Our commissioner, Mike Bunch, is the most prolific APBA baseball player I know. Between arbitrating and chaperoning the Illowa APBA League, he finds time to replay full seasons of 1960s baseball… and finishing them, too.
It wasn’t too long ago when Mike completed his 1968 season replay. He went right ahead and took on 1961. He just emailed our league with the results.
Say what you want about Mike but he keeps accurate and detailed stats. Safe to say, what I’m showing below is an inkling of what he showed us.
On to the results… first thing I noticed was Roger Maris. He hit 61 on the nose. The Giants’ Orlando Cepeda did him one better in the National League though. That and his league leading 166 rbis makes him the NL MVP, says Mike.
On the AL side, Mike gives the MVP to Norm Cash who led the league in batting (.386) and runs scored (144), and OBP (.512).
Mike has also deemed Mike McCormick and Whitey Ford the Cy Young Award winners.
Who’s on your ballot?
Mike will be playing the Giants-Tigers World Series soon. I’m looking forward to an update!
| National League | Wins | Losses | PCT | GB | |
| 1 | San Francisco Giants | 101 | 53 | .656 | 0 |
| 2 | Cincinnati Reds | 87 | 67 | .565 | 14 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 83 | 71 | .539 | 18 |
| 4 | Milwaukee Braves | 82 | 72 | .532 | 19 |
| 5 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 78 | 76 | .506 | 23 |
| 6 | St. Louis Cardinals | 78 | 76 | .506 | 23 |
| 7 | Chicago Cubs | 66 | 88 | .429 | 35 |
| 8 | Philadelphia Phillies | 41 | 113 | .266 | 60 |
| American League | Wins | Losses | PCT | GB | |
| 1 | Detroit Tigers | 107 | 55 | .660 | 0 |
| 2 | New York Yankees | 103 | 59 | .636 | 4 |
| 3 | Baltimore Orioles | 86 | 76 | .531 | 21 |
| 4 | Cleveland Indians | 83 | 78 | .516 | 23 1/2 |
| 5 | Boston Red Sox | 83 | 79 | .512 | 24 |
| 6 | Los Angeles Angels | 77 | 84 | .478 | 29 1/2 |
| 7 | Chicago White Sox | 76 | 86 | .469 | 31 |
| 8 | Minnesota Twins | 70 | 90 | .438 | 36 |
| 9 | Kansas City Athletics | 62 | 99 | .385 | 44 1/2 |
| 10 | Washington Senators | 60 | 101 | .373 | 46 1/2 |
1961 NL Stats
| Player | AVG | Tm | Player | SLG | Tm | Player | OBP | Tm | ||
| Pinson, V. | .366 | CIN | Cepeda, O. | .725 | SFG | Moon, W. | .435 | LAD | ||
| Clemente, R. | .362 | PIT | Aaron, H. | .610 | MIL | Clemente, R. | .401 | PIT | ||
| Cepeda, O. | .351 | SFG | Clemente, R. | .599 | PIT | Pinson, V. | .398 | CIN | ||
| Aaron, H. | .332 | MIL | Mays, W. | .576 | SFG | Mays, W. | .395 | SFG | ||
| Moon, W. | .329 | LAD | Pinson, V. | .571 | CIN | Mathews, E. | .393 | MIL | ||
| Boyer, K. | .317 | STL | Banks, E. | .566 | CHC | Cepeda, O. | .393 | SFG | ||
| Mays, W. | .313 | SFG | Robinson, Fr. | .548 | CIN | Santo, R. | .391 | CHC | ||
| Santo, R. | .309 | CHC | Mathews, E. | .543 | MIL | Robinson, Fr. | .386 | CIN | ||
| Robinson, Fr. | .305 | CIN | Santo, R. | .543 | CHC | Aaron, H. | .381 | MIL | ||
| Davis, T. | .296 | LAD | Stuart, D. | .534 | PIT | Hoak, D. | .373 | PIT | ||
| Player | Runs | Tm | Player | Hits | Tm | Player | 2B | Tm | ||
| Mays, W. | 141 | SFG | Pinson, V. | 226 | CIN | Pinson, V. | 46 | CIN | ||
| Cepeda, O. | 136 | SFG | Cepeda, O. | 211 | SFG | Clemente, R. | 40 | PIT | ||
| Mathews, E. | 131 | MIL | Clemente, R. | 209 | PIT | Aaron, H. | 39 | MIL | ||
| Santo, R. | 112 | CHC | Aaron, H. | 206 | MIL | Freese, E. | 38 | CIN | ||
| Robinson, Fr. | 111 | CIN | Boyer, K. | 191 | STL | Santo, R. | 35 | CHC | ||
| Pinson, V. | 110 | CIN | Mays, W. | 183 | SFG | Altman, G. | 33 | CHC | ||
| Aaron, H. | 109 | MIL | Santo, R. | 176 | CHC | Mays, W. | 31 | SFG | ||
| Clemente, R. | 107 | PIT | Virdon, B. | 173 | PIT | Davenport, J. | 29 | SFG | ||
| Bolling, F. | 100 | MIL | Mathews, E. | 172 | MIL | Stuart, D. | 29 | PIT | ||
| Boyer, K. | 98 | STL | Robinson, Fr. | 169 | CIN | Robinson, Fr. | 28 | CIN | ||
| Player | 3B | Tm | Player | HR | Tm | Player | RBI | Tm | ||
| Wills, M. | 20 | LAD | Cepeda, O. | 62 | SFG | Cepeda, O. | 166 | SFG | ||
| Aaron, H. | 17 | MIL | Mays, W. | 41 | SFG | Aaron, H. | 159 | MIL | ||
| Gonzalez, T. | 15 | PHI | Mathews, E. | 41 | MIL | Mays, W. | 137 | SFG | ||
| Clemente, R. | 14 | PIT | Banks, E. | 40 | CHC | Robinson, Fr. | 120 | CIN | ||
| White, B. | 14 | STL | Adcock, J. | 40 | MIL | Boyer, K. | 117 | STL | ||
| Blasingame, D. | 11 | CIN | Coleman, G. | 35 | CIN | Adcock, J. | 117 | MIL | ||
| Virdon, B. | 10 | PIT | Stuart, D. | 34 | PIT | Mathews, E. | 108 | MIL | ||
| Boyer, K. | 9 | STL | Aaron, H. | 33 | MIL | Stuart, D. | 107 | PIT | ||
| Cepeda, O. | 8 | SFG | Robinson, Fr. | 33 | CIN | Banks, E. | 98 | CHC | ||
| Altman, G. | 8 | CHC | Santo, R. | 28 | CHC | White, B. | 98 | STL | ||
| Player | BB | Tm | Player | SO | Tm | Player | SB | Tm | ||
| Mathews, E. | 99 | MIL | Herrera, P. | 126 | PHI | Wills, M. | 41 | LAD | ||
| Moon, W. | 88 | LAD | Stuart, D. | 120 | PIT | Robinson, Fr. | 23 | CIN | ||
| Mays, W. | 79 | SFG | Altman, G. | 113 | CHC | Pinson, V. | 22 | CIN | ||
| Santo, R. | 75 | CHC | Adcock, J. | 112 | MIL | Mays, W. | 16 | SFG | ||
| Cunningham, J. | 70 | STL | McMillan, R. | 105 | MIL | Davis, W. | 16 | LAD | ||
| McMillan, R. | 69 | MIL | Mathews, E. | 99 | MIL | Cepeda, O. | 14 | SFG | ||
| Wills, M. | 68 | LAD | Kindall, J. | 96 | CHC | Aaron, H. | 14 | MIL | ||
| Bolling, F. | 67 | MIL | White, B. | 91 | STL | Maye, L. | 13 | MIL | ||
| Callison, J. | 67 | PHI | Smith, C. | 86 | PHI | Christopher, J. | 12 | PIT | ||
| Hoak, D. | 65 | PIT | Moon, W. | 85 | LAD | Gonzalez, T. | 12 | PHI | ||
| Player | HBP | Tm | Player | ERA | Tm | Player | W | Tm | ||
| Cunningham, J. | 11 | STL | McCormick, M. | 2.56 | SFG | McCormick, M. | 24 | SFG | ||
| Robinson, Fr. | 10 | CIN | Podres, J. | 3.19 | LAD | O’Toole, J. | 21 | CIN | ||
| Torre, J. | 8 | MIL | Haddix, H. | 3.23 | PIT | Spahn, W. | 19 | MIL | ||
| Dalrymple, C. | 7 | PHI | Koufax, S. | 3.29 | LAD | Purkey, B. | 18 | CIN | ||
| Taylor, S. | 6 | CHC | Willey, C. | 3.30 | MIL | Sanford, J. | 18 | SFG | ||
| Bailey, E. (2/2) | 5 | SFG | Simmons, C. | 3.32 | STL | Cardwell, D. | 17 | CHC | ||
| Ashburn, R. | 5 | CHC | Purkey, B. | 3.38 | CIN | Drysdale, D. | 17 | LAD | ||
| Skinner, B. | 5 | PIT | Jay, J. | 3.46 | CIN | Burdette, L. | 17 | MIL | ||
| Jones, M. | 4 | MIL | Cardwell, D. | 3.57 | CHC | Koufax, S. | 15 | LAD | ||
| Chacon, E. | 4 | CIN | Jackson, L. | 3.61 | STL | Friend, B. | 15 | PIT | ||
| Player | SO | Tm | Player | SV | Tm | Player | SHO | Tm | ||
| Koufax, S. | 235 | LAD | Miller, S. | 26 | SFG | Simmons, C. | 4 | STL | ||
| Williams, S. | 187 | LAD | Schultz, B. | 15 | CHC | Cardwell, D. | 4 | CHC | ||
| Gibson, B. | 182 | STL | Henry, B. | 14 | CIN | Friend, B. | 4 | PIT | ||
| O’Toole, J. | 177 | CIN | McMahon, D. | 13 | MIL | McCormick, M. | 3 | SFG | ||
| Jay, J. | 166 | CIN | Face, R. | 12 | PIT | Podres, J. | 3 | LAD | ||
| Drysdale, D. | 166 | LAD | Perranoski, R. | 10 | LAD | Haddix, H. | 3 | PIT | ||
| Gibbon, J. | 162 | PIT | Shantz, B. | 9 | PIT | Jay, J. | 3 | CIN | ||
| McCormick, M. | 147 | SFG | McDaniel, L. | 7 | STL | Francis, E. | 3 | PIT | ||
| Jackson, L. | 140 | STL | Brosnan, J. | 6 | CIN | Spahn, W. | 3 | MIL | ||
| Podres, J. | 134 | LAD | 4 tied with | 5 | Gibson, B. | 3 | STL | |||
| O’Toole, J. | 3 | CIN | ||||||||
| Mahaffey, A. | 3 | PHI |
1961 AL Stats
| Player | AVG | Tm | Player | SLG | Tm | Player | OBP | Tm | ||
| Cash, N. | .386 | DET | Killebrew, H. | .700 | MIN | Cash, N. | .512 | DET | ||
| Piersall, J. | .359 | CLE | Mantle, M. | .698 | NYY | Mantle, M. | .475 | NYY | ||
| Pearson, A. | .354 | LAA | Cash, N. | .688 | DET | Pearson, A. | .447 | LAA | ||
| Kaline, A. | .339 | DET | Gentile, J. | .631 | BAL | Colavito, R. | .426 | DET | ||
| Mantle, M. | .335 | NYY | Colavito, R. | .624 | DET | Killebrew, H. | .424 | MIN | ||
| Francona, T. | .312 | CLE | Maris, R. | .586 | NYY | Siebern, N. | .416 | KCA | ||
| Colavito, R. | .308 | DET | Kaline, A. | .566 | DET | Piersall, J. | .414 | CLE | ||
| Siebern, N. | .305 | KCA | Smith, A. | .559 | CWS | Howser, D. | .414 | KCA | ||
| Minoso, M. | .305 | CWS | Wagner, L. | .542 | LAA | Kaline, A. | .413 | DET | ||
| Green, L. | .299 | MIN | Romano, J. | .525 | CLE | Gentile, J. | .413 | BAL | ||
| Player | Runs | Tm | Player | Hits | Tm | Player | 2B | Tm | ||
| Cash, N. | 144 | DET | Cash, N. | 209 | DET | Kaline, A. | 55 | DET | ||
| Mantle, M. | 142 | NYY | Kaline, A. | 202 | DET | Kubek, T. | 45 | NYY | ||
| Colavito, R. | 140 | DET | Francona, T. | 186 | CLE | Power, V. | 44 | CLE | ||
| Killebrew, H. | 133 | MIN | Colavito, R. | 182 | DET | Siebern, N. | 38 | KCA | ||
| Kaline, A. | 130 | DET | Green, L. | 182 | MIN | Versalles, Z. | 37 | MIN | ||
| Maris, R. | 127 | NYY | Howser, D. | 181 | KCA | Robinson, B. | 35 | BAL | ||
| Howser, D. | 109 | KCA | Schilling, C. | 179 | BOS | Smith, A. | 34 | CWS | ||
| Wood, J. | 104 | DET | Aparicio, L. | 176 | CWS | Howser, D. | 33 | KCA | ||
| Minoso, M. | 98 | CWS | Piersall, J. | 174 | CLE | Schilling, C. | 33 | BOS | ||
| Gentile, J. | 98 | BAL | Mantle, M. | 172 | NYY | Pearson, A. | 32 | LAA | ||
| Player | 3B | Tm | Player | HR | Tm | Player | RBI | Tm | ||
| Wood, J. | 24 | DET | Maris, R. | 61 | NYY | Colavito, R. | 148 | DET | ||
| Howard, E. | 12 | NYY | Killebrew, H. | 59 | MIN | Killebrew, H. | 140 | MIN | ||
| Landis, J. | 12 | CWS | Colavito, R. | 53 | DET | Maris, R. | 134 | NYY | ||
| Cash, N. | 10 | DET | Mantle, M. | 51 | NYY | Cash, N. | 121 | DET | ||
| Thomas, J. | 9 | LAA | Gentile, J. | 50 | BAL | Kaline, A. | 121 | DET | ||
| Geiger, G. | 9 | BOS | Cash, N. | 40 | DET | Mantle, M. | 116 | NYY | ||
| Green, L. | 8 | MIN | Smith, A. | 40 | CWS | Smith, A. | 116 | CWS | ||
| Killebrew, H. | 8 | MIN | Allison, B. | 39 | MIN | Siebern, N. | 115 | KCA | ||
| Sievers, R. | 8 | CWS | Kirkland, W. | 35 | CLE | Francona, T. | 114 | CLE | ||
| 8 tied with | 7 | Bilko, S. | 34 | LAA | Gentile, J. | 114 | BAL | |||
| Player | BB | Tm | Player | SO | Tm | Player | SB | Tm | ||
| Cash, N. | 133 | DET | Wood, J. | 138 | DET | Aparicio, L. | 50 | CWS | ||
| Mantle, M. | 133 | NYY | Held, W. | 130 | CLE | Howser, D. | 32 | KCA | ||
| Howser, D. | 122 | KCA | Lemon, J. | 121 | MIN | Wood, J. | 28 | DET | ||
| Colavito, R. | 120 | DET | Hunt, K. | 119 | LAA | Hinton, C. | 20 | WAS | ||
| Killebrew, H. | 114 | MIN | Gentile, J. | 117 | BAL | Versalles, Z. | 18 | MIN | ||
| Siebern, N. | 105 | KCA | Skowron, B. | 115 | NYY | Geiger, G. | 18 | BOS | ||
| Gentile, J. | 90 | BAL | Killebrew, H. | 114 | MIN | Bruton, B. | 15 | DET | ||
| Allison, B. | 85 | MIN | Tasby, W. | 105 | WAS | O’Connell, D. | 15 | WAS | ||
| Geiger, G. | 85 | BOS | Mantle, M. | 103 | NYY | Green, L. | 13 | MIN | ||
| Maris, R. | 82 | NYY | Siebern, N. | 102 | KCA | Mantle, M. | 12 | NYY | ||
| Player | HBP | Tm | Player | ERA | Tm | Player | W | Tm | ||
| Minoso, M. | 21 | CWS | Ford, W. | 1.65 | NYY | Ford, W. | 26 | NYY | ||
| Boros, S. | 21 | DET | Donovan, D. | 1.67 | WAS | Lary, F. | 23 | DET | ||
| Gentile, J. | 19 | BAL | Mossi, D. | 2.43 | DET | Bunning, J. | 21 | DET | ||
| Fox, N. | 9 | CWS | Schwall, D. | 2.78 | BOS | Mossi, D. | 20 | DET | ||
| Cash, N. | 8 | DET | Kralick, J. | 2.94 | MIN | Stafford, B. | 19 | NYY | ||
| Nixon, R. | 7 | BOS | Lary, F. | 3.03 | DET | Grant, M. | 16 | CLE | ||
| Geiger, G. | 7 | BOS | Brown, H. | 3.08 | BAL | Pizarro, J. | 15 | CWS | ||
| Francona, T. | 6 | CLE | Pappas, M. | 3.10 | BAL | Pascual, C. | 15 | MIN | ||
| Lollar, S. | 6 | CWS | Stafford, B. | 3.14 | NYY | Barber, S. | 15 | BAL | ||
| Smith, A. | 6 | CWS | Pizarro, J. | 3.14 | CWS | 2 Tied with | 14 | |||
| Player | SO | Tm | Player | SV | Tm | Player | SHO | Tm | ||
| Ford, W. | 214 | NYY | Arroyo, L. | 28 | NYY | Ford, W. | 7 | NYY | ||
| Bunning, J. | 203 | DET | Wilhelm, H. | 17 | BAL | Barber, S. | 7 | BAL | ||
| Pascual, C. | 186 | MIN | Lown, T. | 15 | CWS | Grant, M. | 5 | CLE | ||
| McBride, K. | 175 | LAA | Morgan, T. | 14 | LAA | Schwall, D. | 4 | BOS | ||
| Barber, S. | 169 | BAL | Aguirre, H. | 13 | DET | Kralick, J. | 4 | MIN | ||
| Ramos, P. | 168 | MIN | Fox, T. | 12 | DET | Lary, F. | 4 | DET | ||
| Grant, M. | 167 | CLE | Funk, F. | 10 | CLE | Bell, G. | 4 | CLE | ||
| Pizarro, J. | 166 | CWS | Nichols, C. | 10 | BOS | 7 tied with | 3 | |||
| Kralick, J. | 160 | MIN | Fowler, A. | 10 | LAA | |||||
| Lary, F. | 151 | DET | Fornieles, M. | 8 | BOS | |||||
“Arbitrating and chaperoning?” Try “babysitting.”
I was 12 years old in 1961. My buddies and I thought the Giants had the best team in the National League that year. Mike’s replay indicates that we weren’t THAT far off, talentwise.
But the Giants had a first-year, “just retired” manager who was rumored to dislike non-white players (Mays, McCovey, Cepeda, the Alou’s). The Reds were managed by Fred Hutchinson, who got every last ounce out of their talent. Cincinnati also had Frank Robinson, a WINNER.
In the replay, Mike managed all the teams and the Giants won.
My favorite name in the replay: Albie Pearson. Not only an Angel, but he was shorter than I am.
DonS.
.
Great job, Mike. I have replayed the 1961 Yankees twice, a different game each time. In my APBA replay, Maris homered in his last at bat, against Tracy Stallard, for #61. 61 is one of my favorite seasons as I was just 10 years old starting to really get into baseball. Enjoyed reading through the stats.
DonS-are Albie Pearson, Eddie Gaedel and Harry Chappas the only major leaguers shorter than you?
From what I’ve heard and read …the ’61 Reds almost never win the pennant in APBA replays. I’m not sure why but does that make Fred Hutchinson a genius??
Good to see TWade checking in. Playing anyhting on the tabletop these days?
Cluke
The Baby Bull hit 62 home runs to out homer Maris, tough break Rog!
I am just starting the 40th game for the 59 White Sox. So far they are 23-16. I just finished the 1953 Dodgers, took 10 years to do it and am 20 games from the end of the 41 Red Sox.
This year I finished replays for 68 Gibson and 68 McLain and working on 06 Brown.
I am finding it easier to pick a pitcher and replay their starts.
I still keep up you guys on your website(s) and the Baseball Zealot page.
Terry, I’m replaying ’59 myself as you may have seen. Going on 4 years and only halfway done ha ha! A Bunchie I ain’t. The Sox are running away with the AL and are 55-20 in early July. Too much pitching defense and speed.
CLuke
It takes me about 2 years to do a replay. I have done 1967, 1968, 1960 & now 1961. Getting ready to start on 1962.