1961 Milwaukee Braves season


The 1961 Milwaukee Braves season was the ninth in Milwaukee and the 91st overall season of the franchise.
The fourth-place Braves finished the season with an record, ten games behind the National League champion The home attendance at County Stadium fifth in the eight-team National League. It was the Braves' lowest attendance to date in Milwaukee, and was the last season surpassing one million fans.

Offseason

On April 28, Warren Spahn threw a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants.
On June 8, against the Cincinnati Reds, four consecutive Braves batters hit home runs off pitchers Jim Maloney and Marshall Bridges in the seventh inning. The batters who accomplished this feat were Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock, and Frank Thomas. Oddly, both Adcock and Thomas were former players for the Reds.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

, 66, was fired on September 2, less than a month shy of finishing his second year as the Braves' The club was in third place at seven games behind the league-leading Cincinnati Reds, when the change was announced after a Saturday home win over The Braves were under Dressen's command.
His successor was executive vice president Birdie Tebbetts, 48, a former Cincinnati manager, who came down from the Milwaukee front office to take the reins; the Braves went under him to finish the season. Tebbetts was signed through the 1963 season but he would spend only 1962 as the Braves' skipper before leaving to become manager of the Cleveland Indians in 1963. Tebbetts retained two of Dressen's coaches, Andy Pafko and Whit Wyatt, while George Myatt departed for the American League Detroit Tigers.

Roster

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
PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C113406113.2781042
1B152562160.28535108
2B148585153.2621556
SS154505111.220748
3B152572175.3063291
LF124423120.2842567
CF155603197.32734120
RF110373101.2711441

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
3711723.19734
2810424.231012
689726.26806
459320.21515
288217.20705
327412.16225
216314.22205
364110.24403
13366.16716
15306.20001
20265.19211
9214.19000
18192.10501
1092.22200
660.00000
100---00

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
40272.118114.0092
38262.221133.02115
32188.19104.1177
1997573.9044

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
35159.26123.8391
38126.1674.0666
1984725.2551

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGWLSVERASO
536482.8455
160224.625
131023.9813
122213.4716
121006.4613
91007.598
50105.145
50005.400
300018.001

Awards and honors

League leaders

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville