# 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers season

The 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers won the National League championship with a 95–67 record (1+1⁄2 games over the San Francisco Giants), but were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.

## Regular season

Sandy Koufax became the first pitcher to win three Cy Young Awards in a career.

### Season recap

The defending World Series champion Dodgers relied upon the same model that brought them the championship in 1965; great pitching, tight defense, and speed. However, ace pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale held out nearly all of spring training in a celebrated contract dispute, finally signing just before the start of the regular season. The hold out did not seem to affect Koufax, who went 27–9 with a 1.73 E.R.A. However, Drysdale had a sub par season going 13–16 with a 3.42 E.R.A. More than making up for that, Claude Osteen had his best season to date, winning 17 games with a 2.85 E.R.A., and rookie Don Sutton replaced aging Johnny Podres in the rotation, chipping in with 12 wins and a 2.99 E.R.A. Finally, reliever Phil Regan had a remarkable year, going 14–1 with 21 saves.
The National League race was a 4 team affair between the Dodgers, Giants, Pirates, and Phillies, with all but the Phillies taking their turn in 1st place during the summer. The Dodgers vaulted to the top with an 8-game win streak in mid-September. However, the pennant was still not decided until the final day of the season. The Giants, who had eliminated the Pirates by beating them on the next to last day, needed to beat the Pirates again in the season's final game, and then hope the Dodgers would lose both games of a double header in Philadelphia to the Phillies. If that happened, the Giants would have trailed the Dodgers by 1/2 game, and would still have had to fly to Cincinnati to play the Reds in a make-up game, needing a win to tie for 1st. The Giants defeated the Pirates in extra innings, and the Dodgers lost the first game of the double header, blowing a lead in the 8th inning. However, while the Giants were waiting at the Pittsburgh airport (not knowing if they were going to fly to Cincinnati or go home), Koufax beat the Phillies in the second game of the double header. While they were waiting, a reporter asked Giants pitcher Ron Herbel "you guys don't know where you're going yet, do you?" Herbel replied "we know where we're going. No way superman (Koufax) loses the second game."

### 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 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

Opening Day Starters :
| Name | Position |
| Maury Wills | Shortstop |
| Wes Parker | First baseman |
| Willie Davis | Center fielder |
| Ron Fairly | Right fielder |
| Jim Lefebvre | Third baseman |
| Lou Johnson | Left fielder |
| John Roseboro | Catcher |
| Nate Oliver | Second baseman |
| Claude Osteen | Starting pitcher |

### Notable transactions

* April 26, 1966: signed Jim Gilliam out of retirement.
* May 10, 1966: Johnny Podres was acquired from the Dodgers by the Detroit Tigers.
* May 27, 1966: Howie Reed was traded by the Dodgers to the California Angels for Dick Egan and a player to be named later. The Angels completed the deal by sending John Butler (minors) to the Dodgers on December 7.
* May 28, 1966: Wes Covington was signed as a free agent by the Dodgers.
* July 5, 1966: Signed 1B Dick Stuart as a free agent.
* September 10, 1966: Thad Tillotson and cash were traded by the Dodgers to the New York Yankees for Dick Schofield.

### 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 | John Roseboro | 142 | 445 | 123 | .276 | 9 | 53 |
| 1B | Wes Parker | 156 | 475 | 120 | .253 | 12 | 51 |
| 2B | Jim Lefebvre | 152 | 544 | 149 | .274 | 24 | 74 |
| SS | Maury Wills | 143 | 594 | 162 | .273 | 1 | 39 |
| 3B | John Kennedy | 125 | 274 | 55 | .201 | 3 | 24 |
| LF | Lou Johnson | 152 | 526 | 143 | .272 | 17 | 73 |
| CF | Willie Davis | 153 | 624 | 177 | .284 | 11 | 61 |
| RF | Ron Fairly | 117 | 351 | 101 | .288 | 14 | 61 |

#### 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 |
| Tommy Davis | 100 | 313 | 98 | .313 | 3 | 27 |
| Jim Gilliam | 88 | 235 | 51 | .217 | 1 | 16 |
| Jeff Torborg | 46 | 120 | 27 | .225 | 1 | 13 |
| Nate Oliver | 80 | 119 | 23 | .193 | 0 | 3 |
| Al Ferrara | 63 | 115 | 31 | .270 | 5 | 23 |
| Dick Stuart | 38 | 91 | 24 | .264 | 3 | 9 |
| Jim Barbieri | 39 | 82 | 23 | .280 | 0 | 3 |
| Dick Schofield | 20 | 70 | 18 | .257 | 0 | 4 |
| Wes Covington | 37 | 33 | 4 | .121 | 1 | 6 |
| Derrell Griffith | 23 | 15 | 1 | .067 | 0 | 2 |
| Bart Shirley | 12 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Tommy Hutton | 3 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Campanis | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Willie Crawford | 6 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |

### 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 |
| Sandy Koufax | 41 | 323.0 | 27 | 9 | 1.73 | 317 |
| Don Drysdale | 40 | 273.2 | 13 | 16 | 3.42 | 177 |
| Claude Osteen | 39 | 240.1 | 17 | 14 | 2.85 | 137 |
| Don Sutton | 37 | 225.2 | 12 | 12 | 2.99 | 209 |

#### 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 Moeller | 29 | 78.2 | 2 | 4 | 2.52 | 31 |

#### 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 |
| Phil Regan | 65 | 14 | 1 | 21 | 1.62 | 88 |
| Ron Perranoski | 55 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 3.18 | 50 |
| Bob Miller | 46 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2.77 | 58 |
| Jim Brewer | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3.68 | 8 |
| Nick Willhite | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.08 | 4 |
| Bill Singer | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 |
| Howie Reed | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
| Johnny Podres | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## 1966 World Series
### Game 1

October 5, 1966, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Attendance: 55,941
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Baltimore (A) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| Los Angeles (N) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| W: Moe Drabowsky (1–0) L: Don Drysdale (0–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: BAL – Frank Robinson (1), Brooks Robinson (1) LAD – Jim Lefebvre (1) |||||||||||||

### Game 2

October 6, 1966, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Attendance: 55,947
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Baltimore (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 0 |
| Los Angeles (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| W: Jim Palmer (1–0) L: Sandy Koufax (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 3

October 8, 1966, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. Attendance: 54,445
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Los Angeles (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Baltimore (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| W: Wally Bunker (1–0) L: Claude Osteen (0–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: BAL – Paul Blair (1) |||||||||||||

### Game 4

October 9, 1966, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. Attendance: 54,458
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Los Angeles (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Baltimore (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| W: Dave McNally (1–0) L: Don Drysdale (0–2) |||||||||||||
| HR: BAL – Frank Robinson (2) |||||||||||||

## Awards and honors

* Cy Young Award
** Sandy Koufax
* Gold Glove Award
** John Roseboro, catcher
* Comeback Player of the Year Award
** Phil Regan

### All-Stars

* 1966 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
** Sandy Koufax, starter, pitcher
** Jim Lefebvre, starter, second base
** Phil Regan, reserve
** Maury Wills, reserve

### The Sporting News awards

* TSN Rookie Pitcher of the Year Award
** Don Sutton
* TSN Pitcher of the Year Award
** Sandy Koufax
* TSN Fireman of the Year Award
** Phil Regan
* TSN National League All-Star
** Sandy Koufax
* Hutch Award
** Sandy Koufax

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Spokane Indians | Pacific Coast League | Roy Hartsfield |
| AA | Albuquerque Dodgers | Texas League | Bob Kennedy |
| A | Santa Barbara Dodgers | California League | Norm Sherry |
| A | Jamestown Dodgers | New York–Penn League | Bill Berrier |
| A | Tri-City Atoms | Northwest League | Duke Snider |
| Rookie | Ogden Dodgers | Pioneer League | Tommy Lasorda |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tri-City, Ogden

## 1966 Major League Baseball Draft

This was the second Major League Baseball Draft. The Dodgers drafted 67 players in the June draft and 9 in the January draft. The top draft pick was pitcher Lawrence Hutton from Greenfield High School in Greenfield, Indiana. He played in the Dodgers farm system through 1971 and finished with a 22–28 record and 4.33 ERA in 117 games, never advancing past AA.
The most successful picks from this draft class were Bill Russell and Charlie Hough. Russell, the ninth round pick out of Pittsburg High School played with the Dodgers through 1986, mostly as a shortstop and later managed the team from 1996 to 1998. Hough was drafted in the eighth round out of Hialeah High School as an infielder but quickly converted to pitcher. He played with the Dodgers through 1980 and then with three other teams until he retired in 1994. He later became a coach for the Dodgers organization.
1966 Draft Picks :
January draft
This was the first year that a January draft was held for college and high school players who graduated in the winter.
Round
Name
Position
School
Signed
Career span
Highest level
1
James Roberts
RHP
University of Alabama
Yes
1966–1967
AA
2
Ivey Armstrong
2B
Miami-Dade College
Yes
1966–1969
A
3
Robert Childress
3B
Methacton High School
No
4
Albert Choate
RHP
Sam Houston State University
Yes
1966–1967
A
5
Jorge Benitez
1B
Miami-Dade College
No
January Secondary phase
Round
Name
Position
School
Signed
Career span
Highest level
1
John Herbst
LHP
University of Southern California
No Twins – 1967
1968–1969
A
2
Hank Tenney
OF
Vista High School
Yes
1966–1969
A
3
Jim Hibbs
C
Stanford University
Yes
1966–1973
MLB
4
Mike Garrett
OF
University of Southern California
No
June draft
Round
Name
Position
School
Signed
Career span
Highest level
1
Lawrence Hutton
RHP
Greenfield High School
Yes
1966–1971
AA
2
John Gamble
SS
Carson City High School
Yes
1966–1976
MLB
3
Rich Thompson
2B
University of North Carolina
Yes
1966–1970
A
4
Jerry Bagwell
SS
Wren High School
Yes
1966–1967
A
5
Gordon Allen
OF
Ludlow High School
No Astros – 1967
1967–1970
A
6
Dennis James
LHP
Albany High School
Yes
1966–1974
AAA
7
James Doran
OF
Madison Township High School
Yes
1967–1968
A-
8
Charlie Hough
INF
Hialeah High School
Yes
1966–1994
MLB
9
Bill Russell
OF
Pittsburg High School
Yes
1966–1986
MLB
10
Dennis Thornton
1B
Eisenhower High School
Yes
1966–1967
Rookie
11
Kenneth Burrow
C
De Anza High School
No
12
Billy Grabarkewitz
3B
St. Mary's University
Yes
1966–1975
MLB
13
Romel Canada
OF
Chester High School
Yes
1966–1979
AAA
14
James Raynor
RHP
East Carolina University
Yes
1967–1972
AA
15
Ted Sizemore
C
University of Michigan
Yes
1966–1980
MLB
16
Allen Siflet
C
McCallum High School
No
17
Kenneth Raab
RHP
Northview High School
Yes
1966–1967
A
18
Craig Menzl
1B
Islip High School
No
19
Martin Parker
RHP
King High School
Yes
1966–1969
A
20
Loyd Colson
RHP
Gould High School
No Yankees – 1967
1967–1973
MLB
21
John Jiles
OF
North Cobb High School
Yes
1966
Rookie
22
Charles Sutton
RHP
Tate High School
Yes
1967
Rookie
23
James Frye
RHP
Northern High School
Yes
1966–1970
A
24
Bill Ralston
2B
California Polytechnic State University
Yes
1966–1975
AAA
25
Bob Perruchon
OF
Vallejo Junior College
No Angels – 1967
1967–1968
A
26
Kenneth Danson
C
Forrest High School
No Indians – 1968
1968–1970
A
27
Lawrence Land
RHP
Bamberg High School
No
28
Tom Alger
LHP
Hudson High School
Yes
1966–1973
A
29
Michael Pierce
LHP
Rincon High School
No Indians – 1967
1967–1970
A
30
Stephen Howder
OF
City College of San Francisco
Yes
1966–1970
A-
31
Radford Mawhinney
OF
Santa Maria High School
No
32
James Arkell
OF
Claremont College
Yes
1966
A-
33
Ronald Reece
RHP
Campbell High School
Yes
1966
Rookie
34
James McCray
OF
San Diego State University
Yes
1966
Rookie
35
David Nitchke
C
California State University Fresno
No
36
Mark Harris
RHP
University of Maryland
No
37
Robert Johnson
LHP
Trenton High School
Yes
1966–1970
A
38
Stephen Hockensmith
1B
Florida Southern College
Yes
1966
A-
39
Billy Carthel
OF
Sul Ross State University
No Indians – 1967
1968–1974
AAA
40
Ray Lamb
RHP
University of Southern California
Yes
1966–1973
MLB
41
Donald Spain
RHP
Eisenhower High School
Yes
1966–1971
AA
42
Donny Tidwell
RHP
New Diana High School
Yes
1966
Rookie
43
Julio Guerrero
SS
Centralia High School
Yes
1966–1967
A
44
John Shulock
3B
Vero Beach High School
Yes
1967–1969
A
45
Dicky Shaw
SS
Central State University
Yes
1966
A
46
Jeffrey King
RHP
Mainland High School
Yes
1966–1970
AA
47
Richard LeBlanc
LHP
Forrest High School
Yes
1966–1967
Rookie
48
Lamar Haynes
LHP
Chipola College
Yes
1967
A
49
Jody Gioffoni
RHP
Santa Monica High School
No
50
Kenneth Wiedemann
2B
West Covina High School
No
51
Mark Johnson
OF
University of New Mexico
No
52
Walter Pierce
OF
William Carey College
Yes
1966–1967
A
53
Jack Butorac
RHP
Montebello High School
No Cardinals – 1969
1969–1970
A-
54
David Lindsey
LHP
Fremont High School
No Pilots – 1969
1969–1979
AAA
55
Bob Randall
SS
Gove High School
No Dodgers −1969
1969–1980
MLB
56
Francis Staab
RHP
Hays High School
Yes
1966–1968
A
57
John Turston
C
Archbishop Molloy High School
No
58
Adrian Zabala
RHP
University of Florida
No Indians – 1967
1967
Rookie
59
William Scott
SS
Germantown Academy
No
60
Tom Smith
RHP
Foley High School
No Athletics – 1968
1969–1972
AA
61
James Raynor
RHP
Hamilton High School
Yes
1966–1972
AA
62
Robert Chandler
2B
Rollins College
No
June secondary phase
Round
Name
Position
School
Signed
Career span
Highest level
1
Bob Stinson
C
Miami-Dade College
Yes
1966–1980
MLB
2
Richard Schryer
OF
University of Michigan
Yes
1966–1968
A
3
James Carter
3B
Trinity University
Yes
1966–1967
A-
4
John Green
RHP
Gulf Coast Community College
No
5
John Herbst
LHP
University of Southern California
No Twins – 1967
1968–1969
A :