It’s not exactly parity when the New York Yankees won their third straight Great Teams of the Past title. The 1961 Yankees did so by three games, the second-largest margin out of the five seasons. But parity did exist in other ways, as season 5 featured the closest competition from top to bottom, with only six games separating first and last place. The Yankees went 20-12, the fewest wins by any champion so far.
Season 5 was also defined by the hitters, particularly when it came to the long ball. Teams averaged 4.1 runs per game, a new high, as was the overall 3.85 ERA by the pitchers. The Yankees didn’t hit well overall, but they bashed their way to the title with a GTOP-record 57 home runs, including an astonishing 18 by Roger Maris in 32 games. Overall, teams averaged 1.1 home runs per game.
The Yankees will have an opportunity to make it four in a row, as the 1977 Bronx Bombers will be part of season 6, which will include teams from 1969-78.
Seven games were shown on my YouTube channel.
GTOP Season 5 Home Page
GTOP Record Book
| FINAL | W | L | PCT | GB | Run Diff. | AVG | ERA | FLD | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 New York Yankees | 20 | 12 | .625 | — | +18 | .229 | 3.43 | .979 | Stats |
| 1967 St. Louis Cardinals | 17 | 15 | .531 | 3.0 | -15 | .232 | 3.39 | .981 | Stats |
| 1969 Minnesota Twins | 17 | 15 | .531 | 3.0 | +30 | .271 | 3.92 | .978 | Stats |
| 1967 Boston Red Sox | 16 | 16 | .500 | 4.0 | +15 | .255 | 3.85 | .982 | Stats |
| 1961 Detroit Tigers | 15 | 17 | .469 | 5.0 | -7 | .247 | 4.01 | .981 | Stats |
| 1969 New York Mets | 15 | 17 | .469 | 5.0 | -3 | .244 | 3.52 | .983 | Stats |
| 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers | 14 | 18 | .438 | 6.0 | -45 | .234 | 4.56 | .975 | Stats |
| 1962 San Francisco Giants | 14 | 18 | .438 | 6.0 | +7 | .266 | 4.17 | .976 | Stats |
| BATTING | AVG | R | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SLG | OBP | SB | BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 New York Yankees | .229 | 136 | 35 | 6 | 57 | 133 | .429 | .284 | 4 | 85 |
| 1967 St. Louis Cardinals | .232 | 101 | 52 | 4 | 16 | 92 | .333 | .279 | 11 | 64 |
| 1969 Minnesota Twins | .271 | 164 | 60 | 9 | 29 | 159 | .419 | .326 | 28 | 89 |
| 1967 Boston Red Sox | .255 | 145 | 43 | 15 | 35 | 140 | .419 | .321 | 10 | 103 |
| 1961 Detroit Tigers | .247 | 136 | 40 | 12 | 44 | 133 | .427 | .324 | 12 | 125 |
| 1969 New York Mets | .244 | 115 | 58 | 11 | 22 | 110 | .378 | .297 | 13 | 84 |
| 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers | .234 | 109 | 37 | 15 | 27 | 106 | .374 | .288 | 27 | 79 |
| 1962 San Francisco Giants | .266 | 152 | 62 | 9 | 48 | 152 | .470 | .322 | 8 | 91 |
| PITCHING | ERA | CG | ShO | H | BB | K | BAA | WHIP | K/BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 New York Yankees | 3.43 | 4 | 3 | 269 | 109 | 164 | .247 | 1.287 | 1.50 |
| 1967 St. Louis Cardinals | 3.39 | 4 | 3 | 256 | 77 | 193 | .240 | 1.171 | 2.51 |
| 1969 Minnesota Twins | 3.92 | 4 | 1 | 279 | 75 | 179 | .253 | 1.242 | 2.39 |
| 1967 Boston Red Sox | 3.85 | 3 | 1 | 272 | 96 | 181 | .250 | 1.291 | 1.89 |
| 1961 Detroit Tigers | 4.01 | 4 | 1 | 276 | 106 | 201 | .251 | 1.331 | 1.90 |
| 1969 New York Mets | 3.52 | 8 | 3 | 239 | 93 | 229 | .225 | 1.149 | 2.46 |
| 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers | 4.56 | 5 | 0 | 270 | 94 | 206 | .251 | 1.300 | 2.19 |
| 1962 San Francisco Giants | 4.17 | 11 | 2 | 289 | 70 | 207 | .261 | 1.270 | 2.96 |
TEAM NOTES
1961 New York Yankees (20-12): After starting the season 4-0, the Yankees had at least a share of first place for every gameday but one. The 1961 Yankees set an MLB record for home runs, and these Yankees had 19 more than the 1957 Braves to set the GTOP record. Somehow New York had the worst team batting average (.229) in the league. But in addition to the home runs, they had the second-best team ERA (3.43). Strangely, though, none of the starting pitchers won more than half of their starts. Despite leading the league with a 2.63 ERA, Bill Stafford only won two of his eight starts. Luis Arroyo (3-0, 0.59, seven saves) was league’s top reliever. Roger Maris had an interesting route to 18 home runs. He had one in the first five games, then had a good stretch and was at six after 11 games. Then he went eight games without a home run. But over the final 13 games, he hit 12 home runs. He hit two home runs in a game four times. In addition to the home run record, Maris and Detroit’s Rocky Colavito had 34 RBI, a GTOP record, and Maris also set a record with 94 total bases.
1967 St. Louis Cardinals (17-15): The Cardinals got into contention with a seven-game winning streak, which included a sweep of the Dodgers, to improve to 9-4. But they only had one two-game winning streak the rest of the way. St. Louis had the best team ERA in the league at 3.39, 0.04 better than the Yankees. Dick Hughes, despite going 2-3, set a GTOP record with a 6.00 strikeout/walk ratio (48 K’s and eight walks). It was a different story offensively as the Cardinals scored the fewest runs in the league.
1969 Minnesota Twins (17-15): The Twins set a GTOP record with 164 runs in 32 games, one run better than the 1930 Cardinals. But other than Jim Kaat, who won his first six starts, the rest of the starting pitchers were pretty average, and none of the three had winning records. Harmon Killebrew had a team-high eight home runs but none in the final 13 games. Rich Reese (.356) and Tony Oliva (.348) had two of the top five batting averages in the league and finished 1-2 in hits.
1967 Boston Red Sox (16-16): The Red Sox were in the mix until going 4-6 in the final 10 games. Rico Petrocelli (.364) and George Scott (.349) gave Boston two of the top four hitters in the league. Gary Bell performed way better than his numbers as he went 6-1 in his eight starts.
1961 Detroit Tigers (15-17): After starting 1-5, the Tigers played pretty well over the second half of the season to make a push toward the top half of the standings. But losing three of four to the Yankees in the final series dropped them back. Norm Cash had a record-setting season, as he led the league with a .381 average and set GTOP records for slugging percentage (.763) and on-base percentage (.486). If not for Roger Maris, Rocky Colavito would have set the GTOP record with 14 home runs. He and Maris tied atop the league with 34 RBI to share a new GTOP record. The Tigers became the first team to have three players finish with double-digits in home runs.
1969 New York Mets (15-17): The Mets lost the first six games of the season and were playing catch-up the entire time. They did pretty well in the second half of the season and even had a four-game winning streak at one point. The pitching was good, with a team ERA of 3.52, and record-setting performances from Tom Seaver (GTOP-record .151 batting average against) and Jerry Koosman (GTOP-record 76 strikeouts). They couldn’t score enough runs to hang with the best teams, though.
1962 Los Angeles Dodgers (14-18): A second-half swoon that saw the Dodgers win once in 10 games dropped them into the cellar. They recovered in the final series of the season, winning three of four against the Giants to get some company at the bottom. Don Drysdale (5-3) was good and Ron Perranoski led the league with eight saves. Maury Wills got stuck on 15 steals, one shy of Ty Cobb’s GTOP record. The Dodgers were outscored by 45 runs on the season.
1962 San Francisco Giants (14-18): Led by Orlando Cepeda, the Giants could hit just fine, finishing second in the league in runs and home runs. But other than Juan Marichal, who went 6-2 with a 2.74 ERA, the pitching was pretty dreadful. The bullpen was always going to be bad, but the other starting pitchers needed to be better, and no one underperformed more than Jack Sanford (2-4, 5.28).
BATTING LEADERS
| AVERAGE .381 Norm Cash, 1961 Tigers .364 Rico Petrocelli, 1967 Red Sox .356 Rich Reese, 1969 Twins .349 George Scott, 1967 Red Sox .348 Tony Oliva, 1969 Twins .346 Curt Flood, 1967 Cardinals .336 Elston Howard, 1961 Yankees .333 Cleon Jones, 1969 Mets .319 Ron Fairly, 1962 Dodgers .318 Orlando Cepeda, 1962 Giants RUNS 32 Roger Maris, 1961 Yankees** 28 Tony Oliva, 1969 Twins 27 Norm Cash, 1961 Tigers 26 Rod Carew, 1969 Twins 26 Carl Yastrzemski, 1967 Red Sox 24 Orlando Cepeda, 1962 Giants 24 Rocky Colavito, 1961 Tigers 24 Joe Foy, 1967 Red Sox 23 Willie Mays, 1962 Giants 22 Maury Wills, 1962 Dodgers 22 Tom Haller, 1962 Giants HITS 47 Rich Reese, 1969 Twins 46 Tony Oliva, 1969 Twins 45 Norm Cash, 1961 Tigers 45 Curt Flood, 1967 Cardinals 44 George Scott, 1967 Red Sox 44 Cleon Jones, 1969 Mets 42 Rod Carew, 1969 Twins 42 Orlando Cepeda, 1962 Giants 42 Harvey Kuenn, 1962 Giants 40 Rico Petrocelli, 1967 Red Sox DOUBLES 14 Rich Reese, 1969 Twins 12 Tommie Agee, 1969 Mets 10 Willie Mays, 1962 Giants 10 Al Kaline, 1961 Tigers 10 Jim Davenport, 1962 Giants 10 Lou Brock, 1967 Cardinals 9 Cleon Jones, 1969 Mets 9 Rod Carew, 1969 Twins 9 Rico Petrocelli, 1967 Red Sox 9 Joe Foy, 1967 Red Sox 9 Jose Pagan, 1962 Giants TRIPLES 5 Mike Ryan, 1967 Red Sox 4 Norm Cash, 1961 Tigers 4 Roger Maris, 1967 Cardinals 4 Tony Conigliaro, 1967 Red Sox 4 Ron Fairly, 1962 Dodgers 4 Ken Boswell, 1969 Mets 3 several HOME RUNS 18 Roger Maris, 1961 Yankees** 14 Rocky Colavito, 1961 Tigers 11 Norm Cash, 1961 Tigers 10 Orlando Cepeda, 1962 Giants 10 Dick Brown, 1961 Tigers 10 Yogi Berra, 1961 Yankees 9 Rico Petrocelli, 1967 Red Sox 9 Tom Haller, 1962 Giants 8 several | RBI 34 Roger Maris, 1961 Yankees** 34 Rocky Colavito, 1961 Tigers** 31 Orlando Cepeda, 1962 Giants 30 Rico Petrocelli, 1967 Red Sox 30 Tony Oliva, 1969 Twins 29 Dick Brown, 1961 Tigers 27 Harmon Killebrew, 1969 Twins 27 Rich Reese, 1969 Twins 26 Yogi Berra, 1961 Yankees 26 Tony Conigliaro, 1967 Red Sox TOTAL BASES 94 Roger Maris, 1961 Yankees** 90 Norm Cash, 1961 Tigers 81 Rocky Colavito, 1961 Tigers 79 Tony Oliva, 1969 Twins 78 Orlando Cepeda, 1962 Giants 78 Rico Petrocelli, 1967 Red Sox 74 Rich Reese, 1969 Twins 73 Tony Conigliaro, 1967 Red Sox 72 Willie Mays, 1962 Giants 71 Dick Brown, 1961 Tigers SLUGGING PCT. .763 Norm Cash, 1961 Tigers** .752 Roger Maris, 1961 Yankees .709 Rico Petrocelli, 1967 Red Sox .704 Rocky Colavito, 1961 Tigers .603 Elston Howard, 1961 Yankees .598 Tony Oliva, 1969 Twins .591 Orlando Cepeda, 1962 Giants .561 Rich Reese, 1969 Twins .558 Willie Mays, 1962 Giants .557 Tony Conigliaro, 1967 Red Sox ON-BASE PCT. .486 Norm Cash, 1961 Tigers** .453 Rico Petrocelli, 1967 Red Sox .418 Rocky Colavito, 1961 Tigers .403 Tony Oliva, 1969 Twins .399 George Scott, 1967 Red Sox .389 Ron Fairly, 1962 Dodgers .384 Elston Howard, 1961 Yankees .376 Cleon Jones, 1969 Mets .374 Rod Carew, 1969 Twins .372 Rich Reese, 1969 Twins STOLEN BASES 15 Maury Wills, 1962 Dodgers 8 Rod Carew, 1969 Twins 8 Cesar Tovar, 1969 Twins 6 Lou Brock, 1967 Cardinals 5 Reggie Smith, 1967 Red Sox 5 Orlando Cepeda, 1967 Cardinals 5 Jake Wood, 1961 Tigers 4 several ** GTOP single-season record |
PITCHING LEADERS
| WINS 6 Gary Bell, 1967 Red Sox 6 Jim Kaat, 1969 Twins 6 Juan Marichal, 1962 Giants 5 Ray Washburn, 1967 Cardinals 5 Steve Carlton. 1967 Cardinals 5 Tom Seaver, 1969 Mets 5 Don Drysdale, 1962 Dodgers 4 several ERA 2.63 Bill Stafford, 1961 Yankees 2.70 Bob Gibson, 1967 Cardinals 2.73 Tom Seaver, 1969 Mets 2.74 Juan Marichal, 1962 Giants 2.76 Whitey Ford, 1961 Yankees 2.87 Frank Lary, 1961 Tigers 2.95 Gary Bell, 1967 Red Sox 3.02 Don Drysdale, 1962 Dodgers 3.05 Jim Kaat, 1969 Twins 3.13 Jerry Koosman, 1969 Mets COMPLETE GAMES 6 Tom Seaver, 1969 Mets 6 Juan Marichal, 1962 Giants 3 Don Drysdale, 1962 Dodgers 3 Jim Kaat, 1969 Twins 3 Jim Lonborg, 1967 Red Sox 3 Billy O’Dell, 1962 Giants 2 several SHUTOUTS 2 Tom Seaver, 1969 Mets 2 Whitey Ford, 1961 Yankees 2 Dick Hughes, 1967 Cardinals 1 several SAVES 8 Ron Perranoski, 1962 Dodgers 7 Luis Arroyo, 1961 Yankees 7 Ron Perranoski, 1969 Twins 6 Joe Hoerner, 1967 Cardinals 6 John Wyatt, 1967 Red Sox 5 Terry Fox, 1961 Tigers INNINGS PITCHED 69.0 Juan Marichal, 1962 Giants 66.0 Tom Seaver, 1969 Mets 65.7 Don Drysdale, 1962 Dodgers 64.3 Billy O’Dell, 1962 Giants 63.3 Jerry Koosman, 1969 Mets 63.0 Ralph Terry, 1961 Yankees 62.7 Frank Lary, 1961 Tigers 62.0 Whitey Ford, 1961 Yankees 61.7 Bill Stafford, 1961 Yankees 61.3 Jim Lonborg, 1967 Red Sox 61.3 Jim Perry, 1969 Twins | STRIKEOUTS 76 Jerry Koosman, 1969 Mets** 62 Don Drysdale, 1962 Dodgers 59 Tom Seaver, 1969 Mets 58 Jim Bunning. 1961 Tigers 52 Dave Boswell, 1969 Twins 51 Billy O’Dell, 1962 Giants 50 Whitey Ford, 1961 Yankees 49 Steve Carlton, 1967 Cardinals 48 Dick Hughes, 1967 Cardinals 47 Juan Marichal, 1962 Giants 47 Frank Lary, 1961 Tigers BATTING AVERAGE AGAINST .151 Tom Seaver, 1969 Mets** .192 Bob Gibson, 1967 Cardinals .194 Juan Marichal, 1962 Giants .199 Jim Lonborg, 1967 Red Sox .211 Frank Lary, 1961 Tigers .214 Gary Bell, 1967 Red Sox .216 Jerry Koosman, 1969 Mets .218 Whitey Ford, 1961 Yankees .221 Don Drysdale, 1962 Dodgers .223 Sandy Koufax, 1962 Dodgers WHIP 0.955 Tom Seaver, 1969 Mets 0.967 Bob Gibson, 1967 Cardinals 0.971 Juan Marichal, 1962 Giants 1.011 Jim Lonborg, 1967 Red Sox 1.020 Don Drysdale, 1962 Dodgers 1.063 Ralph Terry, 1961 Yankees 1.089 Jerry Koosman, 1969 Mets 1.101 Frank Lary, 1961 Tigers 1.116 Dick Hughes, 1967 Cardinals 1.169 Jim Kaat, 1969 Twins K/BB 6.00 Dick Hughes, 1967 Cardinals** 4.77 Don Drysdale, 1962 Dodgers 4.00 Jerry Koosman, 1969 Mets 3.90 Billy Pierce, 1962 Giants 3.19 Billy O’Dell, 1962 Giants 3.15 Jack Sanford, 1962 Giants 3.05 Jim Bunning, 1961 Tigers 2.85 Jim Kaat, 1969 Twins 2.64 Johnny Podres, 1962 Dodgers 2.61 Juan Marichal, 1962 Giants ** GTOP single-season record |
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 