1961 MLB Leaders and Award Winners

2 leagues · 156 team games · 46 ranking tables · 23 awards

Awards

Most Valuable Player

Roger MarisAmerican League
Frank RobinsonNational League

Cy Young Award

Whitey FordBoth leagues — one award across both

Rookie of the Year

Don SchwallAmerican League
Billy WilliamsNational League

Gold Glove

Luis AparicioAmerican League
Earl BatteyAmerican League
Ken BoyerNational League
Roberto ClementeNational League
Al KalineAmerican League
Jim LandisAmerican League
Frank LaryAmerican League
Willie MaysNational League
Bill MazeroskiNational League
Jim PiersallAmerican League
Vada PinsonNational League
Vic PowerAmerican League
Bobby RichardsonAmerican League
Brooks RobinsonAmerican League
John RoseboroNational League
Bobby ShantzNational League
Bill WhiteNational League
Maury WillsNational League

Not every award existed in this season. This database has Silver Slugger (from 1980). Their absence here is not a statement about these players: those awards had not been invented yet.

American League

Led the American League — the first row of every table below.

Batting13 categories

RunsR

1	Mickey Mantle	132
1	Roger Maris	132
3	Rocky Colavito	129
4	Norm Cash	119
5	Al Kaline	116
6	Dick Howser	108
7	Bill Bruton	99
8	Jim Gentile	96
8	Jake Wood	96
10	Harmon Killebrew	94

HitsH

1	Norm Cash	193
2	Brooks Robinson	192
3	Al Kaline	190
4	Tito Francona	178
5	Bobby Richardson	173
6	Lenny Green	171
6	Dick Howser	171
6	Jake Wood	171
9	Luis Aparicio	170
9	Tony Kubek	170

Doubles2B

1	Al Kaline	41
2	Tony Kubek	38
2	Brooks Robinson	38
4	Norm Siebern	36
5	Vic Power	34
6	Carl Yastrzemski	31
7	Rocky Colavito	30
7	Tito Francona	30
7	Danny O'Connell	30
10	Dick Howser	29
10	Ken Hunt	29
10	Jerry Lumpe	29
10	John Romano	29
10	Al Smith	29

Triples3B

1	Jake Wood	14
2	Marty Keough	9
2	Jerry Lumpe	9
4	Norm Cash	8
4	Tito Francona	8
4	Jim Landis	8
7	Lenny Green	7
7	Al Kaline	7
7	Harmon Killebrew	7
7	Jim Piersall	7
7	Brooks Robinson	7
7	Floyd Robinson	7

Home RunsHR

1	Roger Maris	61
2	Mickey Mantle	54
3	Jim Gentile	46
3	Harmon Killebrew	46
5	Rocky Colavito	45
6	Norm Cash	41
7	Bob Allison	29
8	Bill Skowron	28
8	Al Smith	28
8	Leon Wagner	28

Runs Batted InRBI

1	Roger Maris	142
2	Jim Gentile	141
3	Rocky Colavito	140
4	Norm Cash	132
5	Mickey Mantle	128
6	Harmon Killebrew	122
7	Bob Allison	105
8	Norm Siebern	98
9	Willie Kirkland	95
10	Al Smith	93

WalksBB

1	Mickey Mantle	126
2	Norm Cash	124
3	Rocky Colavito	113
4	Harmon Killebrew	107
5	Bob Allison	103
6	Jim Gentile	96
6	Albie Pearson	96
8	Roger Maris	94
9	Dick Howser	92
10	Gary Geiger	87

Stolen BasesSB

1	Luis Aparicio	53
2	Dick Howser	37
3	Jake Wood	30
4	Bill Bruton	22
4	Chuck Hinton	22
6	Jim Landis	19
7	Lenny Green	17
8	Gary Geiger	16
8	Zoilo Versalles	16
10	Danny O'Connell	15

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Mickey Mantle	11.4
2	Norm Cash	10.5
3	Jim Gentile	7.6
4	Rocky Colavito	7.6
5	Al Kaline	7.3
6	Harmon Killebrew	6.7
7	Roger Maris	6.6
8	Jim Landis	6.0
9	John Romano	5.7
10	Elston Howard	5.6

Batting Averagemin 484 PA

1	Norm Cash	.361
2	Al Kaline	.324
3	Jim Piersall	.322
4	Mickey Mantle	.317
5	Floyd Robinson	.310
6	Earl Battey	.302
6	Jim Gentile	.302
8	Tito Francona	.301
9	John Romano	.299
10	Jackie Brandt	.297

On-Base Percentagemin 484 PA

1	Norm Cash	.487
2	Mickey Mantle	.448
3	Jim Gentile	.423
4	Albie Pearson	.420
5	Harmon Killebrew	.405
6	Rocky Colavito	.402
7	Al Kaline	.393
8	Floyd Robinson	.389
9	Norm Siebern	.384
10	Steve Boros	.382

Slugging Percentagemin 484 PA

1	Mickey Mantle	.687
2	Norm Cash	.662
3	Jim Gentile	.646
4	Roger Maris	.620
5	Harmon Killebrew	.606
6	Rocky Colavito	.580
7	Roy Sievers	.537
8	Leon Wagner	.517
9	Al Kaline	.515
10	Al Smith	.506

On-Base Plus Sluggingmin 484 PA

1	Norm Cash	1.148
2	Mickey Mantle	1.135
3	Jim Gentile	1.069
4	Harmon Killebrew	1.012
5	Roger Maris	.993
6	Rocky Colavito	.982
7	Roy Sievers	.913
8	Al Kaline	.909
9	Leon Wagner	.865
10	John Romano	.860

Pitching10 categories

WinsW

1	Whitey Ford	25
2	Frank Lary	23
3	Steve Barber	18
4	Jim Bunning	17
5	Ralph Terry	16
6	Luis Arroyo	15
6	Chuck Estrada	15
6	Mudcat Grant	15
6	Don Mossi	15
6	Camilo Pascual	15
6	Don Schwall	15

SavesSV

1	Luis Arroyo	29
2	Hoyt Wilhelm	18
3	Mike Fornieles	15
4	Ray Moore	14
5	Terry Fox	12
6	Art Fowler	11
6	Frank Funk	11
6	Turk Lown	11
6	Dave Sisler	11
10	Tom Morgan	10

StrikeoutsSO

1	Camilo Pascual	221
2	Whitey Ford	209
3	Jim Bunning	194
4	Juan Pizarro	188
5	Ken McBride	180
6	Pedro Ramos	174
7	Gary Bell	163
8	Bill Monbouquette	161
9	Chuck Estrada	160
10	Steve Barber	150

Innings PitchedIP

1	Whitey Ford	283.0
2	Frank Lary	275.3
3	Jim Bunning	268.0
4	Pedro Ramos	264.3
5	Camilo Pascual	252.3
6	Steve Barber	248.3
7	Mudcat Grant	244.7
8	Jack Kralick	242.0
9	Ken McBride	241.7
10	Don Mossi	240.3

Complete GamesCG

1	Frank Lary	22
2	Camilo Pascual	15
3	Steve Barber	14
4	Jim Bunning	12
4	Bennie Daniels	12
4	Bill Monbouquette	12
4	Don Mossi	12
4	Juan Pizarro	12
9	Gary Bell	11
9	Dick Donovan	11
9	Whitey Ford	11
9	Mudcat Grant	11
9	Jack Kralick	11
9	Ken McBride	11
9	Milt Pappas	11

ShutoutsSHO

1	Steve Barber	8
1	Camilo Pascual	8
3	Jim Bunning	4
3	Frank Lary	4
3	Milt Pappas	4
6	Hal Brown	3
6	Whitey Ford	3
6	Mudcat Grant	3
6	Pedro Ramos	3
6	Bill Stafford	3

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Whitey Ford	5.7
2	Jim Bunning	5.5
3	Frank Lary	5.1
4	Camilo Pascual	4.8
5	Jack Kralick	4.7
6	Don Mossi	3.9
7	Jim Archer	3.9
8	Steve Barber	3.5
9	Ken McBride	3.4
10	Bill Monbouquette	3.4

Earned Run Averagemin 156 IP

1	Dick Donovan	2.40
2	Bill Stafford	2.68
3	Don Mossi	2.96
4	Milt Pappas	3.04
5	Juan Pizarro	3.05
6	Ralph Terry	3.15
7	Hal Brown	3.19
8	Jim Bunning	3.19
9	Jim Archer	3.20
10	Whitey Ford	3.21

Walks and Hits per Inningmin 156 IP

1	Dick Donovan	1.03
2	Ralph Terry	1.08
3	Hal Brown	1.12
4	Jim Bunning	1.13
5	Frank Lary	1.16
6	Bill Stafford	1.16
7	Whitey Ford	1.18
8	Don Mossi	1.18
9	Milt Pappas	1.19
10	Camilo Pascual	1.21

Fielding Independent Pitchingmin 156 IP

1	Whitey Ford	3.14
2	Jim Archer	3.15
3	Juan Pizarro	3.21
4	Jim Bunning	3.23
5	Dick Donovan	3.29
6	Camilo Pascual	3.39
7	Bill Stafford	3.39
8	Jack Kralick	3.40
9	Frank Lary	3.43
10	Jim Kaat	3.53

National League

Led the National League — the first row of every table below.

Batting13 categories

RunsR

1	Willie Mays	129
2	Frank Robinson	117
3	Hank Aaron	115
4	Ken Boyer	109
5	Orlando Cepeda	105
5	Maury Wills	105
7	Eddie Mathews	103
8	Vada Pinson	101
9	Roberto Clemente	100
10	Bill White	89

HitsH

1	Vada Pinson	208
2	Roberto Clemente	201
3	Hank Aaron	197
4	Ken Boyer	194
5	Orlando Cepeda	182
6	Willie Mays	176
6	Frank Robinson	176
8	Eddie Mathews	175
9	Maury Wills	173
10	Bill White	169

Doubles2B

1	Hank Aaron	39
2	Vada Pinson	34
3	Willie Mays	32
3	Frank Robinson	32
3	Ron Santo	32
6	Roberto Clemente	30
7	George Altman	28
7	Orlando Cepeda	28
7	Jim Davenport	28
7	Dick Stuart	28
7	Bill White	28

Triples3B

1	George Altman	12
2	Ken Boyer	11
2	Johnny Callison	11
2	Bill White	11
5	Hank Aaron	10
5	Roberto Clemente	10
5	Maury Wills	10
8	Ruben Amaro	9
9	Tony Gonzalez	8
9	Vada Pinson	8
9	Dick Stuart	8
9	Bill Virdon	8

Home RunsHR

1	Orlando Cepeda	46
2	Willie Mays	40
3	Frank Robinson	37
4	Joe Adcock	35
4	Dick Stuart	35
6	Hank Aaron	34
7	Eddie Mathews	32
8	Ernie Banks	29
9	George Altman	27
9	Frank Thomas	27

Runs Batted InRBI

1	Orlando Cepeda	142
2	Frank Robinson	124
3	Willie Mays	123
4	Hank Aaron	120
5	Dick Stuart	117
6	Joe Adcock	108
7	George Altman	96
8	Ken Boyer	95
9	Eddie Mathews	91
10	Bill White	90

WalksBB

1	Eddie Mathews	93
2	Wally Moon	89
3	Willie Mays	81
4	Jim Gilliam	79
5	Don Hoak	73
5	Ron Santo	73
7	Frank Robinson	71
8	Johnny Callison	69
9	Ken Boyer	68
10	Bill White	64

Stolen BasesSB

1	Maury Wills	35
2	Vada Pinson	23
3	Frank Robinson	22
4	Hank Aaron	21
5	Willie Mays	18
6	Tony Gonzalez	15
7	Orlando Cepeda	12
7	Willie Davis	12
7	Eddie Mathews	12
10	Felipe Alou	11
10	Julian Javier	11
10	Tony Taylor	11

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Willie Mays	8.3
2	Hank Aaron	8.1
3	Eddie Mathews	7.4
4	Frank Robinson	7.0
5	Vada Pinson	6.8
6	Ken Boyer	6.5
7	Roberto Clemente	5.6
8	Orlando Cepeda	5.4
9	Ernie Banks	4.8
10	Ron Santo	4.7

Batting Averagemin 484 PA

1	Roberto Clemente	.351
2	Vada Pinson	.343
3	Ken Boyer	.329
4	Wally Moon	.328
5	Hank Aaron	.327
6	Frank Robinson	.323
7	Orlando Cepeda	.311
8	Willie Mays	.308
9	Eddie Mathews	.306
10	George Altman	.303

On-Base Percentagemin 484 PA

1	Wally Moon	.434
2	Frank Robinson	.404
3	Eddie Mathews	.402
4	Ken Boyer	.397
5	Willie Mays	.393
6	Roberto Clemente	.390
7	Don Hoak	.388
8	Hank Aaron	.381
9	Vada Pinson	.379
10	Johnny Callison	.363

Slugging Percentagemin 484 PA

1	Frank Robinson	.611
2	Orlando Cepeda	.609
3	Hank Aaron	.594
4	Willie Mays	.584
5	Dick Stuart	.581
6	George Altman	.560
7	Roberto Clemente	.559
8	Eddie Mathews	.535
9	Ken Boyer	.533
10	Joe Adcock	.507
10	Ernie Banks	.507

On-Base Plus Sluggingmin 484 PA

1	Frank Robinson	1.015
2	Willie Mays	.977
3	Hank Aaron	.974
4	Orlando Cepeda	.970
5	Roberto Clemente	.949
6	Wally Moon	.940
7	Eddie Mathews	.937
8	Ken Boyer	.930
9	Dick Stuart	.925
10	George Altman	.913

Pitching10 categories

WinsW

1	Joey Jay	21
1	Warren Spahn	21
3	Jim O'Toole	19
4	Lew Burdette	18
4	Sandy Koufax	18
4	Johnny Podres	18
7	Bob Purkey	16
8	Don Cardwell	15
8	Stan Williams	15
10	Bob Friend	14
10	Larry Jackson	14
10	Stu Miller	14
10	Ray Sadecki	14

SavesSV

1	Roy Face	17
1	Stu Miller	17
3	Jim Brosnan	16
3	Bill Henry	16
5	Larry Sherry	15
6	Turk Farrell	10
7	Lindy McDaniel	9
8	Bob Anderson	8
8	Don Elston	8
8	Clem Labine	8
8	Don McMahon	8

StrikeoutsSO

1	Sandy Koufax	269
2	Stan Williams	205
3	Don Drysdale	182
4	Jim O'Toole	178
5	Bob Gibson	166
6	Mike McCormick	163
7	Art Mahaffey	158
8	Joey Jay	157
9	Don Cardwell	156
10	Joe Gibbon	145

Innings PitchedIP

1	Lew Burdette	272.3
2	Warren Spahn	262.7
3	Don Cardwell	259.3
4	Sandy Koufax	255.7
5	Jim O'Toole	252.7
6	Mike McCormick	250.0
7	Joey Jay	247.3
8	Bob Purkey	246.3
9	Don Drysdale	244.0
10	Bob Friend	236.0

Complete GamesCG

1	Warren Spahn	21
2	Sandy Koufax	15
3	Lew Burdette	14
3	Joey Jay	14
5	Don Cardwell	13
5	Mike McCormick	13
5	Bob Purkey	13
5	Ray Sadecki	13
9	Larry Jackson	12
9	Art Mahaffey	12

ShutoutsSHO

1	Joey Jay	4
1	Warren Spahn	4
3	Lew Burdette	3
3	Don Cardwell	3
3	Don Drysdale	3
3	Joe Gibbon	3
3	Larry Jackson	3
3	Art Mahaffey	3
3	Juan Marichal	3
3	Mike McCormick	3
3	Jim O'Toole	3

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Sandy Koufax	5.7
2	Jim O'Toole	5.2
3	Bob Friend	4.6
4	Don Cardwell	4.3
5	Stan Williams	4.2
6	Joe Gibbon	4.2
7	Curt Simmons	3.6
8	Larry Jackson	3.5
9	Joey Jay	3.5
10	Bob Purkey	3.5

Earned Run Averagemin 156 IP

1	Warren Spahn	3.02
2	Jim O'Toole	3.10
3	Curt Simmons	3.13
4	Mike McCormick	3.20
5	Bob Gibson	3.24
6	Joe Gibbon	3.32
7	Sandy Koufax	3.52
8	Joey Jay	3.53
9	Don Drysdale	3.69
10	Tom Sturdivant	3.69

Walks and Hits per Inningmin 156 IP

1	Warren Spahn	1.14
2	Bob Purkey	1.20
3	Lew Burdette	1.20
4	Sandy Koufax	1.21
5	Larry Jackson	1.23
6	Tom Sturdivant	1.24
7	Joe Gibbon	1.24
8	Mike McCormick	1.24
9	Joey Jay	1.25
9	Juan Marichal	1.25

Fielding Independent Pitchingmin 156 IP

1	Sandy Koufax	3.00
2	Joe Gibbon	3.09
3	Jim O'Toole	3.13
4	Bob Friend	3.15
5	Harvey Haddix	3.38
6	Stan Williams	3.44
7	Curt Simmons	3.54
8	Bob Gibson	3.58
9	Larry Jackson	3.59
10	Tom Sturdivant	3.61

How this page is built

The qualifying line for 1961 is 484 plate appearances and 156 innings pitched. It comes from the length of the schedule — 156 games per team, measured from the season files themselves — at the official rate of 3.1 plate appearances and one inning per team game. Batting average, on-base, slugging, OPS, earned run average and WHIP all use it; a player who came to the plate twice and got two hits does not appear at the top of the batting average table, which is exactly what that line is for. Counting statistics such as home runs and strikeouts have no minimum, because none is needed.

How the rankings were made

Wins above replacement in these tables is ours rather than the source database's, so it will not match a published figure exactly. Also: why every ranking stops at one league, and why some categories are missing on purpose.

Every ranking on this page is worked out inside one league. 1961 is counted as 2 separate leagues — American League and National League, and a player is ranked only against the men in his own. Leading the American League and leading baseball are different claims, and the one we can make from these files is the first. There is no combined table anywhere on this page, because adding two leagues together would produce a number that no record book recognises.

There are 46 ranking tables here, 15 places deep. Players tied on a value share a place, so a table can run past ten rows when the tenth spot is shared, and a league with fewer than ten qualified players in a category is left out rather than shown as a top ten that is not one. A player who did none of the thing is not ranked in it either — a shutout table lists the pitchers who threw one, not the hundreds who threw none tied on zero. Some categories are missing on purpose: nobody leads a league in strikeouts at the plate, in losses, or in home runs allowed. A ranking is meant to mark an achievement, so only achievements are ranked.

Wins above replacement on this page is ours, not the source database's. The hitting and pitching files carry a WAR column that we compute here from the same season lines you see, using park factors and a run environment worked out per season. Published versions elsewhere use different methods and will not match ours exactly. Every other column is the record as the database supplies it.

Names on this page lead to that player's own record. Most of them open a full career page with every season he appeared in. Some open a summary screen instead — we pre-build pages for the players people look for, and everyone else is assembled on demand from the same files, so the numbers are identical either way even though the address looks different.

Data for 1871 to 2025: Lahman Baseball Database 2025, compiled by SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) and licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported. Negro Leagues data licensed from Seamheads.com and included under SABR major-league recommendations (2021-02-11, 2024-06-03). This page ranks the 1961 season lines published on this site, league by league, with WAR worked out here. — the WAR columns are computed here — and they are published under the same CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported licence, as ShareAlike requires. That database is published once a season is complete, so the 2026 figures on this site come from a different place: the MLB Stats API, whose notice reads “Copyright 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Use of any content on this page acknowledges agreement to the terms posted here http://gdx.mlb.com/components/copyright.txt”. Those numbers are MLB Advanced Media, L.P.’s, not SABR (Society for American Baseball Research)’s, and they carry that notice rather than the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported licence above. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Major League Baseball or any of its clubs.