1961 Chicago Cubs season

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.

1961 Chicago Cubs
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record64–90 (.416)
League place7th
Other information
Owner(s)Philip K. Wrigley
General manager(s)John Holland
Manager(s)Vedie Himsl (31 games)
Harry Craft (16 games)
El Tappe (96 games)
Lou Klein (11 games)
Local televisionWGN-TV
(Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd)
Local radioWGN
(Jack Quinlan, Lou Boudreau)
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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 9361 0.604 — 47–30 46–31
Los Angeles Dodgers 8965 0.578 4 45–32 44–33
San Francisco Giants 8569 0.552 8 45–32 40–37
Milwaukee Braves 8371 0.539 10 45–32 38–39
St. Louis Cardinals 8074 0.519 13 48–29 32–45
Pittsburgh Pirates 7579 0.487 18 38–39 37–40
Chicago Cubs 6490 0.416 29 40–37 24–53
Philadelphia Phillies 47107 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 —12–107–159–13–113–911–115–177–15–1
Cincinnati 10–12—12–1015–719–311–1112–1014–8
Los Angeles 15–710–12—12–1017–513–910–1212–10
Milwaukee 13–9–17–1510–12—16–612–1011–1114–8
Philadelphia 9–133–195–176–16—7–158–14–19–13
Pittsburgh 11–1111–119–1310–1215–7—10–129–13
San Francisco 17–510–1212–1011–1114–8–112–10—9–13
St. Louis 15–7–18–1410–128–1413–913–913–9—

Notable transactions

Roster
1961 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Head Coach

Coaches

Player stats

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
LFBilly Williams146529147.2782586

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
Sammy Taylor8923556.238823
Bob Will8611329.25708
Frank Thomas155013.26026
Mel Roach23395.12801
Danny Murphy4135.38523
Jim McAnany11103.30000

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
Don Cardwell39259.115143.82156
Dick Ellsworth37186.210113.8691
Jack Curtis31180.110134.8957

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
Bob Anderson571527104.2696
Dick Drott3598144.2248
Jim Brewer3686.2175.8257

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
Don Elston586785.5959
Dick Burwell20009.000

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
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
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