Thursday, March 5, 2015

The 1961 Reds: A Good Team, Nonetheless!

The Cincinnati Reds of 1961 have been called a fluke. Or they've been accused of stealing signs. The New York Yankees supposedly routed them in that year's Fall Classic. Pete Rose was not there. Jim Maloney was not in his prime. Wally Post was past his. The list goes on.

But wait a minute, didn't Frank Robinson win the MVP that year? And what's this about a rout in the World Series? Did they not have more hits then New York in the first three games, and even scored more runs in that span? They even pulled off a nice double play in game four that I'm sure New York doesn't want to talk about.

They also were managed by Fred Hutchinson, who was to die tragically a few years later of cancer. But in 1961, he was named by The Sporting News as Manager of the Year. Vada Pinson added a gold glove to this team.

Rose was not at second, obviously. Here's were the team had a weakness, on the surface. It was Don Blasingame who was there. He hit only .222 that season, and hadn't hit well in 1960, either. Before that, his lifetime batting average was .275. Don would bounce back in 1963, coincidentally, Rose's rookie year. But his days were numbered as he was a utility infielder in '63.

Still, Blasingame was a pretty good fielder and knew a thing or two about bunting. And like Rose, he knew a thing or two about hitting singles. He wasn't the team's biggest problem. That was the catchers. Wait 'till you read about their batting averages.

The regular was Jerry Zimmerman, who hit .206 in 76 games. Johnny Edwards, another catcher, was worse. He hit .186 in 52 games. Darrell Johnson, still another catcher, hit .315, but it was in only 20 games. Add the fact that still another catcher, Bob Schmidt, hit .129 in 27 games and it's as if we're talking about the New York Mets of the next year.

Speaking of which, one of that team's most memorable players was actually on this team! Elio Chacon, who spoke very little English, got into 61 games, mostly at second when Blasingame wasn't there. But he was more of a help then a hindrance. He hit .265 and scored 26 runs. Combine that with Blasingame's 59, and that's actually pretty good.

The team's best player was Frank Robinson. And he earned that MVP, I tell you! 37 home runs, 124 RBIs and a .323 batting average. There was Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, and Robinson when you talked about National League right fielders. Funny, Al Kaline, Rocky Colavito and Roger Maris were the junior circuit right fielders that year. Right on in 1961!

The Reds had other sluggers, too. There was Wally Post, who'd hit 40 home runs in 1955. He hit only 20 this season, but it was in only 99 games. And he hit .294. Wally was in left. In centre, between these two heavy hitters was Vada Pinson. And Pinson wasn't just about fielding. He hit 16 home runs, which seems sort of low on this team. But he hit .343, which was second in the league. Pinson's 101 runs scored was second on the team behind Robinson's 117.

Other sluggers? How about Gordie Coleman at first base? He hit 26 home runs and batted .287. Gene Freese at third also hit 26. Coleman, Pinson and Freese all drove in exactly 87 runs.

How about the guys on the hill?

There was Jim Maloney, not quite there. There was author Jim Brosnan. But how about Jim O'Toole? All he did was go 19-9 and post an ERA of 3.10. There was Joey Jay, a fine star in his own right. Jay came 21-10, and beat the Yankees in game two of the World Series for the Reds only win. New York, of course, didn't take that loss lightly, and got back at Jay in game five. Bob Purkey almost beat New York in game three, and went 16-12 in the regular season.

Ken Hunt, only played one season in the bigs. And it was this season. He went only 9-10. And his ERA of 3.96 wasn't too bad all things considered.



Jim Maloney and Ken Johnson were just spot starters. Maloney, too good of a talent to pass up, didn't contribute the way he would in a few seasons. He went only 6-7 with an ERA of 4.37. But Cincinnati knew he was a good pitcher, and kept him on the postseason roster. Johnson was a good pitcher that year. He went 6-2 with an ERA of 3.25. Brosnan, a relief pitcher, actually was better then what you would expect for an author. He went 10-4 with an ERA of 3.04, while the other author and Yankee property, Jim Bouton, was stuck in the minors at this point!

Brosnan also picked up 16 saves, but he was not alone with that number. Bill Henry added that total, as well. And his ERA? Try 2.19!

History will show that the New York Yankees beat this team, four games to one in the 1961 Fall Classic. But New York won only 2-0 in game one and 3-2 in game three. And that game was tied going into the top of the ninth!



Game four was close until the later inning, while game five was a rout. But I think Cincy can be excused for for getting pounced on from the get-go, eh?



The Reds got five runs in the game, however, and New York was glad to get it over with in such a quick manner, believe me! The 1961 World Series was not walk in the park for the Yankees, who had to reach deep down for some pitching, hitting and defense all Series long!




References


Anderson, Dave. Pennant Races: Baseball At Its Best. New York: Doubleday, 1994. Print.

Enders, Eric. 100 years of the World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.

Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary Books, 2000. Print.

Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.

Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Informationhttp://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. Mar. 06. 2014.

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