1966 Major League Baseball season

The 1966 Major League Baseball season was contested from April to October 1966. The Braves played their inaugural season in Atlanta, following their relocation from Milwaukee. Three teams played the 1966 season in new stadiums. On April 12, the Braves ushered in Atlanta Stadium with the Pittsburgh Pirates taking a 3–2 win in 13 innings. One week later, Anaheim Stadium opened with the California Angels losing to the Chicago White Sox, 3–1 in the Angels' debut in Orange County. On May 8, the St. Louis Cardinals closed out Busch Stadium I with a 10–5 loss to the San Francisco Giants before opening the new Busch Memorial Stadium four days later with a 4–3 win in 12 innings over the Atlanta Braves.

In the World Series the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 4 games to 0.

Awards and honors

• Most Valuable Player
  • Frank Robinson, Baltimore Orioles, OF (AL)
  • Roberto Clemente, Pittsburgh Pirates, OF (NL)
• Cy Young Award
  • Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles Dodgers
• Rookie of the Year
  • Tommie Agee, Chicago White Sox, OF (AL)
  • Tommy Helms, Cincinnati Reds, 2B (NL)
• The Sporting News Player of the Year Award
  • Frank Robinson, Baltimore Orioles^[1]
• The Sporting News American League Pitcher of the Year
  • Jim Kaat, Minnesota Twins^[2]
• The Sporting News National League Pitcher of the Year
  • Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles Dodgers^[3]

MLB statistical leaders

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax

American League National League Type Name Stat Name Stat AVG Frank Robinson^1 BAL .316 Matty Alou PIT .342 HR Frank Robinson^1 BAL 49 Hank Aaron ATL 44 RBI Frank Robinson^1 BAL 122 Hank Aaron ATL 127 Wins Jim Kaat MIN 25 Sandy Koufax^2 LAD 27 ERA Gary Peters CHW 1.98 Sandy Koufax^2 LAD 1.73 K Sam McDowell CLE 225 Sandy Koufax^2 LAD 317 SV Jack Aker KCA 32 Phil Regan LAD 21 SB Bert Campaneris KCA 52 Lou Brock STL 74

¹ American League Triple Crown Batting Winner
² National League Triple Crown Pitching

Major league baseball final standings

American League final standings

American League Club Wins Losses Win %   GB Baltimore Orioles 97 63 .606 – Minnesota Twins 89 73 .549 9 Detroit Tigers 88 74 .543 10 Chicago White Sox 83 79 .512 15 Cleveland Indians 81 81 .500 17 California Angels 80 82 .494 18 Kansas City Athletics 74 86 .463 23 Washington Senators 71 88 .447 25.5 Boston Red Sox 72 90 .444 26 New York Yankees 70 89 .440 26.5

National League final standings

National League Club Wins Losses Win %   GB Los Angeles Dodgers 95 67 .586 – San Francisco Giants 93 68 .578 1.5 Pittsburgh Pirates 92 70 .568 3 Philadelphia Phillies 87 75 .537 8 Atlanta Braves 85 77 .525 10 St. Louis Cardinals 83 79 .512 12 Cincinnati Reds 76 84 .475 18 Houston Astros 72 90 .444 23 New York Mets 66 95 .410 28.5 Chicago Cubs 59 103 .364 36

Managers

American League

Team	Manager	Comments
Baltimore Orioles	Hank Bauer	Won the World Series
Boston Red Sox	Billy Herman	Replaced during the season by Pete Runnels
California Angels	Bill Rigney
Chicago White Sox	Eddie Stanky
Cleveland Indians	Birdie Tebbetts	Replaced during the season by George Strickland
Detroit Tigers	Chuck Dressen	Replaced during the season by Bob Swift and then Frank Skaff
Kansas City Athletics	Alvin Dark
Minnesota Twins	Sam Mele
New York Yankees	Johnny Keane	Replaced during the season by Ralph Houk
Washington Senators	Gil Hodges

National League

Team	Manager	Comments
Atlanta Braves	Bobby Bragan	Replaced during the season by Billy Hitchcock
Chicago Cubs	Leo Durocher
Cincinnati Reds	Don Heffner	Replaced during the season by Dave Bristol
Houston Astros	Grady Hatton
Los Angeles Dodgers	Walter Alston	Won the National League pennant
New York Mets	Wes Westrum
Philadelphia Phillies	Gene Mauch
Pittsburgh Pirates	Harry Walker
San Francisco Giants	Herman Franks
St. Louis Cardinals	Red Schoendienst

Events

• January 20 – The Baseball Writers' Association of America voters elect Ted Williams to the Hall of Fame. Williams receives 282 of a possible 302 votes.
• February 28 – Seeking an unprecedented 3-year $1.05 million to be divided evenly, the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale begin a joint holdout.
• March 5 – In what will prove to be one of the more influential off-the-field events in Major League history, representatives of the players elect Marvin Miller to the post of Executive Director of the Major League Players Association (MLPA).
• March 8 – The Special Veterans Committee waives Hall of Fame election rules and inducts Casey Stengel, recently retired manager of the New York Mets.

• March 17 – Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale escalate their threat of retirement by signing movie contracts.
• March 30 – Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale end their 32-day holdout, signing for $130,000 and $105,000 respectively.
• April 3 – USC pitcher Tom Seaver signs with the New York Mets. He had been drafted by the Atlanta Braves, but they had signed him to a minor league contract while he was still in college. This voided Seaver's remaining eligibility, and voided the contract. The Mets won a special lottery over Cleveland and Philadelphia to win the right to sign him.
• April 11 – Emmett Ashford takes the field in Washington to officiate a 5–2 Washington Senators win over the Cleveland Indians. He is the first African-American umpire in Major League history.
• April 12 – Over 50,000 fans show up at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium to watch the Braves' first home game in Atlanta. The Braves fall to the Pittsburgh Pirates 3–2 in 13 innings, however.
• May 8 – The visiting San Francisco Giants defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, 10–5 in the final game at Busch Stadium I.
• May 12 – Four days after the closing of Busch Stadium I, the St. Louis Cardinals defeat the visiting Atlanta Braves 4–3 in 12 innings, in front of 46,048 fans in attendance, in the first game at Busch Memorial Stadium.
• May 14 – The San Francisco Giants' Willie Mays hits his then National League record 512th home run – topping another Giant, Mel Ott. The Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6–1 at San Francisco's Candlestick Park.
• June 7 – The Kansas City Athletics use the second overall pick to draft Arizona State outfielder Reggie Jackson.
• June 10 – Sonny Siebert of the Cleveland Indians no-hits the Washington Senators 2–0 at Cleveland Stadium. The no-hitter is the first by an Indian since Bob Feller's third career no-hitter, in 1951.
• July 3 – Atlanta pitcher Tony Cloninger hits two grand slams in a game against the Giants, the first National League player and first pitcher in history to do so. His nine RBI in a game is a record for pitchers.
• July 12 – At St. Louis, Maury Wills' 10th-inning single scores Tim McCarver, as the National League wins 2–1 over the American League in the All-Star Game, but AL Brooks Robinson's stellar game (three hits, eight fielding chances) earns him the MVP honors.
• July 25 – During his Hall of Fame induction speech, Ted Williams publicly calls on baseball to induct former great players from the Negro Leagues. He specifically calls for the induction of Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige.
• September 22 – The Baltimore Orioles beat the host Kansas City Athletics 6–1 to clinch their first American League pennant since moving to Baltimore. Both Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson have two RBIs. Frank Robinson will end the year as the Triple Crown winner, the first to achieve the feat since Mickey Mantle in 1956. He clinches with a batting average of .316, 49 home runs and 122 RBIs.
• September 26 – Willie McCovey hits his 200th career home run, helping the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves 8–2.
• October 9 – In Game Four of the World Series, Dave McNally wraps up a brilliant pitching display, and the first World Championship for the Baltimore Orioles, with a four-hit, 1–0 shutout against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Series MVP Frank Robinson hits a home run off Don Drysdale for the only run of the game and gave Baltimore a surprising sweep of the defending World Champion Dodgers. The shutout completes a World Series record 33⅔ scoreless innings pitched by Orioles pitchers, beginning with Moe Drabowsky pitching 6²⁄₃ innings in relief of McNally in Game One, followed by shutouts by Jim Palmer and Wally Bunker. The Orioles are the last of the original eight American League franchises to win their first World Series.

References

1. The Sporting News Player of the Year Award
2. The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award
3. The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award

External links

• 1966 season at Baseball-Reference.com