other information
Owner(s)	Philip K. Wrigley
General manager(s)	John Holland
Manager(s)	Harry Craft, Vedie Himsl, Lou Klein, El Tappe
Local television	WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd)
Local radio	WGN (Jack Quinlan, Lou Boudreau)
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The 1961 Chicago Cubs season was the 90th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 86th in the National League and the 46th at Wrigley Field. In the first season under their College of Coaches, the Cubs finished seventh in the National League with a record of 64–90, 29 games behind the Cincinnati Reds.

Offseason

• January 12, 1961: Billy Cowan was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.^[1]

Regular season

The College of Coaches

This season marked the introduction of the so-called "College of Coaches", a system instituted by owner Philip K. Wrigley after input from El Tappe. Under this system, the Cubs would have no single manager, but instead would have a rotating series of eight coaches, with one managing the team while others served as either assistant coaches or minor league field personnel.

Four different men served as manager during 1961: Tappe, who served the most games in the position and had a record of 42–54; Harry Craft, who had a record of 7–9; Vedie Himsl, who had a record of 10–21; and Lou Klein, who was brought on board in midseason and had a record of 5–6. Other coaches in the system during the season were Charlie Grimm – the team's manager in 1960 – Bobby Adams, Dick Cole, Ripper Collins, Goldie Holt, Fred Martin and Verlon Walker. The team improved to 64–90, four games better than their 1960 record, although none of the four managers posted a winning record individually. The experiment would be carried over into the 1962 season.

Season standings

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

1961 National League Records Sources:
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	—

Notable transactions

• April 1, 1961: Lou Johnson was traded by the Cubs to the Los Angeles Angels for Jim McAnany.^[2]
• May 9, 1961: Frank Thomas was traded by the Cubs to the Milwaukee Braves for Mel Roach.^[3]
• July 20, 1961: Curt Motton was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.^[4]
• September 21, 1961: Paul Casanova was signed as a free agent the Cubs.^[5]

Roster

1961 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers 32 Bob Anderson 48 Jim Brewer 34 Dick Burwell 43 Don Cardwell 42 Jack Curtis 30 Dick Drott 37 Dick Ellsworth 36 Don Elston 40 Glen Hobbie 46 Joe Schaffernoth 41 Barney Schultz 45 Mel Wright		Catchers  9 Cuno Barragan  6 Dick Bertell  7 Sammy Taylor  8 Moe Thacker Infielders 14 Ernie Banks 11 Ed Bouchee 33 Ken Hubbs 16 Jerry Kindall 25 Moe Morhardt 12 Mel Roach 18 Andre Rodgers 10 Ron Santo 17 Don Zimmer		Outfielders 21 George Altman  1 Richie Ashburn 24 Lou Brock 19 Sammy Drake 22 Al Heist 23 Nelson Mathews 20 Jim McAnany 27 Danny Murphy 25 Frank Thomas 28 Bob Will 26 Billy Williams Other batters  8 George Freese		Head Coach 53 Harry Craft 54 Vedie Himsl 60 Lou Klein 52 El Tappe Coaches College of Coaches

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
LF	Williams, BillyBilly Williams	146	529	147	.278	25	86

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
Taylor, SammySammy Taylor	89	235	56	.238	8	23
Will, BobBob Will	86	113	29	.257	0	8
Thomas, FrankFrank Thomas	15	50	13	.260	2	6
Roach, MelMel Roach	23	39	5	.128	0	1
Murphy, DannyDanny Murphy	4	13	5	.385	2	3
McAnany, JimJim McAnany	11	10	3	.300	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
Cardwell, DonDon Cardwell	39	259.1	15	14	3.82	156
Ellsworth, DickDick Ellsworth	37	186.2	10	11	3.86	91
Curtis, JackJack Curtis	31	180.1	10	13	4.89	57

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
Anderson, BobBob Anderson	57	152	7	10	4.26	96
Drott, DickDick Drott	35	98	1	4	4.22	48
Brewer, JimJim Brewer	36	86.2	1	7	5.82	57

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
Elston, DonDon Elston	58	6	7	8	5.59	59
Burwell, DickDick Burwell	2	0	0	0	9.00	0

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Houston Buffaloes	American Association	Grady Hatton, Fred Martin, Lou Klein and Harry Craft
AA	San Antonio Missions	Texas League	Ripper Collins, Harry Craft, Bobby Adams and Verlon Walker
B	Wenatchee Chiefs	Northwest League	Verlon Walker, Vedie Himsl, Dick Cole and Bobby Adams
C	St. Cloud Rox	Northern League	Joe Macko
D	Morristown Cubs	Appalachian League	John Fitzpatrick
D	Carlsbad Potashes	Sophomore League	Lou Klein and Walt Dixon

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: San Antonio

Notes

1. Billy Cowan page at Baseball-Reference
2. Jim McAnany page at Baseball Reference
3. Braves trade Mel Roach for Frank Thomas
4. Curt Motton page at Baseball Reference
5. Paul Casanova page at Baseball Reference

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 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference