1961 Chicago White Sox season

The 1961 Chicago White Sox season was the team's 61st season in the major leagues, and its 62nd season overall. They finished with a record of 86–76, good enough for fourth place in the American League, 23 games behind the first-place New York Yankees. Their pitching staff surrendered 13 of Roger Maris's 61 home runs that year, the most of any team.

1961 Chicago White Sox
League	American League
Ballpark	Comiskey Park
City	Chicago
Owners	Bill Veeck, Arthur Allyn, Jr., John Allyn
General managers	Hank Greenberg, Ed Short
Managers	Al López
Television	WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd)
Radio	WCFL (Bob Elson, Ralph Kiner)
Seasons

Offseason

• December 14, 1960: 1960 MLB expansion draft
  • Earl Averill, Jr. was drafted from the White Sox by the Los Angeles Angels.
  • Jim McAnany was drafted from the White Sox by the Los Angeles Angels.

Regular season

Season standings

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

Record vs. opponents

1961 American League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
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	—

Opening Day lineup

• Luis Aparicio, SS
• Nellie Fox, 2B
• Minnie Miñoso, LF
• Roy Sievers, 1B
• J. C. Martin, 3B
• Al Smith, RF
• Jim Landis, CF
• Sherm Lollar, C
• Early Wynn, P

Notable transactions

• May 10, 1961: Wes Covington was selected off waivers by the Chicago White Sox from the Milwaukee Braves.
• May 15, 1961: Joe Ginsberg was released by the White Sox.
• June 1, 1961: Warren Hacker was purchased by the White Sox from the Philadelphia Phillies.
• June 10, 1961: Wes Covington, Stan Johnson, Bob Shaw, and Gerry Staley were traded by the White Sox to the Kansas City Athletics for Ray Herbert, Don Larsen, Andy Carey, and Al Pilarcik.

Roster

1961 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers 38 Frank Baumann 46 Alan Brice 36 Mike DeGerick 28 Warren Hacker 21,23 Ray Herbert 20 Joe Horlen 44 Russ Kemmerer 26 Don Larsen 27 Turk Lown 15 Cal McLish 23 Gary Peters 19 Billy Pierce 32 Juan Pizarro 18 Herb Score 35 Bob Shaw 21 Jerry Staley 24 Early Wynn		Catchers 45 Cam Carreon 28 Joe Ginsberg 10 Sherm Lollar 31 Bob Roselli Infielders 11 Luis Aparicio  7 Andy Carey 14 Sammy Esposito  2 Nellie Fox  6 Billy Goodman 36 Ted Lepcio 12 J. C. Martin  5 Roy Sievers 16 Al Smith 17 Earl Torgeson		Outfielders 26 Wes Covington 40 Mike Hershberger  1 Jim Landis 30 Dean Look  9 Minnie Miñoso 29 Al Pilarcik  3 Floyd Robinson Other batters  7 Jim Rivera		Manager 42 Al López Coaches 37 Ray Berres 34 Johnny Cooney 33 Tony Cuccinello 39 Don Gutteridge

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	SB
Luis Aparicio, SS	156	625	90	170	24	4	6	45	38	33	.272	53
Andy Carey, 3B	56	143	21	38	12	3	0	14	11	24	.266	0
Cam Carreon, C	78	229	32	62	5	1	4	27	21	24	.271	0
Wes Covington, LF,RF	22	59	5	17	1	0	4	15	4	5	.288	0
Sammy Esposito, 3B,SS,2B	63	94	12	16	5	0	1	8	12	21	.170	0
Nellie Fox, 2B	159	606	67	152	11	5	2	51	59	12	.251	2
Joe Ginsberg, C	6	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.000	0
Billy Goodman, 3B	41	51	4	13	4	0	1	10	7	6	.255	0
Mike Hershberger, OF	15	55	9	17	3	0	0	5	2	2	.309	1
Jim Landis, CF	140	534	87	151	18	8	22	85	65	71	.283	19
Ted Lepcio, 3B	5	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000	0
Sherm Lollar, C	116	337	38	95	10	1	7	41	37	22	.282	0
Dean Look, LF	3	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	0
J. C. Martin, 1B,3B	110	274	26	63	8	3	5	32	21	31	.230	1
Minnie Miñoso, LF	152	540	91	151	28	3	14	82	67	46	.280	9
Al Pilarcik, CF	47	62	9	11	1	0	1	6	9	5	.177	1
Jim Rivera, PR	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Floyd Robinson, RF	132	432	69	134	20	7	11	59	52	32	.310	7
Bob Roselli, C	22	38	2	10	3	0	0	4	0	11	.263	0
Roy Sievers, 1B	141	492	76	145	26	6	27	92	61	62	.295	1
Al Smith, 3B,OF	147	532	88	148	29	4	28	93	56	67	.278	4
Earl Torgeson, 1B	20	15	1	1	0	0	0	1	3	5	.067	0

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	SB
Frank Baumann, P	55	61	8	16	2	0	2	10	5	25	.262	1
Warren Hacker, P	42	9	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.111	0
Ray Herbert, P	21	53	7	12	1	0	2	3	3	8	.226	0
Joe Horlen, P	5	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	0
Russ Kemmerer, P	47	15	1	3	1	0	0	1	2	7	.200	0
Don Larsen, P	25	25	2	8	0	0	1	4	0	5	.320	0
Turk Lown, P	60	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	.000	0
Cal McLish, P	31	54	2	9	1	0	0	5	1	24	.167	0
Gary Peters, P	3	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.333	0
Billy Pierce, P	39	56	3	8	0	0	0	3	1	11	.143	0
Juan Pizarro, P	40	69	10	17	3	1	0	5	5	19	.246	1
Herb Score, P	8	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	.000	0
Bob Shaw, P	14	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	6	.000	0
Early Wynn, P	17	37	4	6	0	0	0	2	3	11	.162	0
Team Totals	163	5556	765	1475	216	46	138	704	550	612	.265	100

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K
Frank Baumann	10	13	5.61	53	23	3	187.2	249	128	117	22	63	75
Alan Brice	0	1	0.00	3	0	0	3.1	4	2	0	0	3	3
Mike DeGerick	0	0	5.40	1	0	0	1.2	2	1	1	0	1	0
Warren Hacker	3	3	3.77	42	0	8	57.1	62	26	24	8	9	40
Ray Herbert	9	6	4.05	21	20	0	137.2	142	69	62	15	38	50
Joe Horlen	1	3	6.62	5	4	0	17.2	25	15	13	2	13	11
Russ Kemmerer	3	3	4.38	47	2	2	96.2	102	53	47	10	27	35
Don Larsen	7	2	4.12	25	3	2	74.1	64	36	34	5	31	53
Turk Lown	7	5	2.76	59	0	11	101.0	87	37	31	13	38	50
Cal McLish	10	13	4.38	31	27	1	162.1	178	87	79	21	48	80
Gary Peters	0	0	1.74	3	0	1	10.1	10	2	2	0	2	6
Billy Pierce	10	9	3.80	39	28	3	180.0	190	85	76	17	57	106
Juan Pizarro	14	7	3.05	39	25	2	194.2	164	73	66	17	90	188
Herb Score	1	2	6.66	8	5	0	24.1	22	19	18	3	25	14
Bob Shaw	3	4	3.79	14	10	0	71.1	85	40	30	11	25	31
Gerry Staley	0	3	5.00	16	0	0	18.0	17	10	10	3	6	8
Early Wynn	8	2	3.51	17	16	0	110.1	88	43	43	11	47	64
Team Totals	86	76	4.06	163	163	33	1448.2	1491	726	653	158	523	814

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	San Diego Padres	Pacific Coast League	Jimmie Reese, Whitey Wietelmann and Bill Norman
A	Charleston White Sox	Sally League	Ira Hutchinson
B	Lincoln Chiefs	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	George Noga
C	Idaho Falls Russets	Pioneer League	Herman Reich and Chips Sobek
D	Harlan Smokies	Appalachian League	Frank Parenti and Eddie Lyons
D	Daytona Beach Islanders	Florida State League	Homer Ray Wilson
D	Clinton C-Sox	Midwest League	Dick Kinaman

Harlan affiliation shared with New York Yankees

References

• 1961 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference