1971 American League

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The 1971 season of the American League was the seventy-first season of the league.

BR page

Season summary[edit]

Standings[edit]

Bold indicates league champion, Italics indicates World Series champion
Rank Team G W L T WPCT GB RS (RS/G) RA (RA/G) AVG OBP SLG ERA FPCT
Eastern Division
1 Baltimore Orioles 158 101 57 0 .639 -.- 742 (4.70) 530 (3.35) 0.261 0.344 0.398 2.99 0.981
2 Detroit Tigers 162 91 71 0 .562 12.0 701 (4.33) 645 (3.98) 0.254 0.321 0.405 3.63 0.983
3 Boston Red Sox 162 85 77 0 .525 18.0 691 (4.27) 667 (4.12) 0.252 0.321 0.397 3.80 0.981
4 New York Yankees 162 82 80 0 .506 21.0 648 (4.00) 641 (3.96) 0.254 0.327 0.360 3.43 0.981
5 Washington Senators 159 63 96 0 .396 38.5 537 (3.38) 660 (4.15) 0.230 0.306 0.326 3.70 0.977
6 Cleveland Indians 162 60 102 0 .370 43.0 543 (3.35) 747 (4.61) 0.238 0.298 0.342 4.28 0.981
Western Division
1 Oakland Athletics 161 101 60 0 .627 -.- 691 (4.29) 564 (3.50) 0.252 0.319 0.384 3.05 0.981
2 Kansas City Royals 161 85 76 0 .528 16.0 603 (3.75) 566 (3.52) 0.250 0.313 0.353 3.25 0.979
3 Chicago White Sox 162 79 83 0 .488 22.5 617 (3.81) 597 (3.69) 0.250 0.321 0.373 3.12 0.975
4 California Angels 162 76 86 0 .469 25.5 511 (3.15) 576 (3.56) 0.231 0.288 0.329 3.10 0.980
5 Minnesota Twins 160 74 86 0 .463 26.5 654 (4.09) 670 (4.19) 0.260 0.324 0.372 3.81 0.980
6 Milwaukee Brewers 161 69 92 0 .429 32.0 534 (3.32) 609 (3.78) 0.229 0.302 0.329 3.38 0.977

League leaders[edit]

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Games Played Sandy Alomar California Angels 162
At Bats Sandy Alomar California Angels 689
Runs Scored Don Buford Baltimore Orioles 99
Hits Cesar Tovar Minnesota Twins 204
Doubles Reggie Smith Boston Red Sox 33
Triples Freddie Patek Kansas City Royals 11
Home Runs Bill Melton Chicago White Sox 33
Total Bases Reggie Smith Boston Red Sox 302
Runs Batted In Harmon Killebrew Minnesota Twins 119
Stolen Bases Amos Otis Kansas City Royals 52
Caught Stealing Freddie Patek
Cesar Tovar
Kansas City Royals
Minnesota Twins
14
Walks Harmon Killebrew Minnesota Twins 114
Intentional Base-on-Balls Frank Howard Washington Senators 20
Hit by Pitch Mike Epstein Washington Senators/Oakland Athletics 12
Strikeouts Reggie Jackson Oakland Athletics 161
Sacrifice Hits Ron Theobald Milwaukee Brewers 19
Sacrifice Flies Roy White New York Yankees 17
Grounded into Double Plays Frank Howard Washington Senators 29
Batting Average Tony Oliva Minnesota Twins 0.337
On-Base Percentage Bobby Murcer New York Yankees 0.427
Slugging Percentage Tony Oliva Minnesota Twins 0.546
On-Base plus Slugging Bobby Murcer New York Yankees 0.970
On-Base plus Slugging Plus Bobby Murcer New York Yankees 181

Pitching[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Wins Mickey Lolich Detroit Tigers 25
Losses Denny McLain Washington Senators 22
Win-Loss Percentage Dave McNally Baltimore Orioles 0.808
Appearances Ken Sanders Milwaukee Brewers 83
Games Started Mickey Lolich Detroit Tigers 45
Complete Games Mickey Lolich Detroit Tigers 29
Shutouts Vida Blue Oakland Athletics 8
Games Finished Ken Sanders Milwaukee Brewers 77
Saves Ken Sanders Milwaukee Brewers 31
Innings Pitched Mickey Lolich Detroit Tigers 376.0
Batters Faced Mickey Lolich Detroit Tigers 1538
Hits Allowed Mickey Lolich Detroit Tigers 336
Home Runs Allowed Jim Perry Minnesota Twins 39
Base-on-Balls Allowed Sam McDowell Cleveland Indians 153
Intentional Base-on-Balls Sam McDowell Cleveland Indians 13
Hit Batsmen Jim Lonborg Boston Red Sox 14
Strikeouts Mickey Lolich Detroit Tigers 308
Wild Pitches Tom Murphy California Angels 17
Balks Pete Broberg Washington Senators 4
Runs Allowed Jim Perry Minnesota Twins 135
Earned Runs Allowed Jim Perry Minnesota Twins 127
Earned Run Average Vida Blue Oakland Athletics 1.82
Walks plus Hits
per Inning Pitched
Vida Blue Oakland Athletics 0.952

All-Star Game[edit]

The American League won the forty-second midsummer classic at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, MI on Tuesday, July 13, 1971 by a score of 6 to 4. The league's manager was Earl Weaver.

Postseason[edit]

The American League Championship Series, featured Baltimore Orioles, the Eastern Division winner, and the Oakland Athletics, the Western Division winner. The Orioles defeated the Athletics, 3 games to 0.

In the World Series, the American League champion Baltimore Orioles were defeated by the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates, 4 games to 3.

Award winners[edit]

The winner of the league's Most Valuable Player Award, given its Most Valuable Player, was Vida Blue, a pitcher with the Oakland Athletics. In the award's voting, he had 268 out of a possible 336 points and 14 first place votes.

The winner of the league's Cy Young Award, given its best pitcher, was Vida Blue of the Oakland Athletics. In the award's voting, he had 98 out of a possible 120 points and 14 first place votes.

The winner of the league's Rookie of the Year Award, given its best rookie player, was Chris Chambliss, a first baseman with the Cleveland Indians. In the award's voting, he had 11 out of a possible 24 points and 11 first place votes.

Gold Gloves[edit]

The following players won the Gold Glove Award, given to the league's best fielders as voted upon by its managers and coaches, at their respective position.

Position Player Team
P Jim Kaat Minnesota Twins
C Ray Fosse Cleveland Indians
1B George Scott Boston Red Sox
2B Davey Johnson Baltimore Orioles
3B Brooks Robinson Baltimore Orioles
SS Mark Belanger Baltimore Orioles
OF Amos Otis Kansas City Royals
Paul Blair Baltimore Orioles
Carl Yastrzemski Boston Red Sox

Hall of Fame Game[edit]

The twenty-ninth annual Hall of Fame Game was played on August 9 at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY near the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In the game, the American League's Cleveland Indians defeated the Chicago Cubs of the National League by a score of 13 to 5.

Notable events[edit]

Umpires[edit]