Major League Baseball Players Who Died in 1961

Major League Baseball Players Who Died in 1961

While looking up at an Old Timers’ Day scoreboard which was listing deceased Yankee greats, Hall of Fame Catcher Yogi Berra once quipped, "Boy, I hope I never see my name up there." The table below allows you to "check the scoreboard" in a year by year format. Simply select a year and up comes a list of every Major League player in history who died during any given year.

"If anybody talks about a dead guy during a broadcast, I'll sack 'em. I'm sick of dead guys. Whenever I turn on baseball, all I hear about is dead guys. If I hear a name, I'm going to ask: 'Is he dead?' And if he is, you're fired." - Fox Sports President David Hill in The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball (Jonathan Fraser Light, 2005)

Player	Died In	Date of Death	Debut Year	Final Year
Major League Baseball Players Who Died in 1961 A Historical Analysis / Return To Players by Place of Death
Lefty Atkinson	Chicago, Illinois	02-12-1961	1927	1927
Jesse Barnes	Santa Rosa, New Mexico	09-09-1961	1915	1927
Jack Barry	Shrewsbury, Massachusetts	04-23-1961	1908	1919
Joe Bean	Atlanta, Georgia	02-15-1961	1902	1902
Al Bergman	Fort Wayne, Indiana	06-20-1961	1916	1916
Joe Berry	Allenwood, New Jersey	03-13-1961	1902	1902
Coonie Blank	St. Louis, Missouri	12-08-1961	1909	1909
Ping Bodie	San Francisco, California	12-17-1961	1911	1921
Benny Bowcock	Taunton, Massachusetts	06-16-1961	1903	1903
Fred Brickell	Wichita, Kansas	04-08-1961	1926	1933
Tom Cafego	Detroit, Michigan	10-29-1961	1937	1937
Guy Cantrell	McAlester, Oklahoma	01-31-1961	1925	1930
Leon Carlson	Jamestown, New York	09-15-1961	1920	1920
Nick Carter	Grasonville, Maryland	11-23-1961	1908	1908
John Cavanaugh	New Brunswick, New Jersey	01-14-1961	1919	1919
Ty Cobb	Atlanta, Georgia	07-17-1961	1905	1928
Harry Colliflower	Washington, D.C.	08-12-1961	1899	1899
Bill Collins	San Bernardino, California	06-26-1961	1910	1914
Jack Coveney	Wayland, Massachusetts	03-28-1961	1903	1903
Davey Crockett	Charlottesville, Virginia	02-23-1961	1901	1901
Nick Cullop	Tazewell, Virginia	04-15-1961	1913	1921
Lum Davenport	Dallas, Texas	04-21-1961	1921	1924
George Davis	Buffalo, New York	06-04-1961	1912	1915
Tom Downey	Passaic, New Jersey	08-03-1961	1909	1915
Jess Doyle	Belleville, Illinois	04-15-1961	1925	1931
Lee Dunham	Atlanta, Illinois	05-11-1961	1926	1926
Hod Eller	Indianapolis, Indiana	07-18-1961	1917	1921
Cy Falkenberg	San Francisco, California	04-14-1961	1903	1917
Harry Felix	Miami, Florida	10-17-1961	1901	1902
Dana Fillingim	Tuskegee, Alabama	02-03-1961	1915	1925
Frank Foutz	Lima, Ohio	12-25-1961	1901	1901
Eddie Gaedel	Chicago, Illinois	06-18-1961	1951	1951
Harry Gardner	Canby, Oregon	08-02-1961	1911	1912
Frank Gibson	Austin, Texas	04-27-1961	1913	1927
Harry Gleason	Camden, New Jersey	10-21-1961	1901	1905
Roy Golden	Norwood, Ohio	10-04-1961	1910	1911
John Grim	Indianapolis, Indiana	07-28-1961	1888	1899
Jim Hackett	Douglas, Michigan	03-28-1961	1902	1903
Jim Hanley	Elmhurst, New York	05-01-1961	1913	1913
Dick Harley	Springfield, Ohio	05-16-1961	1905	1905
Bob Harmon	Monroe, Louisiana	11-27-1961	1909	1918
Roy Hartzell	Golden, Colorado	11-06-1961	1906	1916
Jake Hehl	Brooklyn, New York	07-04-1961	1918	1918
Mack Hillis	Cambridge, Massachusetts	06-16-1961	1924	1928
George Hogriever	Appleton, Wisconsin	01-26-1961	1895	1901
Red Holt	Birmingham, Alabama	02-02-1961	1925	1925
Dummy Hoy	Cincinnati, Ohio	12-15-1961	1888	1902
Tom Hughes	Los Angeles, California	11-01-1961	1906	1918
Vern Hughes	Sewickley, Pennsylvania	09-26-1961	1914	1914
Al Humphrey	Ashtabula, Ohio	05-13-1961	1911	1911
Ollie Johns	Hamilton, Ohio	06-17-1961	1905	1905
Doc Johnston	Chattanooga, Tennessee	02-17-1961	1909	1922
Binky Jones	St. Louis, Missouri	05-13-1961	1924	1924
Ted Jourdan	New Orleans, Louisiana	09-23-1961	1916	1920
Frank Jude	Brownsville, Texas	05-04-1961	1906	1906
Benny Kauff	Columbus, Ohio	11-17-1961	1912	1920
Jim Kelly	Kingsport, Tennessee	04-10-1961	1914	1918
Red Kelly	Zephyrhills, Florida	02-04-1961	1910	1910
La Rue Kirby	Lansing, Michigan	06-10-1961	1912	1915
Otto Knabe	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	05-17-1961	1905	1916
Ben Koehler	South Bend, Indiana	05-21-1961	1905	1906
Lou Koupal	San Gabriel, California	12-08-1961	1925	1937
Otto Krueger	St. Louis, Missouri	02-20-1961	1899	1905
John Leary	Waltham, Massachusetts	08-18-1961	1914	1915
Dutch Lieber	Sawtelle, California	12-31-1961	1935	1936
Jack Little	Dallas, Texas	07-27-1961	1912	1912
Art Loudell	Kansas City, Missouri	02-19-1961	1910	1910
Fred Luderus	Three Lakes, Wisconsin	01-05-1961	1909	1920
Freddie Maguire	Boston, Massachusetts	11-03-1961	1922	1931
Frank Mahar	Somerville, Massachusetts	12-05-1961	1902	1902
Alex Malloy	Ferris, Texas	03-01-1961	1910	1910
Bert Maxwell	Brady, Texas	12-10-1961	1906	1914
Jack McCandless	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	08-17-1961	1914	1915
Jim McGinley	Haverhill, Massachusetts	09-20-1961	1904	1905
Chuck Miller	Houston, Texas	06-16-1961	1913	1914
Mike Mitchell	Phoenix, Arizona	07-16-1961	1907	1914
John Mohardt	LaJolla, California	11-24-1961	1922	1922
Kid Mohler	San Francisco, California	11-04-1961	1894	1894
Carlton Molesworth	Frederick, Maryland	07-25-1961	1895	1895
Earl Moore	Columbus, Ohio	11-28-1961	1901	1914
Walter Morris	Dallas, Texas	08-02-1961	1908	1908
Ray Nelson	Mt. Vernon, New York	01-08-1961	1901	1901
Red Oldham	Costa Mesa, California	01-28-1961	1914	1926
Rube Oldring	Bridgeton, New Jersey	09-09-1961	1905	1918
Chink Outen	Durham, North Carolina	09-11-1961	1933	1933
Si Pauxtis	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	03-13-1961	1909	1909
Joe Price	Washington, D.C.	01-15-1961	1928	1928
Mike Regan	Albany, New York	05-22-1961	1917	1919
Ed Reulbach	Glens Falls, New York	07-17-1961	1905	1917
Chuck Rose	Salina, Kansas	08-04-1961	1909	1909
Schoolboy Rowe	El Dorado, Arkansas	01-08-1961	1933	1949
Don Savage	Montclair, New Jersey	12-25-1961	1944	1945
Bill Schwartz	Nashville, Tennessee	08-29-1961	1904	1904
Epp Sell	Reading, Pennsylvania	02-19-1961	1922	1923
Pete Shields	Jackson, Mississippi	02-11-1961	1915	1915
Barney Slaughter	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	05-17-1961	1910	1910
Fred Smith	Cleveland, Ohio	05-28-1961	1913	1917
Happy Smith	San Jose, California	02-26-1961	1910	1910
Red Smith	Los Angeles, California	02-19-1961	1925	1925
Syd Smith	Orangeburg, South Carolina	06-05-1961	1908	1915
Clyde Southwick	Freeport, Illinois	10-14-1961	1911	1911
John Taff	Houston, Texas	05-15-1961	1913	1913
Bud Tinning	Evansville, Indiana	01-17-1961	1932	1935
Dazzy Vance	Homosassa Springs, Florida	02-16-1961	1915	1935
Aaron Ward	New Orleans, Louisiana	01-30-1961	1917	1928
Bud Weiser	Shamokin, Pennsylvania	07-31-1961	1915	1916
Gene Woodburn	Sandusky, Ohio	01-18-1961	1911	1912
Frank Woodward	New Haven, Connecticut	06-11-1961	1918	1923
Weldon Wyckoff	Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin	05-08-1961	1913	1918
Bert Yeabsley	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	02-08-1961	1919	1919
Lefty York	York, Pennsylvania	04-09-1961	1919	1921
Player	Died In	Date of Death	Debut Year	Final Year
Major League Baseball Players Who Died in 1961

Who was the first Major League player to commit suicide? Which baseball suicide occurred in an Asylum? Which one took place inside a police station? Find out by reading through our list of baseball suicides.

Did you know that the fewest number of baseball deaths occurred during the month of June? For a comprehensive chart check out our Baseball Player Obituaries & Death by Month Chart.

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