S-O-M 1961

As promised, here is a  p-b-p of Orioles-Angels 1961, action picks up in the bottom of the 4th, Orioles already up 3-0, 1 out, Jackie Brandt batting. Herb Carneal: "Brandt led off with a double and scored on a single by Brooks Robinson. Grba kicks and fires, the pitch is hit toward left field, back goes Averill, he'll just watch as this Bird goes bye-bye!" 4-0, Orioles. Later in the inning, Brooks Robinson reached on a double(3rd hit), then up stepped Jim Gentile.  Carneal: "Moeller delivers from the wind-up, the pitch to Gentile is swung on and hit to right field, that's a no-doubter as another Bird goes bye-bye!" 6-0, Orioles. Gus Triandos would add another home run, a solo shot in the 7th to make the final score Orioles 7, Angels 1. BAL 7-10-0(1-0) LAA 1-9-0(0-1) WP-Pappas(1-0) LP-Grba(0-1)

Bunning twirls 2-hitter at Tribe, 3-0 Wood leadoff homer starts Tiger rally   DETROIT, Apr 11(AP)-Right-hander Jim Bunning fired an impressive 2-hitter, while rookie second baseman Jake Wood hit a leadoff home run in his first major league at-bat as the Tigers blanked the Cleveland Indians in the season opener at renamed Tiger Stadium, 3-0. Wood's homer started a 1st inning rally in which in which the Tigers scored all 3 runs, getting RBI singles from Norm Cash and catcher Dick Brown off Indian righty Jim Perry(0-1). Bunning was magnificent, allowing only singles by Willie Kirkland in the 4th and Johnny Temple in the 9th, while striking out 6, walking 2 and getting solid defense from the Tigers infield, which turned 2 double plays.  This was also the first game under the offseason name change from Briggs Stadium. DET 3-9-1(1-0) CLE 0-2-0(0-1)

  Senators start new era on winning note in 13, 5-4 WASHINGTON, Apr 10-(AP) President Kennedy's throwing of the 1st pitch signified a new era in Washington baseball. Willie Tasby's game-winning single in the 13th may have also started a winning era as the new-look Senators beat the Chicago White Sox in the National opener, 5-4. Tasby's 4th hit of the game scored Dale Long with the winning run with 2 out, making a winner out of the 4th Washington pitcher of the game John Gabler and made a loser of Sox reliever Gerry Staley, the team's 6th pitcher.  The Sox forced extra innings in the 8th when Minnie Minoso reached on a 2-base error by Senator outfielder Marty Keough, Minoso then scored on a pinch-hit double by Sammy Esposito, forging a tie that stood until Washington's winning rally in the 13th. The starting pitchers were Early Wynn for the White Sox and Dick Donovan for the Senators.  INJURY REPORT: Washington outfielder Gene Woodling left the game in the 9th in the...

  Before I post my first 1961 game story, here are some of the events that happened on baseball's opening day, April 10, 1961: -Reports circulate that Russia sent man in space(confirmed 2 days later) -Gary Player wins Masters after Arnold Palmer bogeys final hole -On TV that night; Danny Thomas(CBS), Andy Griffith(CBS), Surfside Six(ABC) -100th Anniversary celebration of the beginning of the Civil War First game story to come, followed by broadcast recreations of Tigers-Indians and Orioles-LA Angels

For quite some time I've been doing Strat-O-Matic recreations of the 1961 season, each time playing into the first month of the season before abandoning for various reasons. This time, with spending time on various YouTube broadcasts of S-O-M recreations for fine tuning, I would like to give this another try, knowing full well that recreating the complete 1961 season will take an eternity. The eternity begins now. Before I set up this BlogSpot account, I did an pilot game between the 1961 Tigers and the 1961 Orioles of dear friend Dan Merz, which was won by the Tigers behind Jim Bunning's 11 strikeouts, 5-2 despite a furious comeback by those pesky birds. The 1961 season started on April 10 with the Chicago White Sox playing the expansion Washington Senators. The following day, the rest of the expanded AL and the full 8-team NL began play. Using actual lineups provided by baseball-reference.com, I have been to provide somewhat accurate replays of the season, with various variat...