1971 Washington Senators season

1971 Washington Senators
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Bob Short
Manager(s) Ted Williams
Local television WTOP
(Warner Wolf, Ray Scott, Tony Roberts)
Local radio WWDC (FM)
(Ron Menchine, Tony Roberts)
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The 1971 Washington Senators season involved the Senators finishing fifth in the American League East with a record of 63 wins and 96 losses. This was the Senators' 11th and last season in Washington, D.C., as they moved to Arlington, Texas the following season, becoming the Texas Rangers. The move would leave Washington without a Major League Baseball team until the Montreal Expos of the National League relocated there in 2005, becoming the current Washington Nationals.

Offseason

Regular season

The acquisition of former Cy Young Award winner Denny McLain would not pay dividends for the franchise. Amid constant run-ins with no-nonsense Washington manager Ted Williams, Denny McLain lost 22 games in 1971.[5]

Relocation to Texas

By the end of the 1970 season, Senators owner Bob Short had issued an ultimatum: unless someone was willing to buy the Senators for $12 million, he would not renew his lease at RFK Stadium and move elsewhere. Several parties offered to buy the team, but all fell short of Short's asking price.

Short was especially receptive to an offer from Arlington mayor Tom Vandergriff, who had been trying to get a major league team to play in the Metroplex for over a decade. Years earlier, Charlie Finley, the owner of the Kansas City Athletics, sought to move his team to Dallas, but the idea was rebuffed by the other AL team owners.

Arlington's hole card was Turnpike Stadium, a 10,000-seat park which had been built in 1965 to house the AA Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs of the Texas League. However, it had been built to major league specifications. It was also located in a natural bowl; only minor excavations would be necessary to expand the park to major-league size.

After Vandergriff offered a multimillion-dollar up-front payment, Short finally decided to pull up stakes and move. On September 20, 1971, he got his wish, receiving approval from AL owners to move the franchise to Arlington for the 1972 season.

Washington fans were outraged, leaving public relations director Ted Rodgers with the unenviable task of putting a positive spin on such events as fans unfurling a giant banner that contained Short's name, preceded by a popular four-letter invective. A photo of the banner appeared on the front page of a DC newspaper the following day.

Fan enmity came to a head in the team's last game in Washington, on September 30. Thousands of fans simply walked in without paying because the security guards left early in the game, swelling the paid attendance of 14,460 to around 25,000. The Senators led 7–5 with two outs in the top of the ninth. Just then, fans poured onto the field, thinking the final out had already been made. A teenager scooped up first base and ran away. With no security guards in sight, the game was forfeited to the Yankees, 9–0.

Opening Day starters

Season standings

AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Baltimore Orioles 10157 0.639 — 53–24 48–33
Detroit Tigers 9171 0.562 12 54–27 37–44
Boston Red Sox 8577 0.525 18 47–33 38–44
New York Yankees 8280 0.506 21 44–37 38–43
Washington Senators 6396 0.396 38½ 35–46 28–50
Cleveland Indians 60102 0.370 43 29–52 31–50

Record vs. opponents

1971 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK WSH
Baltimore —9–97–58–413–58–106–59–310–211–77–413–3
Boston 9–9—6–610–211–712–61–116–68–47–113–912–6
California 5–76–6—8–108–46–68–106–1212–66–67–114–8
Chicago 4–82–1010–8—3–97–59–911–77–115–711–710–2
Cleveland 5–137–114–89–3—6–122–104–84–88–104–87–11
Detroit 10–86–126–65–712–6—8–410–26–610–84–814–4
Kansas City 5–611–110–89–910–24–8—8–109–95–75–139–3
Milwaukee 3–96–612–67–118–42–1010–8—10–72–103–156–6
Minnesota 2–104–86–1211–78–46–69–97–10—8–48–105–6
New York 7–1111–76–67–510–88–107–510–24–8—5–77–11
Oakland 4–79–311–77–118–48–413–515–310–87–5—9–3
Washington 3–136–128–42–1011–74–143–96–66–511–73–9—

Notable transactions

Roster

1971 Washington Senators
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

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

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
3BDave Nelson8532992.280533
RFLarry Biittner6617144.257016

Other batters

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

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Elliott Maddox12825856.217118
Tommy McCraw12220744.213725
Don Wert20402.05002
Curt Flood13357.20002
Jim Mason393.33300

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Dick Bosman35236.212163.73113
Denny McLain33216.210224.28103
Pete Broberg18124.2593.4789

Other pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Casey Cox54124.1573.9843
Bill Gogolewski27124.1652.7570
Gerry Janeski2361.2154.9619
Jackie Brown1447345.9421

Relief pitchers

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

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Horacio Piña561123.5938
Joe Grzenda465251.9256
Darold Knowles122223.5216

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Denver Bears American Association Del Wilber
AA Pittsfield Senators Eastern League Joe Klein
A Burlington Senators Carolina League Whitey Kurowski
A Anderson Senators Western Carolinas League Frank Gable and Bill Haywood
A-Short Season Geneva Senators New York–Penn League Frank Gable

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Denver

Notes

  1. ↑ Denny McLain page at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ Curt Flood page at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/foyjo01.shtml
  4. ↑ Ed Stroud page at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ "Denny McLain at Baseball Library". Archived from the original on January 5, 2009. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
  6. ↑ http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1971&t=WS2
  7. ↑ Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference
  8. ↑ Stan Thomas page at Baseball Reference
  9. ↑ Mike Cubbage page at Baseball Reference
  10. ↑ https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/foyjo01.shtml
  11. ↑ Jim French page at Baseball Reference

References

  • Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.
  • 1971 Washington Senators team page at Baseball Reference
  • 1971 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
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