1961 Minnesota Twins season
| 1961 Minnesota Twins | |
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| First season in Minnesota | |
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| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes) |
| General manager(s) | Calvin Griffith |
| Manager(s) | Cookie Lavagetto, Sam Mele |
| Local television | WTCN-TV |
| Local radio |
830 WCCO AM (Bob Wolff, Halsey Hall, Ray Scott) |
| Previous season Next season > | |
In 1961 the Twins finished the season with a record of 70–90, good for seventh in the American League, which had expanded from 8 to 10 teams during the 1960–61 offseason. It was the franchise's first season in Minnesota after 60 seasons in Washington, D.C. The Twins played their home games at Metropolitan Stadium.
After 60 seasons in Washington, the Senators franchise moved to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area – or, more precisely, Bloomington, Minnesota – in 1961. In honor of the cities' nickname, "The Twin Cities", the franchise changed the team's name to the Twins. As one of the conditions to allow the team to move, there would be a new Senators franchise in Washington in 1961, an expansion team that joined the league along with the Los Angeles Angels.
The Twins won their first-ever game, when Pedro Ramos shut out the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium on April 11. In beating the defending American League champs 6–0, Ramos out-dueled New York ace Whitey Ford, allowing just three hits and a walk. Ramos drove in two with a single himself. Bob Allison hit the first home run in Minnesota big-league history with a solo shot off Ford in the seventh inning, and Reno Bertoia followed with another homer, a two-run blast, an inning later off Ralph Terry. On April 21, the Twins lost their home opener to the expansion team that replaced them in the nation's capital, the second edition of the Senators, 5–3, before 24,606 at Metropolitan Stadium.
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