1961 in Baseball

Deaths

January 5 – Fred Luderus, 75, Phillies first baseman of the 1910s, captain of the 1915 NL champions
January 8 – Schoolboy Rowe, 50, 3-time All-Star pitcher who won 158 games, mainly with the Tigers and Phillies
January 30 – Aaron Ward, 64, second baseman on the Yankees' first championship team in 1923
February 16 – Dazzy Vance, 69, Hall of Fame pitcher who led the NL in strikeouts seven years in a row and won the 1924 MVP award
February 19 – Red Smith, 61, shortstop for the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1920s
March 13 – Joe Berry, 88, catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies for one game in 1902
April 15 – Nick Cullop, 73, pitcher for the Cleveland Naps, New York Yankees and St. Louis Browns, who also won 22 games for the 1915 Kansas City Packers in the outlaw Federal League
April 23 – Jack Barry, 73, shortstop in the Athletics' "$100,000 infield", coach since 1921 at Holy Cross, where he won the 1952 College World Series and posted the highest career winning percentage (.806) in collegiate history
April 28 – Tommy Connolly, 90, Hall of Fame umpire from 1898 to 1931 who worked the first American League game ever, as well as the first contests at Comiskey Park, Shibe Park, Fenway Park, and Yankee Stadium
May 17 – Otto Knabe, 76, Second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies for many years, and was the player-manager for the Baltimore Terrapins of the Federal League.
June 18 – Eddie Gaedel, 36, 3'7" player who made one appearance for the 1951 Browns in a stunt promotion
July 17 – Ty Cobb, 74, Hall of Fame center fielder widely recognized during his lifetime as the greatest player in the sport's history, and holder of more records than any other player including highest lifetime batting average (.367) and most career hits (4,191), runs (2,245), steals (892), games (3,033) and at bats (11,429)
July 17 – Ed Reulbach, 78, pitcher who starred for the Cubs from 1905 to 1913, winning 182 career games
July 18 – Hod Eller, 67, pitcher for the Reds from 1917–1921, including a 1919 World Series game which saw him strike out 6 in a row
August 3 – Thomas Edward Downey, 77, played from 1909 to 1915 for the Reds, Phillies, Cubs, and Bisons.
September 9 – Jesse Barnes, 69, pitcher who won 152 games for the Braves, Giants and Dodgers, including a no-hitter
September 9 – Rube Oldring, 77, outfielder who played mainly for the Athletics, including 4 pennant winners
October 21 – Harry Gleason, 86, infielder/outfielder who played from 1901 through 1905 for the Boston Americans and St. Louis Browns
December 15 – Dummy Hoy, 99, center fielder who scored over 100 runs nine times, and the game's most accomplished deaf player; he threw out the first ball of the 1961 World Series' third game on October 7

History of baseball

Early years	1845 to 1868 1869

1870s–1880s	1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889

1890s–1900s	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909

1910s–1920s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930s–1940s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950s–1960s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970s–1980s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990s–2000s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013

See also	Baseball Major League Baseball Minor league baseball Negro league baseball Nippon Professional Baseball 1961 in sports

Sources	Baseball Hall of Fame Baseball Almanac Baseball Library Baseball Reference National Pastime The Deadball Era

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Famous quotes containing the word deaths:

“This is the 184th Demonstration.
...
What we do is not beautiful
hurts no one makes no one desperate
we do not break the panes of safety glass
stretching between people on the street
and the deaths they hire.”
—Marge Piercy (b. 1936)

“There is the guilt all soldiers feel for having broken the taboo against killing, a guilt as old as war itself. Add to this the soldier’s sense of shame for having fought in actions that resulted, indirectly or directly, in the deaths of civilians. Then pile on top of that an attitude of social opprobrium, an attitude that made the fighting man feel personally morally responsible for the war, and you get your proverbial walking time bomb.”
—Philip Caputo (b. 1941)

“I sang of death but had I known
The many deaths one must have died
Before he came to meet his own!”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)

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