1971 Washington Senators
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkRFK Stadium
CityWashington, D.C.
OwnersBob Short
ManagersTed Williams
TelevisionWTOP – (Warner Wolf,
Ray Scott, Tony Roberts)
RadioWWDC (FM)
(Ron Menchine, Tony Roberts)
Seasons

The 1971 Washington Senators season involved the Senators finishing fifth in the American League East with a record of 63 wins and 96 losses (.396). This was the Senators' 11th and last season in Washington, D.C.; they moved to Arlington, Texas, and became the Texas Rangers in 1972. The previous Senators (now Minnesota Twins) were in Washington from 1901 through 1960.

The move to Texas left Washington without a Major League Baseball team for 33 seasons, until the Montreal Expos of the National League relocated there in 2005 and became the current Washington Nationals.

Offseason

Opening Day 1971

Regular season

The acquisition of former Cy Young Award winner Denny McLain did not pay dividends for the franchise. Amid constant run-ins with no-nonsense Washington manager Ted Williams, 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 opened in 1965 to house the AA Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs of the Texas League. Built to major league specifications, it was located in a natural bowl, and only minor excavations were 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 record

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
CPaul Casanova9431163.203526
1BDon Mincher10032394.2911045
2BTim Cullen12540377.191226
SSToby Harrah12738388.230222
3BDave Nelson8532992.280533
LFFrank Howard153549153.2792683
CFDel Unser153581148.255941
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
Dick Billings11634986.246648
Elliott Maddox12825856.217118
Bernie Allen9722961.266422
Lenny Randle7521547.219213
Tommy McCraw12220744.213725
Jeff Burroughs5918142.232525
Joe Foy4112830.234011
Mike Epstein248521.24719
Richie Scheinblum27497.14304
Jim French14416.14604
Don Wert20402.05002
Curt Flood13357.20002
Frank Fernández18303.10004
Tom Ragland10234.17400
Jim Mason393.33300
Rick Stelmaszek690.00000
Bill Fahey280.00000

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
Mike Thompson1666.2164.8641

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
Jim Shellenback40120.03113.5347
Gerry Janeski2361.2154.9619
Jackie Brown1447.0345.9421

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
Paul Lindblad436482.5850
Denny Riddleberger573113.2356
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. ↑ "Joe Foy Stats".
  4. ↑ Ed Stroud page at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ "Denny McLain". Retrieved October 4, 2008.
  6. ↑ "1971 Washington Senators Roster by Baseball Almanac".
  7. ↑ Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference
  8. ↑ Stan Thomas page at Baseball Reference
  9. ↑ Mike Cubbage page at Baseball Reference
  10. ↑ "Joe Foy Stats".
  11. ↑ Jim French page at Baseball Reference

References

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