1961 Fantasy Astrology Recap
View the 1961 FABL Lineups Here!
When the universal designated hitter was established prior to the 2022 season, it ended a 50-year streak of the American and National Leagues playing by different rules. But the DH wasn’t the first time the AL and NL were at odds with each other: in 1961, American League teams played 162 games, while the National League was still stuck in the old 154-game schedule. Perhaps this change had to do with the AL expanding to 10 teams, while the NL was in its last year with just eight teams. And it turns out that each of these changes had a significant impact on the 1961 Fantasy Astrology Baseball League.
But first, let’s talk topline, which ONCE AGAIN features the Leo Lions atop the league’s hierarchy. As usual, the team was carried by its stellar outfielders: Rocky Colavito (2,885 / 17.7), Vada Pinson (2,305 / 15.0), and Roberto Clemente (2,255 / 15.4) were part of the only grass trio to feature three 2,000-point scorers – in fact, only two other signs had as many players reach that plateau in their entire starting lineups. While Don Drysdale (1,851 / 46.3) had an off-year leading into his Cy Young Award-winning 1962, switch-hitting Joey Jay (2,146 / 63.1) of the real-life NL champion Reds led a solid starting staff, with Hoyt Wilhelm (1,681 / 33.0) around to close out games.
In the Negative Polarity, as was the case in 1963, Taurus and Capricorn vied for the top spot. The Bulls would have been the clear winners, were it not for some dumb positional eligibility rules. It’s beyond reasonable to have first and second bases filled by third base and shortstop depth, respectively: Brooks Robinson (1,678 / 10.3) sits behind Ken Boyer (2,353 / 15.4) at the hot corner, while Luis Aparicio (1,866 / 12.0) was beat out by rookie shortstop Dick Howser (1,993 / 12.6). Plue, we have future first baseman Felipe Alou (1,352 / 10.2) on the bench. Going by rules as written, the team would have to rely on Dick Williams (596 / 5.8) and Billy Martin (808 / 7.1) – the same Billy Martin who would facilitate Rickey Henderson’s rise to stardom as a manager. I guess it’s true the Earth Signs stick together.
Either way, Willie Mays (2,835 / 18.4) was at the top of his game for Taurus, outscorping the best Capricorn batter – Reds third baseman Gene Freese (1,822 / 12.0) – by more than 1,000 fantasy points. But despite the presence of Warren Spahn (2,340 / 61.6) on the Bulls, the Goats had far better pitching excellence, featuring four 2,000-point scorers in their rotation. Sandy Koufax (2,477 / 59.0) led the bunch, even in a down year, Jim O’Toole was the ace of the real-life Reds, Don Mossi (2,181 / 62.3) was part of a strong rotation of the AL runner-up Detroit Tigers, and Camilo Pascual (2,163 / 61.8) survived the move of the original Washington Senators to Minnesota. Plus they had a closer – Stu Miller (1,932 / 30.7) – who could hardly be… closer to the 2,000-point threshhold.
Many baseball historians will remember 1961 for the chase of Babe Ruth’s home run record by Yankees teammates Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. While the Virgo Maris (2,979 / 18.5) broke the record by one on the last day of the season, it was Mantle (3,090 / 20.2) who not only had a superior fantasy season, but also led his Libra Scales to an Air Division title. Braves third baseman Eddie Mathews (2,372 / 15.6) also contributed in a big way, but it was a pitching staff led by Mantle’s real-life teammate and Cy Young Award winner Whitey Ford (2,882 / 73.9), plus fellow two-time All-Stars Jim Bunning (2,512 / 66.1) and Mike McCormick (1,949 / 48.7) – remember, two All-Star Games were played from 1958 to 1962, in order to increase the players’ financial share of the proceeds.
Only one other player reached the coveted 3,000-point plateau in 1961: Tigers first baseman Norm Cash (3,055 / 19.2), whose Scorpio Stingers handily took home the Water Division crown. They even beat out Cancer and Pisces when accounting for positional eligibility rules, which means sacrificing their two first-basemen-cheated-as-corner-outfielders Joe Adcock (2,046 / 13.5) and Roy Sievers (1,944 / 13.8) – because Dick Stuart (2,139 / 15.5), yet another first sacker, would be entrenched at DH. While the pitching staff didn’t feature any 2,000-pointers – Lew Burdette (1,886 / 47.2) of the Braves was the leader – they definitely had plenty of legends on the rise, with Bob Gibson (1,623 / 46.4) and Jim Kaat (1,171 / 32.5) ready to break out.
One position Scorpio couldn’t fill at all was third base – the closest they came was Vic Power (1,386 / 9.4), who played 42 games at the hot corner back in 1958, and would return there for 29 more in 1964. And the Stingers weren’t the only sign that struggled to fill their lineup: FIVE others had one position unaccounted for. Aries couldn’t field a second baseman, although shortstop Ron Hansen (1,131 / 7.3) is more than capable of filling in. Gemini had no qualifying third baseman, with Bob Lillis (342 / 3.3) leading the sign with 12 appearances there. And Virgo didn’t have a shortstop, even though Charley Smith (973 / 8.0) came agonizingly close to qualifying with 17 games. Meanwhile, Cancer and Aquarius each had only four pitchers who started in more than 50% of their appearances.