1961 Chicago Cubs

64-90 • .416 Win% • 7th in NL

The 1961 Chicago Cubs went 64-90 (.416) finishing 7th in the NL. The club scored 689 runs, allowed 800, and played home games at Wrigley Field. Team leaders included Ernie Banks (29 HR, 80 RBI) and Don Cardwell (15-14, 3.82 ERA).

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
L (Losses):
Games charged to the pitcher of record when the opposing team took a lead it never surrendered.
RS (Runs Scored (team)):
Total runs a team scored across the season.
RA (Runs Allowed):
Total runs a team allowed across the season.

Data updated

📊 Season Record

64 Wins
90 Losses
.416 Win %
7th Rank
689 R 800 RA
Diff -111

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⚡ Quick Stats

689 Runs Scored
800 Runs Allowed
-111 Run Diff
673K Attendance

📈 vs. 1961 NL Average

Batting Avg .255 3% below the 1961 league average (.261)
OBP .325 1% below the 1961 league average (.327)
SLG .417 3% above the 1961 league average (.405)
Team ERA 4.48 11% worse than the 1961 league average (4.03)
Runs Scored 689 2% below the 1961 league average (700 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumWrigley Field
📅
Home Games 78
👥
Total Attendance 673,006
📊
Avg per Game 8,628

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1961

Batting Avg

1 George Altman 0.303 2 Ron Santo 0.284 3 Ernie Banks 0.278 4 Billy Williams 0.278 5 Dick Bertell 0.273

Home Runs

1 Ernie Banks 29 2 George Altman 27 3 Billy Williams 25 4 Ron Santo 23 5 Don Zimmer 13

RBI

1 George Altman 96 2 Billy Williams 86 3 Ron Santo 83 4 Ernie Banks 80 5 Jerry Kindall 44
1961 Chicago Cubs — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Ron Santo 154 578 84 164 32 6 23 83 73 77 2 0.284
Billy Williams 146 529 75 147 20 7 25 86 45 70 6 0.278
George Altman 138 518 77 157 28 12 27 96 40 92 6 0.303
Ernie Banks 138 511 75 142 22 4 29 80 54 75 1 0.278
Don Zimmer 128 477 57 120 25 4 13 40 25 70 5 0.252
Al Heist 109 321 48 82 14 3 7 37 39 51 3 0.255
Ed Bouchee 112 319 49 79 12 3 12 38 58 77 1 0.248
Jerry Kindall 96 310 37 75 22 3 9 44 18 89 2 0.242
Richie Ashburn 109 307 49 79 7 4 0 19 55 27 7 0.257
Dick Bertell 92 267 20 73 7 1 2 33 15 33 0 0.273
Sammy Taylor 89 235 26 56 8 2 8 23 23 39 0 0.238
Andre Rodgers 73 214 27 57 17 0 6 23 25 54 1 0.266
Bob Will 86 113 9 29 9 0 0 8 15 19 0 0.257
Don Cardwell 40 95 6 10 3 0 3 6 6 55 0 0.105
Glen Hobbie 36 66 5 11 3 0 2 6 5 30 0 0.167
Jack Curtis 31 60 8 10 2 0 2 4 10 23 0 0.167
Dick Ellsworth 37 56 1 2 1 0 0 0 3 29 0 0.036
Frank Thomas 15 50 7 13 2 0 2 6 2 8 0 0.260
Bob Anderson 57 42 5 6 0 0 2 5 1 22 0 0.143
Mel Roach 23 39 1 5 2 0 0 1 3 9 1 0.128
Moe Thacker 25 35 3 6 0 0 0 2 11 11 0 0.171
Cuno Barragan 10 28 3 6 0 0 1 2 2 7 0 0.214
Ken Hubbs 10 28 4 5 1 1 1 2 0 8 0 0.179
Jim Brewer 36 22 1 4 0 0 0 0 2 10 0 0.182
Dick Drott 35 22 1 6 0 1 0 1 1 7 0 0.273
Moe Morhardt 7 18 3 5 0 0 0 1 3 5 0 0.278
Danny Murphy 4 13 3 5 0 0 2 3 1 5 0 0.385
Lou Brock 4 11 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0.091
Don Elston 58 11 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0.182
Jim McAnany 11 10 1 3 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 0.300
Barney Schultz 41 10 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0.100
Nelson Mathews 3 9 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.111
George Freese 9 7 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 4 0 0.286
Sammy Drake 13 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.000
Joe Schaffernoth 21 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Mel Wright 11 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Dick Burwell 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1961

ERA

1 Barney Schultz 2.70 2 Don Cardwell 3.82 3 Dick Ellsworth 3.86 4 Dick Drott 4.22 5 Bob Anderson 4.26

Wins

1 Don Cardwell 15 2 Jack Curtis 10 3 Dick Ellsworth 10 4 Bob Anderson 7 5 Glen Hobbie 7

Strikeouts

1 Don Cardwell 156 2 Glen Hobbie 103 3 Bob Anderson 96 4 Dick Ellsworth 91 5 Don Elston 59
1961 Chicago Cubs — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Don Cardwell 15 14 3.82 39 38 0 259.1 243 110 88 156
Glen Hobbie 7 13 4.26 36 29 2 198.2 207 94 54 103
Dick Ellsworth 10 11 3.86 37 31 0 186.2 213 80 48 91
Jack Curtis 10 13 4.89 31 27 0 180.1 220 98 51 57
Bob Anderson 7 10 4.26 57 12 8 152.0 162 72 56 96
Dick Drott 1 4 4.22 35 8 0 98.0 75 46 51 48
Don Elston 6 7 5.59 58 0 8 93.1 108 58 45 59
Jim Brewer 1 7 5.82 36 11 0 86.2 116 56 21 57
Barney Schultz 7 6 2.70 41 0 7 66.2 57 20 25 59
Joe Schaffernoth 0 4 6.34 21 0 0 38.1 43 27 18 23
Mel Wright 0 1 10.71 11 0 0 21.0 42 25 4 6
Dick Burwell 0 0 9.00 2 0 0 4.0 6 4 4 0

👥 Roster (37)

George Altman Bob Anderson Richie Ashburn Ernie Banks Cuno Barragan Dick Bertell Ed Bouchee Jim Brewer Lou Brock Dick Burwell Don Cardwell Jack Curtis +25 more

37 players

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The 1961 Chicago Cubs in brief

The 1961 Chicago Cubs won 64 games and lost 90, ending up 7th in the NL. Runs came in at 689 scored against 800 allowed (-111). Against a league average of .261, the 1961 Chicago Cubs batted .255. Pitchers allowed 4.48 earned runs per nine innings, against a league figure of 4.03. The 689 runs scored compare with a league average of 700 per club, 2% fewer.

Wrigley Field was home in 1961, drawing a total attendance of 673,006. Ernie Banks topped the Chicago Cubs with 29 home runs. George Altman drove in a team-high 96 runs. The hits leader was Ron Santo with 164. Don Cardwell led the pitchers with 15 wins. The roster section lists 37 players who appeared for the club.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1961 Chicago Cubs

What was the 1961 Chicago Cubs record?
The 1961 Chicago Cubs finished 64-90 (.416 win pct).
Who led the 1961 Chicago Cubs in home runs?
Ernie Banks led the 1961 Chicago Cubs with 29 home runs.
What was the 1961 Chicago Cubs team ERA?
The 1961 Chicago Cubs posted a team ERA of 4.48.
Did the 1961 Chicago Cubs win the World Series?
No. The 1961 Chicago Cubs did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1961 Chicago Cubs play?
The 1961 Chicago Cubs played home games at Wrigley Field.
Who led the 1961 Chicago Cubs in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Ernie Banks (29 HR, 80 RBI) and Don Cardwell (15-14, 3.82 ERA).
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