1961

The 1961 San Francisco Giants season would be their 79th year in Major League Baseball, their fourth in San Francisco and their second at Candlestick Park.

 

Speaking of Candlestick Park, the 1960 season was an attendance best (1,795,356) for the franchise.  The previous best happened in 1947 when 1.6 million fans attended at the Polo Grounds.  It was more than the 1,422,130 that filled Seals Stadium the previous season.

 

The Giants would have a new manager in 1961 in Alvin Dark.  He was a shortstop for the New York Giants in the 1950s.  There would definitely be some changes, mostly good but some negativity.

 

They were definitely a better team on the field.  With an 85-69 record, the team finished third behind the Cincinnati Reds.  After two good months of April and May, the team was inconsistent.  There were also rumors that Dark had communications issues with the Latin players on the team.

 

Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda both finished with 40 home runs or more in the season.  It is the only time in franchise history that two players did the trick.

 

The rotation of Juan Marichal, Mike McCormick and Jack Sanford each had 13 wins.  Stu Miller, with a 14-5 record and 17 saves was the closer.

 

Speaking of Miller, he would be the first pitcher in All Star Game history to commit a balk.  Candlestick Park was host to the mid summer classic for the first of two times (the other one was 1984).  The NL would defeat the AL, 6-5 in 10 innings on July 11th.

 

It would be the final year for the eight team National League.  In 1962, the senior circuit would follow suit of the American League by going to 10 teams and a 162 game schedule.  Houston and New York City would be added.

  

Rk	Tm	W	L	W-L%	GB
1	Cincinnati Reds	93	61	.604	--
2	Los Angeles Dodgers	89	65	.578	4.0
3	San Francisco Giants	85	69	.552	8.0
4	Milwaukee Braves	83	71	.539	10.0
5	St. Louis Cardinals	80	74	.519	13.0
6	Pittsburgh Pirates	75	79	.487	18.0
7	Chicago Cubs	64	90	.416	29.0
8	Philadelphia Phillies	47	107	.305	46.0