The1961Cincinnati Reds season was a season in Americanbaseball. It consisted of the Reds winning theNational League pennant with a 93–61 record, four games ahead of the runner-upLos Angeles Dodgers, but losing theWorld Series in five games to theNew York Yankees. The Reds were managed byFred Hutchinson, and played their home games atCrosley Field. The Reds were also the last team to win the National League in the 154-game schedule era, before going to a 162-game schedulea year later.

Cincinnati's road to the World Series was truly a remarkable one, as the Reds went through significant changes in a single season to improve from a team that won just 67 games and finished 28 games behind the eventual World Series ChampionPittsburgh Pirates in 1960. The architect of the turnaround was the Reds' new general managerBill DeWitt, who left his role as president and general manager of theDetroit Tigers after the end of the 1960 season to replaceGabe Paul as the Reds' GM. Paul was hired as the general manager of the expansionHouston Colt .45s.

DeWitt, who had a short history of successful trades in Detroit including acquiringNorm Cash andRocky Colavito, went to work at the 1960 Winter Meetings for Cincinnati. DeWitt found trade partners in theMilwaukee Braves and theChicago White Sox. In essentially a three-team trade, the Reds acquired pitchersJoey Jay andJuan Pizarro for slick-fielding shortstopRoy McMillan on Dec. 15, 1960. On that same day, the Reds then traded Pizzaro and pitcherCal McLish to the White Sox for third basemanGene Freese. It was the fourth time Freese had been traded in 18 months. Most recently, the White Sox had acquired Freese from thePhiladelphia Phillies for future all starJohnny Callison in December 1959.

The franchise was then forever changed when long-time Reds ownerPowel Crosley Jr. died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Cincinnati on March 28, 1961, 13 days before the start of the Reds' season. DeWitt eventually purchased 100% of the team ownership from Crosley's estate by year's end.

The Reds began the season with Freese at third base, sure-handedEddie Kasko moved from third (where he played in 1960) to shortstop and long-time minor leaguerJim Baumer at second base. Baumer was one of MLB's "feel good" stories. After playing in nine games with the White Sox in 1949 as an 18-year-old rookie, Baumer returned to the minor leagues and didn't make it back to the big league for 11 years. The Reds drafted Baumer during the Rule 5 draft after the Pittsburgh Pirates left him unprotected. After a solid spring training with the Reds, Baumer was named starting second baseman to open the season. As the season began, expectations were low for the Reds among baseball "experts." The Reds won their first three games, but then went into a slump, losing 10 of 12. To the surprise of many, it was the Reds' offense that struggled most. Baumer in particular was hitting just .125. DeWitt then made a bold move on April 27, 1961, trading all-star catcherEd Bailey to theSan Francisco Giants for second basemanDon Blasingame, catcherBob Schmidt and journeyman pitcherSherman Jones. Blasingame was inserted as starter at second base, and Baumer was traded to the Detroit Tigers on May 10 for backup first basemanDick Gernert. Baumer never again played in the majors.

On April 30, the Reds won the second game of a double-header from thePittsburgh Pirates to begin a 9-game winning streak. Exactly a month after the trade of Bailey, the Reds began another win streak, this time six games, to improve to 26–16. Those streaks were part of a stretch where the Reds won 50 of 70 games to improve to 55–30. Cincinnati led Los Angeles by five games at the All Star break.

After the break, the Dodgers got hot and the Reds floundered. After the games of August 13, Los Angeles was 69-40 and led Cincinnati (70–46) by2+1⁄2 games, but six in the loss column as the Dodgers had played seven fewer games than the Reds due to multiple rainouts. On August 15, the Reds went into Los Angeles to begin a three-game, two-day series highlighted by a double-header. In the first game of the series, Reds' rightyJoey Jay bestedSandy Koufax and the Dodgers, 5–2, asEddie Kasko had four hits andFrank Robinson drove in two for Cincinnati. In the Wednesday double-header, knuckle-ballerBob Purkey threw a four-hit shutout as the Reds won Game 1, 6–0. In Game 2, Freese hit two home runs off Dodgers' leftyJohnny Podres andJim O'Toole hurled a two-hitter as the Reds completed the sweep with an 8–0 victory. The Reds left Los Angeles with a half-game lead. It was the Dodgers' fourth-straight loss in what became a 10-game losing streak to put the Dodgers in a hole, while the Reds stayed in first-place the rest of the season.

The Reds clinched their first pennant in 21 years on Sept. 26 when they beat the Cubs, 6–3, in the afternoon and the Dodgers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8–0, in the second game of a doubleheader. The Reds earned a chance to face the mightyNew York Yankees in the1961 World Series.

OutfieldersFrank Robinson andVada Pinson led the Reds offense while starting pitchersBob Purkey,Jim O'Toole and newcomerJoey Jay were the staff standouts. Robinson (37 homers, 124 RBI, 117 runs scored, 22 stolen bases, .323 average) was named National League MVP. Pinson (208 hits, .343 average, 101 runs scored, 23 stolen bases) and a Gold Glove recipient, finished third in MVP voting. Purkey won 16 games, O'Toole won 19 and Jay won an NL-best 21 games. Jay also finished a surprising fifth in NL MVP voting, one spot ahead of future Hall of FamerWillie Mays who hit 40 home runs and drove in 123 for the Giants, such was the respect the Baseball Writers had for Jay's contributions to the Reds' pennant.

At a position (3B) that the Reds had received little offensive production from in the recent years leading up to 1961, Freese provided a major boost, slugging 26 home runs and driving in 87 runs to go with a .277 average.

Hutchinson, a former MLB pitcher, was masterful in his handling of the pitching staff as well as juggling a lineup that included part-timers (and former slugging standouts)Gus Bell,Wally Post (20, 57, .294) as well asJerry Lynch (13, 50, .315). For the second straight season, Lynch led the National League with 19 pinch hits. Hutchinson was named Manager of the Year.

• December 3, 1960: Second basemanBilly Martin was sold to theMilwaukee Braves.^[1]
• December 14, 1960: CatcherJoe Azcue was sold to theMilwaukee Braves.^[2]
• December 15, 1960: PitchersJoey Jay andJuan Pizarro were acquired from theMilwaukee Braves in a trade for shortstopRoy McMillan.^[3]
• December 15, 1960: Third basemanGene Freese was acquired from theChicago White Sox in a trade for pitchersJuan Pizarro andCal McLish.^[4]
• January 21, 1961: PitchersJohn Tsitouris and Johnny Briggs were acquired from theKansas City Athletics in a trade for pitcherJoe Nuxhall.^[5]
• February 24, 1961: CatcherFrank House was sold to theBaltimore Orioles.^[6]
• April 27, 1961: Second basemanDon Blasingame, catcherBob Schmidt and pitcherSherman Jones were acquired in a trade with theSan Francisco Giants for catcherEd Bailey.^[7]
• May 10, 1961: First basemanDick Gernert was acquired from theDetroit Tigers in a trade for infielderJim Baumer.^[8]
• July 21, 1961: PitcherKen Johnson was acquired from theKansas City Athletics for cash.^[9]
• September 16, 1961: PitcherDave Sisler and cash were acquired from theWashington Senators for pitcherClaude Osteen.^[10]

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Note: G = Games pitched; CG = Complete games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Note: G = Games pitched; CG = Complete games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

• Fred Hutchinson, Associated Press NL Manager of the Year
• Frank Robinson, National League Most Valuable Player
• Vada Pinson, Outfield, National League Gold Glove

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Topeka, Tampa

• 1961 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference
• 1961 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Almanac

• Cincinnati Reds seasons
• 1961 Major League Baseball season
• National League champion seasons
• 1961 in sports in Ohio
• 1960s in Cincinnati

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