1961 Detroit Tigers Season
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1961 Detroit Tigers Season
The 1961 Detroit Tigers won 101 games but finished in second place, eight games behind the Yankees. The team's 1961 record tied the 1934 Tigers team record of 101 wins, and only twice in team history have the Tigers won more games: 1968 (103 wins) and 1984 (104 wins). Offseason On January 1, the Tigers' home park, Briggs Stadium, was renamed Tiger Stadium. Notable transactions * December 14, 1960: 1960 MLB expansion draft ** Steve Bilko was drafted from the Tigers by the Los Angeles Angels. ** Coot Veal was drafted from the Tigers by the Washington Senators. Regular season The 1961 Tigers were led by Norm Cash, Rocky Colavito, and Al Kaline. Cash won the AL batting title with a .361 batting average, and had 132 RBIs, and Colavito hit 45 home runs and had 140 RBIs. Kaline led the AL with 41 doubles and finished second to Cash for the batting title with a .324 average. Frank Lary led the pitching staff with 23 wins. The 1961 Tigers' winning percentage ranks as the 6th ...
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Tiger Stadium (Detroit)
Tiger Stadium, previously known as Navin Field and Briggs Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit. The stadium was nicknamed "The Corner" for its location at the intersection of Michigan and Trumbull Avenues. It hosted the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1912 to 1999, as well as the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1938 to 1974. Tiger Stadium was declared a State of Michigan Historic Site in 1975 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989. The last Tigers game at the stadium was held on September 27, 1999. In the decade after the Tigers vacated the stadium, several rejected redevelopment and preservation efforts finally gave way to demolition. The stadium's demolition was completed on September 21, 2009, though the stadium's actual playing field remains at the corner where the stadium stood. In 2018, the site was redeveloped for youth sports. History ...
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Steve Bilko
Stephen Thomas Bilko (November 13, 1928 – March 7, 1978) was an American professional baseball player known for his home run hitting as a minor leaguer during the 1950s. He was 20 years old when he broke into Major League Baseball on September 22, 1949, with the St. Louis Cardinals. Bilko threw and batted right-handed; he was listed as tall, and , and was nicknamed "Stout Steve" during his career because of his ample girth. Nat Hiken, creator of ''The Phil Silvers Show'', supposedly took the name of the character Sgt. Bilko from the ballplayer, whose long-ball heroics for one of Los Angeles' two minor-league teams of the mid-1950s made him a local celebrity. Biography Bilko was born in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, in coal mining country, and made his debut with the Allentown Cardinals in 1945 at the age of 16 during the final year of World War II. A first baseman, Bilko enjoyed his greatest fame with the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League from 1955–1957, when ...
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Dick Brown (baseball)
Richard Ernest Brown (January 17, 1935 – April 17, 1970) was an American professional baseball catcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles. The native of Shinnston, West Virginia, attended Florida State University. He threw and batted right-handed and was listed as tall and . His brother Larry Brown had a 12-year MLB career (1963–74) as an infielder with four American League teams. Originally signed by the Indians in 1953, Dick Brown made his big league debut on June 20, 1957 against the Boston Red Sox at the age of 22. After three seasons with the Indians, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox on December 6, 1959, along with Don Ferrarese, Minnie Miñoso and Jake Striker for Norm Cash, Bubba Phillips and Johnny Romano. Brown caught for six pitchers who would eventually be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He played in 636 games over nine seasons, hitting .244 with 62 home run ...
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Catcher
Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher is also called upon to master many other skills in order to field the position well. The role of the catcher is similar to that of the wicket-keeper in cricket. Positioned behind home plate and facing toward the outfield, the catcher can see the whole field, and is therefore in the best position to direct and lead the other players in a defensive play. The catcher typically calls for pitches using hand signals. The calls are based on the pitcher's mechanics and strengths, as well as the Batting (baseball), batter's tendencies and weaknesses. Essentially, the catcher controls what happens during the game when the ball is not "in play". Foul tips, bouncing balls in ...
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Frank Lary
Frank Strong Lary (April 10, 1930 – December 13, 2017) was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers (–), New York Mets (1964, ), Milwaukee Braves (1964), and Chicago White Sox (1965). He led the American League with 21 wins in 1956 and ranked second in the same category with 23 wins in 1961. Lary was selected to the American League All-Star team in 1960 and 1961 and won the Gold Glove Award in 1961. He was known variously as "Taters", "Mule", and the "Yankee Killer." The latter nickname was won due to his 27–10 record against the New York Yankees from 1955 to 1961. Early years Lary was born in Northport, Alabama, in April 1930 as the sixth of seven children in the family. He was raised with his six brothers at a two-bedroom house in his family's farm near Northport. His father, Joseph Milton "Mitt" Lary, was a cotton farmer and a former semipro spitball pitcher, who coached young Lary and five of his brothers when they were not working in the farm. ...
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Double (baseball)
In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay (see error) or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice. A double is a type of hit (the others being the single, triple and home run) and is sometimes called a "two-bagger" or "two-base hit". For statistical and scorekeeping purposes it is denoted by 2B. Description Typically, a double is a well-hit ball into the outfield that finds the "gap" between the center fielder and one of the corner outfielders, bounces off the outfield wall and down into the field of play, or is hit up one of the two foul lines. To hit many doubles, a batter must have decent hitting skill and power; it also helps to run well enough to beat an outfield throw. Doubles typically drive in runs from third base, second base, and even from first base at times. When total bases and slugging percentages are ca ...
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Home Run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is usually achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence between the foul poles (or hitting either foul pole) without the ball touching the field. Far less common is the "inside-the-park" home run where the batter reaches home safely while the baseball is in play on the field. When a home run is scored, the batter is credited with a hit and a run scored, and a run batted in ( RBI) for each runner that scores, including himself. Likewise, the pitcher is recorded as having given up a hit and a run, with additional runs charged for each runner that scores other than the batter. Home runs are among the most popular aspects of baseball and, as a result, prolific home run hitters are usually the most popular among fans and consequently th ...
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Run Batted In
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the batter bats a base hit which allows a teammate on a higher base to reach home and so score a run, then the batter gets credited with an RBI. Before the 1920 Major League Baseball season, runs batted in were not an official baseball statistic. Nevertheless, the RBI statistic was tabulated—unofficially—from 1907 through 1919 by baseball writer Ernie Lanigan, according to the Society for American Baseball Research. Common nicknames for an RBI include "ribby" (or "ribbie"), "rib", and "ribeye". The plural of "RBI" is a matter of "(very) minor controversy" for baseball fans:; it is usually "RBIs", in accordance with the usual practice for pluralizing initialisms in English; however, some sources use "RBI" as the plural, on the basis that i ...
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Batting Average (baseball)
In baseball, batting average (BA) is determined by dividing a player's hits by their total at-bats. It is usually rounded to three decimal places and read without the decimal: A player with a batting average of .300 is "batting three-hundred". If necessary to break ties, batting averages could be taken beyond the .001 measurement. In this context, .001 is considered a "point", such that a .235 batter is 5 points higher than a .230 batter. History Henry Chadwick, an English statistician raised on cricket, was an influential figure in the early history of baseball. In the late 19th century he adapted the concept behind the cricket batting average to devise a similar statistic for baseball. Rather than simply copy cricket's formulation of runs scored divided by outs, he realized that hits divided by at bats would provide a better measure of individual batting ability. This is because while in cricket, scoring runs is almost entirely dependent on one's batting skill, in baseball ...
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Al Kaline
Albert William Kaline ( ; December 19, 1934 – April 6, 2020), nicknamed "Mr. Tiger", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers. For most of his career, Kaline played in the outfield, mainly as a right fielder where he won ten Gold Glove Awards and was known for his strong throwing arm. He was selected to 18 All-Star Games, including selections each year between 1955 and 1967. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980, his first time on the ballot. Near the end of his career, Kaline also played as first baseman and, in his last season, was the Tigers' designated hitter. He retired soon after reaching the 3,000 hit milestone. Immediately after retiring from playing, he became the Tigers' TV color commentator, a position he held until 2002. Kaline worked for the Tigers as a front office assistant from 2003 until his death in 2020. Early life Kaline was born and raised in Balti ...
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Rocky Colavito
Rocco Domenico "Rocky" Colavito Jr. (born August 10, 1933) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1955 to 1968, most prominently as a member of the Cleveland Indians where, he established himself as a fan favorite for his powerful hitting and his strong throwing arm. A nine-time All-Star player, Colavito averaged 33 home runs per year for his first 11 seasons, exceeding 40 home runs three times and 100 runs batted in six times. He is the fifth player in the history of the American League (AL) to have eleven consecutive 20 home run seasons (1956–1966). In , he hit four consecutive home runs in one game and, was the AL home run champion. He was also the first outfielder in AL history to complete a season without making an error. During his tenure in the major leagues, Colavito also played for the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Athletics, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles ...
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Norm Cash
Norman Dalton Cash (November 10, 1933 – October 11, 1986) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman who spent almost his entire career with the Detroit Tigers. A power hitter, his 377 career home runs were the fourth most by an American League left-handed hitter when he retired, behind Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Lou Gehrig; his 373 home runs with the Tigers rank second in franchise history behind teammate Al Kaline (399). He also led the AL in assists three times and fielding percentage twice; he ranked among the all-time leaders in assists (4th with 1,317) and double plays (10th with 1,347) upon his retirement, and was fifth in AL history in games at first base (1,943). He was known to fans and teammates during his playing days as "Stormin' Norman." Early life and career Cash was born in Justiceburg, Garza County, Texas, and attended (what was then) Sul Ross State Teachers College, where he was All-Lone Star Conference in football as well as playing baseball; he wa ...
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