1966 New York Yankees season

1966 New York Yankees
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Yankee Stadium (since 1923)
New York City (since 1903)
Other information
Owner(s)	CBS
General manager(s)	Ralph Houk, Dan Topping, Jr.
Manager(s)	Johnny Keane, Ralph Houk
Local television	WPIX (Red Barber, Phil Rizzuto, Jerry Coleman, Joe Garagiola)
Local radio	WCBS (AM) (Phil Rizzuto, Red Barber, Jerry Coleman, Joe Garagiola)
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The 1966 New York Yankees season was the 64th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 70–89, finishing 26.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. New York was managed by Johnny Keane and Ralph Houk. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. Keane managed his final MLB game in early-May, and died the following January at the age of 55.

The Yankees finished in 10th place, although arguably a "strong" tenth.^[1] It was the first time they had finished in last place since 1912, their last year at the Hilltop.

On September 22, paid attendance of 413 was announced at the 65,000-seat Yankee Stadium.^[2] WPIX announcer Red Barber asked the TV cameras to pan the empty stands as he commented on the low attendance. Although denied the camera shots on orders from the Yankees' head of media relations, he said, "I don't know what the paid attendance is today, but whatever it is, it is the smallest crowd in the history of Yankee Stadium, and this crowd is the story, not the game." By a horrible stroke of luck, that game was the first for CBS executive Mike Burke as team president. A week later, Barber was invited to breakfast where Burke told him that his contract wouldn't be renewed.

Offseason

• November 29, 1965: Rich Barry was drafted from the Yankees by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1965 minor league draft.^[3]
• January 14, 1966: Doc Edwards was traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Lou Clinton.^[4]
• January 29, 1966: Darrell Evans was drafted by the Yankees in the 2nd round of the 1966 Major League Baseball Draft (Secondary Phase), but did not sign.^[5]

Regular season

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	97	63	0.606	—	48–31	49–32
Minnesota Twins	89	73	0.549	9	49–32	40–41
Detroit Tigers	88	74	0.543	10	42–39	46–35
Chicago White Sox	83	79	0.512	15	45–36	38–43
Cleveland Indians	81	81	0.500	17	41–40	40–41
California Angels	80	82	0.494	18	42–39	38–43
Kansas City Athletics	74	86	0.463	23	42–39	32–47
Washington Senators	71	88	0.447	25½	42–36	29–52
Boston Red Sox	72	90	0.444	26	40–41	32–49
New York Yankees	70	89	0.440	26½	35–46	35–43

Record vs. opponents

1966 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIN	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	12–6	12–6	9–9	8–10	9–9	11–5	10–8	15–3	11–7
Boston	6–12	—	9–9	11–7	7–11	8–10	9–9	6–12	8–10	8–10
California	6–12	9–9	—	8–10	10–8	9–9	9–9	11–7	11–7	7–11
Chicago	9–9	7–11	10–8	—	11–7	8–10	13–5	4–14	9–9–1	12–6
Cleveland	10–8	11–7	8–10	7–11	—	9–9	6–12	9–9	12–6	9–9
Detroit	9–9	10–8	9–9	10–8	9–9	—	6–12	11–7	11–7	13–5
Kansas City	5–11	9–9	9–9	5–13	12–6	12–6	—	8–10	5–13	9–9
Minnesota	8–10	12–6	7–11	14–4	9–9	7–11	10–8	—	8–10	14–4
New York	3–15	10–8	7–11	9–9–1	6–12	7–11	13–5	10–8	—	5–10
Washington	7–11	10–8	11–7	6–12	9–9	5–13	9–9	4–14	10–5	—

Notable transactions

• May 3, 1966: Al Closter was purchased by the Yankees from the Washington Senators.^[6]
• June 7, 1966: Joe Pactwa was drafted by the Yankees in the 18th round of the 1966 Major League Baseball Draft.^[7]

Roster

1966 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 47,49 Stan Bahnsen 56 Jim Bouton 45 Jack Cullen 24 Al Downing 16 Whitey Ford 19 Bob Friend 39 Steve Hamilton 29 Bill Henry 52 Fritz Peterson 14 Pedro Ramos 18 Hal Reniff 30 Mel Stottlemyre 22 Fred Talbot 58 Dooley Womack		Catchers 23 Billy Bryan 41 Jake Gibbs 32 Elston Howard Infielders 12 Rubén Amaro 42 Ray Barker  6 Clete Boyer 20 Horace Clarke 43 Mike Ferraro 34 Mike Hegan 45 John Miller 17 Bobby Murcer 25 Joe Pepitone  1 Bobby Richardson 27 Dick Schofield		Outfielders 40 Lou Clinton 11 Héctor López  7 Mickey Mantle  9 Roger Maris 43 Roger Repoz 15 Tom Tresh 28 Steve Whitaker 48 Roy White		Manager 35 Ralph Houk 21 Johnny Keane Coaches 35 Vern Benson  2 Frankie Crosetti 44 Jim Hegan 36 Wally Moses 55 Spud Murray 31 Jim Turner

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Howard, ElstonElston Howard	126	410	105	.256	6	35
1B	Pepitone, JoeJoe Pepitone	152	585	149	.255	31	83
2B	Richardson, BobbyBobby Richardson	149	610	153	.251	7	42
3B	Boyer, CleteClete Boyer	144	500	120	.240	14	57
SS	Clarke, HoraceHorace Clarke	96	312	83	.266	6	28
LF	Tresh, TomTom Tresh	151	537	125	.233	27	68
CF	Mantle, MickeyMickey Mantle	106	333	96	.288	23	56
RF	Maris, RogerRoger Maris	119	348	81	.233	13	43

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
White, RoyRoy White	115	316	71	.225	7	20
Gibbs, JakeJake Gibbs	62	182	47	.258	3	20
Clinton, LouLou Clinton	80	159	35	.220	5	21
López, HéctorHéctor López	54	117	25	.214	4	16
Bryan, BillyBilly Bryan	27	69	15	.217	4	5
Schofield, DickDick Schofield	25	58	9	.155	0	2
Hegan, MikeMike Hegan	13	39	8	.205	0	2
Amaro, RubénRubén Amaro	14	23	5	.217	0	3

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Stottlemyre, MelMel Stottlemyre	37	251	12	20	3.80	146
Peterson, FritzFritz Peterson	34	215	12	11	3.31	96
Downing, AlAl Downing	30	200	10	11	3.56	152
Talbot, FredFred Talbot	23	124.1	7	7	4.15	85
Bouton, JimJim Bouton	24	120.1	3	8	2.69	65
Bahnsen, StanStan Bahnsen	4	23	1	1	3.52	16

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Ford, WhiteyWhitey Ford	22	73	2	5	2.47	43
Friend, BobBob Friend	12	44.2	1	2	4.84	22

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Reniff, HalHal Reniff	56	3	7	9	3.21	79
Ramos, PedroPedro Ramos	52	3	9	13	3.61	58
Womack, DooleyDooley Womack	42	7	3	4	2.64	50
Hamilton, SteveSteve Hamilton	44	8	3	3	3.00	57
Cullen, JackJack Cullen	5	1	0	0	3.97	7
Henry, BillBill Henry	2	0	0	0	0.00	3

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Toledo Mud Hens	International League	Loren Babe
AA	Columbus Confederate Yankees	Southern League	Jack Reed
A	Greensboro Yankees	Carolina League	Gary Blaylock
A	Fort Lauderdale Yankees	Florida State League	Lamar North
A	Binghamton Triplets	New York–Penn League	Frank Verdi
Rookie	Johnson City Yankees	Appalachian League	Bob Bauer
Rookie	GCL Yankees	Gulf Coast League	Dick Berardino

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Yankees^[8]

Notes

1. United Press International (October 3, 1966). "Last-Place Yanks Last-Day Victors". New York Times. p. 83.
2. Retrosheet Boxscore: Chicago White Sox 4, New York Yankees 1
3. Rich Barry page at Baseball-Reference
4. Doc Edwards page at Baseball-Reference
5. Darrell Evans page at Baseball-Reference
6. Al Closter page at Baseball-Reference
7. Joe Pactwa page at Baseball-Reference
8. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

• 1966 New York Yankees
• 1966 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com