1961 Pittsburgh Pirates

75-79 • .487 Win% • 6th in NL

The 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates went 75-79 (.487) finishing 6th in the NL. The club scored 694 runs, allowed 675, and played home games at Forbes Field. Team leaders included Dick Stuart (35 HR, 117 RBI) and Bob Friend (14-19, 3.85 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

75 Wins
79 Losses
.487 Win %
6th Rank
694 R 675 RA
Diff +19

📁 Franchise Info

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⚡ Quick Stats

694 Runs Scored
675 Runs Allowed
+19 Run Diff
1,199K Attendance

📈 vs. 1961 NL Average

Batting Avg .272 4% above the 1961 league average (.261)
OBP .327 equal to the 1961 league average (.327)
SLG .410 1% above the 1961 league average (.405)
Team ERA 3.92 3% better than the 1961 league average (4.03)
Runs Scored 694 1% below the 1961 league average (700 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumForbes Field
📅
Home Games 77
👥
Total Attendance 1,199,198
📊
Avg per Game 15,574

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1961

Batting Avg

1 Roberto Clemente 0.351 2 Smoky Burgess 0.303 3 Dick Stuart 0.301 4 Gino Cimoli 0.299 5 Don Hoak 0.298

Home Runs

1 Dick Stuart 35 2 Roberto Clemente 23 3 Bill Mazeroski 13 4 Smoky Burgess 12 5 Don Hoak 12

RBI

1 Dick Stuart 117 2 Roberto Clemente 89 3 Don Hoak 61 4 Bill Mazeroski 59 5 Bill Virdon 58
1961 Pittsburgh Pirates — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Bill Virdon 146 599 81 156 22 8 9 58 49 45 5 0.260
Dick Groat 148 596 71 164 25 6 6 55 40 44 0 0.275
Roberto Clemente 146 572 100 201 30 10 23 89 35 59 4 0.351
Bill Mazeroski 152 558 71 148 21 2 13 59 26 55 2 0.265
Dick Stuart 138 532 83 160 28 8 35 117 34 121 0 0.301
Don Hoak 145 503 72 150 27 7 12 61 73 53 4 0.298
Bob Skinner 119 381 61 102 20 3 3 42 51 49 3 0.268
Smoky Burgess 100 323 37 98 17 3 12 52 30 16 1 0.303
Hal Smith 67 193 12 43 10 0 3 26 11 38 0 0.223
Joe Christopher 76 186 25 49 7 3 0 14 18 24 6 0.263
Rocky Nelson 75 127 15 25 5 1 5 13 17 11 0 0.197
Bob Friend 41 79 6 11 0 1 0 7 1 36 0 0.139
Dick Schofield 60 78 16 15 2 1 0 2 10 19 0 0.192
Gino Cimoli 21 67 4 20 3 1 0 6 2 13 0 0.299
Walt Moryn 40 65 6 13 1 0 3 9 2 10 0 0.200
Don Leppert 22 60 6 16 2 1 3 5 1 11 0 0.267
Joe Gibbon 31 59 1 8 1 1 0 6 1 22 0 0.136
Harvey Haddix 31 56 2 8 3 0 0 3 6 14 0 0.143
Johnny Logan 27 52 5 12 4 0 0 5 4 8 0 0.231
Donn Clendenon 9 35 7 11 1 1 0 2 5 10 0 0.314
Tom Sturdivant 13 32 2 8 0 0 0 1 0 8 0 0.250
Earl Francis 23 28 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 17 1 0.107
Vinegar Bend Mizell 25 23 1 3 0 0 0 1 2 9 0 0.130
Vern Law 11 19 0 5 1 0 0 5 1 4 0 0.263
Bobby Shantz 44 16 3 7 1 0 0 3 2 1 0 0.438
Al McBean 28 15 2 4 0 0 1 3 0 3 0 0.267
Roy Face 62 11 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0.273
Gene Baker 9 10 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 0.100
Clem Labine 56 10 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 0 0.100
Al Jackson 5 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0.000
Larry Foss 3 6 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0.167
Bob Oldis 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Fred Green 13 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.000
Red Witt 9 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.500
Roman Mejias 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Jim Umbricht 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
Tom Cheney 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1961

ERA

1 Tom Sturdivant 2.84 2 Joe Gibbon 3.32 3 Bobby Shantz 3.32 4 Clem Labine 3.69 5 Al McBean 3.75

Wins

1 Bob Friend 14 2 Joe Gibbon 13 3 Harvey Haddix 10 4 Vinegar Bend Mizell 7 5 Roy Face 6

Strikeouts

1 Joe Gibbon 145 2 Bob Friend 108 3 Harvey Haddix 99 4 Bobby Shantz 61 5 Roy Face 55
1961 Pittsburgh Pirates — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Bob Friend 14 19 3.85 41 35 1 236.0 271 101 45 108
Joe Gibbon 13 10 3.32 30 29 0 195.1 185 72 57 145
Harvey Haddix 10 6 4.10 29 22 0 156.0 159 71 41 99
Earl Francis 2 8 4.21 23 15 0 102.2 110 48 47 53
Vinegar Bend Mizell 7 10 5.04 25 17 0 100.0 120 56 31 37
Clem Labine 4 1 3.69 56 1 8 92.2 102 38 31 49
Roy Face 6 12 3.82 62 0 17 92.0 94 39 10 55
Bobby Shantz 6 3 3.32 43 6 2 89.1 91 33 26 61
Tom Sturdivant 5 2 2.84 13 11 1 85.2 81 27 17 45
Al McBean 3 2 3.75 27 2 0 74.1 72 31 42 49
Vern Law 3 4 4.70 11 10 0 59.1 72 31 18 20
Al Jackson 1 0 3.42 3 2 0 23.2 20 9 4 15
Fred Green 0 0 4.79 13 0 0 20.2 27 11 9 4
Red Witt 0 1 6.32 9 1 0 15.2 17 11 5 9
Larry Foss 1 1 5.87 3 3 0 15.1 15 10 11 9
Jim Umbricht 0 0 2.70 1 0 0 3.1 5 1 2 1
Tom Cheney 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 0.0 1 4 4 0

👥 Roster (37)

Gene Baker Smoky Burgess Tom Cheney Joe Christopher Gino Cimoli Roberto Clemente Donn Clendenon Roy Face Larry Foss Earl Francis Bob Friend Joe Gibbon +25 more

37 players

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The 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates in brief

A 75-79 record (.487) put the 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates 6th in the NL. With 694 runs scored and 675 given up, the 1961 differential was +19. At the plate the Pittsburgh Pirates hit .272, 4% better than the league's .261. The Pittsburgh Pirates staff finished with a 3.92 ERA; the league as a whole was at 4.03. The 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates scored 1% fewer runs than the average club (694 against 700).

Home games were played at Forbes Field, where 1,199,198 fans came through the gates. Dick Stuart topped the Pittsburgh Pirates with 35 home runs. Roberto Clemente collected the most hits, 201. Bob Friend was the top winner, with 14 victories. The strikeout leader was Joe Gibbon with 145. The saves leader was Roy Face with 17.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates

What was the 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates record?
The 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates finished 75-79 (.487 win pct).
Who led the 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates in home runs?
Dick Stuart led the 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates with 35 home runs.
What was the 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates team ERA?
The 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates posted a team ERA of 3.92.
Did the 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series?
No. The 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates play?
The 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates played home games at Forbes Field.
Who led the 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Dick Stuart (35 HR, 117 RBI) and Bob Friend (14-19, 3.85 ERA).
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