1961 American League Most Valuable Player Award

The winner of the 1961 American League Most Valuable Player Award was Roger Maris of the New York Yankees.

Award Voting

† indicates playoff team

Player	Team	Points	Points Share (Max Points)	First Votes		AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG		W - L	SV	IP	H	HR	BB	SO	ERA
Roger Maris	New York Yankees †	202	0.721 (280)	7		590	132	159	61	142	0	94	67	0.269	0.372	0.620		Did not pitch
Mickey Mantle	New York Yankees †	198	0.707 (280)	6		514	132	163	54	128	12	126	112	0.317	0.448	0.687		Did not pitch
Jim Gentile	Baltimore Orioles	157	0.561 (280)	5		486	96	147	46	141	1	96	106	0.302	0.423	0.646		Did not pitch
Norm Cash	Detroit Tigers	151	0.539 (280)	1		535	119	193	41	132	11	124	85	0.361	0.487	0.662		Did not pitch
Whitey Ford	New York Yankees †	102	0.364 (280)	0		96	11	17	0	10	0	12	17	0.177	0.266	0.188		25 - 4	0	283.0	242	23	92	209	3.21
Luis Arroyo	New York Yankees †	95	0.339 (280)	1		25	2	7	0	0	0	0	4	0.280	0.280	0.360		15 - 5	29	119.0	83	5	49	87	2.19
Frank Lary	Detroit Tigers	53	0.189 (280)	0		108	13	25	1	5	0	3	27	0.231	0.259	0.278		23 - 9	0	275.1	252	24	66	146	3.24
Rocky Colavito	Detroit Tigers	51	0.182 (280)	0		583	129	169	45	140	1	113	75	0.290	0.402	0.580		Did not pitch
Al Kaline	Detroit Tigers	35	0.125 (280)	0		586	116	190	19	82	14	66	42	0.324	0.393	0.515		Did not pitch
Elston Howard	New York Yankees †	30	0.107 (280)	0		446	64	155	21	77	0	28	65	0.348	0.387	0.549		Did not pitch
Harmon Killebrew	Minnesota Twins	29	0.104 (280)	0		541	94	156	46	122	1	107	109	0.288	0.405	0.606		Did not pitch
Luis Aparicio	Chicago White Sox	16	0.057 (280)	0		625	90	170	6	45	53	38	33	0.272	0.313	0.352		Did not pitch
Jim Piersall	Cleveland Indians	10	0.036 (280)	0		484	81	156	6	40	8	43	46	0.322	0.378	0.442		Did not pitch
Don Schwall	Boston Red Sox	7	0.025 (280)	0		61	5	11	0	6	0	1	10	0.180	0.194	0.213		15 - 7	0	178.2	167	8	110	91	3.22
Steve Barber	Baltimore Orioles	7	0.025 (280)	0		80	6	13	2	6	0	5	42	0.163	0.221	0.250		18 - 12	1	248.1	194	13	130	150	3.33
Norm Siebern	Kansas City Athletics	7	0.025 (280)	0		560	68	166	18	98	2	82	91	0.296	0.384	0.475		Did not pitch
Dick Donovan	Washington Senators	5	0.018 (280)	0		56	6	10	1	7	0	6	23	0.179	0.258	0.250		10 - 10	0	168.2	138	10	35	62	2.40
Bubba Phillips	Cleveland Indians	5	0.018 (280)	0		546	64	144	18	72	1	29	61	0.264	0.305	0.408		Did not pitch
Chuck Schilling	Boston Red Sox	4	0.014 (280)	0		646	87	167	5	62	7	78	77	0.259	0.340	0.327		Did not pitch
Brooks Robinson	Baltimore Orioles	4	0.014 (280)	0		668	89	192	7	61	1	47	57	0.287	0.334	0.397		Did not pitch
Tom Morgan	Los Angeles Angels	3	0.011 (280)	0		12	1	1	0	0	0	1	4	0.083	0.154	0.083		8 - 2	10	91.2	74	7	17	39	2.36
Al Smith	Chicago White Sox	3	0.011 (280)	0		532	88	148	28	93	4	56	67	0.278	0.348	0.506		Did not pitch
Yogi Berra	New York Yankees †	2	0.007 (280)	0		395	62	107	22	61	2	35	28	0.271	0.330	0.466		Did not pitch
Hoyt Wilhelm	Baltimore Orioles	1	0.004 (280)	0		20	1	1	0	2	0	2	10	0.050	0.136	0.050		9 - 7	18	109.2	89	5	41	87	2.30
Bobby Richardson	New York Yankees †	1	0.004 (280)	0		662	80	173	3	49	9	30	23	0.261	0.295	0.316		Did not pitch
Lee Thomas	Los Angeles Angels	1	0.004 (280)	0		450	77	128	24	70	0	47	74	0.284	0.353	0.491		Did not pitch
Johnny Romano	Cleveland Indians	1	0.004 (280)	0		509	76	152	21	80	0	61	60	0.299	0.377	0.483		Did not pitch
Lee Thomas	New York Yankees †	1	0.004 (280)	0		2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.500	0.500	0.500		Did not pitch

Preceded by 1960

Most Valuable Player Award National 1961

Succeeded by 1962