46, and runs batted in, 142, and hit .311. Mays was right behind with a .308 average, 40 round-trippers and 123 RBIs. Unfortunately, Dark had no pitchers who could match the feat of his two slugging stars. Not a single San Francisco starting hurler could win more than 13 games. It remained for Stu Miller, ace fireman, to lead the chuckers. Enjoying his best season, Miller racked up 14 victories against just five losses in 63 relief appearances.
After eight years as one of the National League's powers, the Braves flopped to a fourth-place finish. It was their worst showing since moving to Milwaukee in 1953. The poor record cost Manager Chuck Dressen his job. Fifth during most of the first half, the Braves appeared to catch fire in a mid-August home stand, winning ten straight to kindle slight flag hopes, but then tapered off. On September 2, with the club in third place, Dressen was fired and Birdie Tebbetts, who had served as executive vice-president since October, 1958, took the helm.
Lack of pitching was the primary cause of Milwaukee's disappointing year. A sore throwing arm which shelved Catcher Del Crandall shortly after the season got under way also hurt the Braves' cause. Among the pitchers only veterans Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette succeeded in reaching double figures in victories. Spahn, who tossed a no-hitter in his third start, was only 8-11 at the AU-Star break, but went on to achieve the 20-victory level for the twelfth time with a 21-13 record. He also posted a 3.01 ERA to lead the league. Burdette finished with 18-11. Hank Aaron topped the Braves at bat with a .327 average and in RBIs with 120 while socking 34 homers. Joe Adcock belted 35 homers and Eddie Mathews 32 while batting .306.
A bad start and troubles on the road—chronic problems with the Cardinals in recent years—contributed to St. Louis' dip to fifth place. Other factors were the collapse of Pitchers Ernie Broglio and Lindy McDaniel, a spring training injury suffered by Pitcher Larry Jackson and the heart ailment which ended Catcher Hal Smith's playing career early in June.
Broglio, a 21-game winner the year before, slipped to 9-12. McDaniel lost the magic that made him the loop's ace reliever in '60. In a freak spring training mishap, Jackson's jaw was broken when a broken bat struck him. Weakened by weeks on a liquid diet, Larry was only 3-8 when Coach Johnny Keane succeeded Solly Hemus as manager, July 6. Jackson proceeded to win 11 of his next 12 decisions and finished with a 14-11 mark as the club racked up a 47-33 record under Keane. Only Lefty Ray Sadecki equalled Jackson's 14-victory total with the Cardinals. Captain Ken Boyer sparked St. Louis offensively with a .329 average, 24 homers and 95 RBIs.
The Pirates were the year's biggest disappointment. Champions in 1960. Danny Murtaugh's crew slipped all the way to sixth place. Pittsburgh hopes were jolted early in the season when Vern Law, 20-game winner the previous year, came up with an ailing pitching shoulder. He won only three games and made just one appearance after June 11. The Bucs put him on the retired list, July 7, when doctors ordered rest for his ailing flipper. Relief Ace Roy Face also encountered his worst season, winding up with a 6-12 record. Even Bob Friend, the club's leading winner, had a losing record of 14-19. The Pirates' brightest spots were provided by Roberto Clemente, who won the batting title with a .351 average, and First Baseman Dick Stuart, who hit .301 with 35 homers and 117 RBIs.
Owner P. K. Wrigley's decision to have a staff of coaches, rather than a manager, run the Cubs failed to produce any significant improvement in the club, and Chicago finished seventh for the second successive year. Harry Craft, Vedie Himsl, Lou Klein and Elvin Tappe took turns serving as head coach. Except during the first four weeks of the race, the Cubs occupied seventh place all the way. To add to Chicago's problems, the club's star performer. Shortstop Ernie Banks, fell victim of physical troubles. An ailing knee ended his five-year, 717-game playing streak, June 23, and later he was bothered by impairment of depth perception in his left eye. He hit only .278 but still managed to pace the Cubs in homers, 29. George Altman was the team's leading hitter at .303. Don Cardwell's 15-14 record topped Cub hurlers.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Phillies wound up in the league dungeon. Gene Mauch's hapless outfit never left the basement after May 1, when a ten-game losing streak set in. This tailspin, however, was nothing compared to the one the Phils encountered later on. Starting July 23, Philadelphia lost 28 out of 29 games, including a twentieth-century major league record of 23 defeats in a row. John Buzhardt finally snipped the skein by beating Milwaukee, 7 to 4, in the windup of a twin-bill, August 20.
