# 1966 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1966 Cincinnati Reds season was the 97th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball. The Reds finished in seventh place in the National League with a record of 76–84, 18 games behind the NL Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds were managed by Don Heffner (37–46) and Dave Bristol (39–38), who replaced Heffner in mid-July.

## Offseason

* December 9, 1965: Frank Robinson was traded by the Reds to the Baltimore Orioles for Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschun, and Dick Simpson.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 95 | 67 | .586 | — | 53‍–‍28 | 42‍–‍39 |
| San Francisco Giants | 93 | 68 | .578 | 1½ | 47‍–‍34 | 46‍–‍34 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 92 | 70 | .568 | 3 | 46‍–‍35 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 87 | 75 | .537 | 8 | 48‍–‍33 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Atlanta Braves | 85 | 77 | .525 | 10 | 43‍–‍38 | 42‍–‍39 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 83 | 79 | .512 | 12 | 43‍–‍38 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 76 | 84 | .475 | 18 | 46‍–‍33 | 30‍–‍51 |
| Houston Astros | 72 | 90 | .444 | 23 | 45‍–‍36 | 27‍–‍54 |
| New York Mets | 66 | 95 | .410 | 28½ | 32‍–‍49 | 34‍–‍46 |
| Chicago Cubs | 59 | 103 | .364 | 36 | 32‍–‍49 | 27‍–‍54 |

### Record vs. opponents

1966 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | NYM | PHI | PIT | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 7–11 | 10–8 | 14–4–1 | 7–11 | 14–4 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 7–11 |
| Chicago | 11–7 | — | 6–12 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 6–12 | 6–12 | 4–14 |
| Cincinnati | 8–10 | 12–6 | — | 4–14 | 6–12 | 10–7 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 7–10 | 11–7 |
| Houston | 4–14–1 | 13–5 | 14–4 | — | 7–11 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 4–14 | 6–12 | 10–8 |
| Los Angeles | 11–7 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 11–7 | — | 12–6 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 10–8 |
| New York | 4–14 | 10–8 | 7–10 | 11–7 | 6–12 | — | 7–11 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 7–11 |
| Philadelphia | 7-11 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 11–7 | — | 10–8 | 10–8 | 10–8 |
| Pittsburgh | 11–7 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 14–4 | 9–9 | 13–5 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | 8–10 |
| San Francisco | 10–8 | 12–6 | 10–7 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 11–7 | — | 12–6 |
| St. Louis | 11–7 | 14–4 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 6–12 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 4, 1966: Marty Keough was purchased from the Reds by the Atlanta Braves.
* June 7, 1966: Gary Nolan was drafted by the Reds in the 1st round (13th pick) of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft.

### Roster
## 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 | Johnny Edwards | 98 | 282 | 54 | .191 | 6 | 39 |
| 1B | Tony Pérez | 99 | 257 | 68 | .265 | 4 | 39 |
| 2B | Pete Rose | 156 | 654 | 205 | .313 | 16 | 70 |
| SS | Leo Cárdenas | 160 | 568 | 145 | .255 | 20 | 81 |
| 3B | Tommy Helms | 138 | 542 | 154 | .284 | 9 | 49 |
| LF | Deron Johnson | 142 | 505 | 130 | .257 | 24 | 81 |
| CF | Vada Pinson | 156 | 618 | 178 | .288 | 16 | 76 |
| RF | Tommy Harper | 149 | 553 | 154 | .278 | 5 | 31 |

#### 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 |
| Don Pavletich | 83 | 235 | 69 | .294 | 12 | 38 |
| Art Shamsky | 96 | 234 | 54 | .231 | 21 | 47 |
| Gordy Coleman | 91 | 227 | 57 | .251 | 5 | 37 |
| Jimmie Coker | 50 | 111 | 28 | .252 | 4 | 14 |
| Chico Ruiz | 82 | 110 | 28 | .255 | 0 | 5 |
| Dick Simpson | 92 | 84 | 20 | .238 | 4 | 14 |
| Lee May | 25 | 75 | 25 | .333 | 2 | 10 |
| Mel Queen | 56 | 55 | 7 | .127 | 0 | 5 |

### 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 |
| Jim Maloney | 32 | 224.2 | 16 | 8 | 2.80 | 216 |
| Sammy Ellis | 41 | 221.0 | 12 | 19 | 5.29 | 154 |
| Milt Pappas | 33 | 209.2 | 12 | 11 | 4.29 | 133 |
| Jim O'Toole | 25 | 142.0 | 5 | 7 | 3.55 | 96 |
| Joey Jay | 12 | 73.2 | 6 | 2 | 3.91 | 44 |

#### 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 |
| Joe Nuxhall | 35 | 130.0 | 6 | 8 | 4.50 | 71 |
| Hank Fischer | 11 | 38.0 | 0 | 6 | 6.63 | 24 |

#### 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 |
| Billy McCool | 57 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 2.48 | 104 |
| Don Nottebart | 59 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 3.07 | 69 |
| Ted Davidson | 54 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3.90 | 54 |
| Jack Baldschun | 42 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5.49 | 44 |
| Darrell Osteen | 13 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 12.00 | 17 |
| Mel Queen | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6.43 | 9 |
| Dom Zanni | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 5 |
| Gerry Arrigo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.91 | 3 |
| John Tsitouris | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Buffalo Bisons | International League | Red Davis |
| AA | Knoxville Smokies | Southern League | Jack Cassini |
| A | Peninsula Grays | Carolina League | Pinky May |
| A | Tampa Tarpons | Florida State League | Lou Fitzgerald |
| A-Short Season | Sioux Falls Packers | Northern League | Jim Snyder |