# 1966 Boston Red Sox season

The 1966 Boston Red Sox season was the 66th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished ninth in the American League (AL) with a record of 72 wins and 90 losses, 26 games behind the AL and World Series champion Baltimore Orioles. After this season, the Red Sox would not lose 90 games again until 2012.
The Red Sox drew 811,172 fans to Fenway Park, eighth in the ten-team Junior Circuit and 16th among the 20 MLB franchises. The team's home schedule ended September 18 so that Fenway Park could be converted for use by the Boston Patriots of the American Football League, whose first home game was September 25. The Red Sox' full 162-game season also concluded early, on Tuesday, September 27, five days before the other 19 MLB clubs.
The 1966 season saw the debut of two rookies, first baseman George Scott, 22, who had captured the Triple Crown of the Double-A Eastern League in 1965, and third baseman Joe Foy, 23, who the previous year had won The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year Award as a member of the Triple-A Toronto Maple Leafs. Both won regular jobs and Scott was selected to the 1966 AL All-Star squad. Fellow rookies Mike Andrews, 23, and Reggie Smith, 21, got their first taste of MLB action as September call-ups from Toronto.
The Red Sox were also active in the trade market, acquiring players such as John Wyatt, Lee Stange and José Tartabull who, with Scott, Foy, Smith and Andrews, will play key roles on their 1967 team.
After a terrible three months (27–47, .365) from April through June, the club was able to win 45 of its final 88 games (.511). Eventual Hall of Fame second baseman Billy Herman did not survive a second full season as the Red Sox' manager. He was fired September 8 with his 64–82 team in ninth place. Coach Pete Runnels filled in as interim manager for Boston's final 16 games, winning half of them. Then, on September 28, the day after their season ended, the Red Sox promoted Dick Williams, 37, from two-time Governors Cup champion Toronto and signed him to a one-year contract as their skipper for 1967.

## Offseason

* October 4, 1965: The Red Sox trade eight-year veteran starting pitcher, former 20-game winner (1963) and 4x AL All-Star Bill Monbouquette, 29, to the Detroit Tigers for catcher Jackie Moore (player to be named later), 26, second baseman George Smith, 28, and centerfielder George Thomas, 27.
* October 15, 1965: The Red Sox purchase the contract of right-handed pitcher José Santiago, 25, from the Kansas City Athletics.
* November 29, 1965: Infielder Jimy Williams is drafted from the Red Sox by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1965 first-year draft.
* November 30, 1965: The Red Sox continue to remake their infield when they unconditionally release eight-time All-Star and 2x Gold Glove Award-winning third baseman Frank Malzone, 35, and trade former starting shortstop Eddie Bressoud, 33, to the New York Mets for reserve outfielder Joe Christopher, 29.
* December 15, 1965: The Red Sox trade starting first baseman Lee Thomas, 29, to the Atlanta Braves, along with relief pitchers Arnold Earley, 32, and Jay Ritchie (PTBNL), 29, for pitchers Dan Osinski, 32, and Bob Sadowski, 27.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Orioles | 97 | 63 | .606 | — | 48‍–‍31 | 49‍–‍32 |
| Minnesota Twins | 89 | 73 | .549 | 9 | 49‍–‍32 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Detroit Tigers | 88 | 74 | .543 | 10 | 42‍–‍39 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Chicago White Sox | 83 | 79 | .512 | 15 | 45‍–‍36 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Cleveland Indians | 81 | 81 | .500 | 17 | 41‍–‍40 | 40‍–‍41 |
| California Angels | 80 | 82 | .494 | 18 | 42‍–‍39 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 74 | 86 | .463 | 23 | 42‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍47 |
| Washington Senators | 71 | 88 | .447 | 25½ | 42‍–‍36 | 29‍–‍52 |
| Boston Red Sox | 72 | 90 | .444 | 26 | 40‍–‍41 | 32‍–‍49 |
| New York Yankees | 70 | 89 | .440 | 26½ | 35‍–‍46 | 35‍–‍43 |

### Record vs. opponents

1966 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | 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 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

| 14 | George Smith | 2B |
| 24 | George Thomas | CF |
| 8 | Carl Yastrzemski | LF |
| 25 | Tony Conigliaro | RF |
| 5 | George Scott | 3B |
| 11 | Tony Horton | 1B |
| 6 | Rico Petrocelli | SS |
| 22 | Mike Ryan | C |
| 26 | Earl Wilson | P |

### Notable transactions

* April 3, 1966: The Red Sox trade former All-Star second baseman Félix Mantilla, 31, to the Houston Astros for utility infielder Eddie Kasko, 34.
* April 6, 1966: The Red Sox trade catcher Russ Nixon, 31, and second baseman Chuck Schilling, 28, to the Minnesota Twins for left-hander Dick Stigman, 30, and a minor-league player to be named later, first baseman José Calero.
* June 2, 1966: The Red Sox trade "The Monster," two-time AL All-Star relief pitcher Dick Radatz, 29, to the Cleveland Indians for pitchers Don McMahon and Lee Stange.
* June 7, 1966: The Red Sox select left-hander Ken Brett, 17, from El Segundo High School, as their first pick (fourth overall) in the 1966 Major League Baseball Draft.
* June 13, 1966: The Red Sox trade pitchers Guido Grilli, 27, and Ken Sanders, 24, and outfielder Jim Gosger, 23, to the Kansas City Athletics for pitchers Rollie Sheldon, 29, and John Wyatt, 31, and outfielder José Tartabull, 27.
* June 14, 1966: The Red Sox trade starting pitcher Earl Wilson, 31, and reserve outfielder Joe Christopher, 30, to the Detroit Tigers for outfielder Don Demeter, 30, and pitcher Julio Navarro, 32 (PTBNL).
* August 15, 1966: The Red Sox acquire two pitchers: Hank Fischer, 26, from the Cincinnati Reds for two players to be named later (pitchers Rollie Sheldon and Dick Stigman), and Bill Short, 28, from the Baltimore Orioles for cash considerations. The Red Sox also announce that they have sold pitcher Bob Sadowski to the Toronto Maple Leafs. On October 17, they will sell Short's contract to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### 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 | Mike Ryan | 116 | 369 | 79 | .214 | 2 | 32 |
| 1B | George Scott | 162 | 601 | 147 | .245 | 27 | 90 |
| 2B | George Smith | 128 | 403 | 86 | .213 | 8 | 37 |
| 3B | Joe Foy | 151 | 554 | 145 | .262 | 15 | 63 |
| SS | Rico Petrocelli | 139 | 522 | 124 | .238 | 18 | 59 |
| LF | Carl Yastrzemski | 160 | 594 | 165 | .278 | 16 | 80 |
| CF | Don Demeter | 73 | 226 | 66 | .292 | 9 | 29 |
| RF | Tony Conigliaro | 150 | 558 | 148 | .265 | 28 | 93 |

#### 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 |
| Dalton Jones | 115 | 252 | 59 | .234 | 4 | 23 |
| Bob Tillman | 78 | 204 | 47 | .230 | 3 | 24 |
| Jose Tartabull | 68 | 195 | 54 | .277 | 0 | 11 |
| George Thomas | 61 | 173 | 41 | .237 | 5 | 20 |
| Eddie Kasko | 58 | 136 | 29 | .213 | 1 | 12 |
| Lenny Green | 85 | 133 | 32 | .241 | 1 | 12 |
| Jim Gosger | 40 | 126 | 32 | .254 | 5 | 17 |
| Reggie Smith | 6 | 26 | 4 | .154 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony Horton | 6 | 22 | 3 | .136 | 0 | 2 |
| Mike Andrews | 5 | 18 | 3 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Christopher | 12 | 13 | 1 | .077 | 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 |
| Jose Santiago | 35 | 172.0 | 12 | 13 | 3.66 | 119 |
| Lee Stange | 28 | 153.1 | 7 | 9 | 3.35 | 77 |
| Earl Wilson | 15 | 100.2 | 5 | 5 | 3.84 | 67 |
| Dennis Bennett | 16 | 75.0 | 3 | 3 | 3.24 | 77 |
| Jerry Stephenson | 15 | 66.1 | 2 | 5 | 5.83 | 50 |
| Hank Fischer | 6 | 31.0 | 2 | 3 | 2.90 | 26 |

#### 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 |
| Jim Lonborg | 45 | 181.2 | 10 | 10 | 3.86 | 131 |
| Bucky Brandon | 40 | 157.2 | 8 | 8 | 3.31 | 101 |
| Dick Stigman | 34 | 81.0 | 2 | 1 | 5.44 | 65 |
| Rollie Sheldon | 23 | 79.2 | 1 | 6 | 4.97 | 38 |
| Bob Sadowski | 11 | 33.1 | 1 | 1 | 5.40 | 11 |
| Dave Morehead | 12 | 28.0 | 1 | 2 | 5.46 | 20 |
| Pete Magrini | 3 | 7.1 | 0 | 1 | 9.82 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Don McMahon | 49 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 2.65 | 57 |
| Dan Osinski | 44 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3.61 | 44 |
| John Wyatt | 42 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 3.14 | 63 |
| Ken Sanders | 24 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 3.80 | 33 |
| Dick Radatz | 16 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4.74 | 19 |
| Bill Short | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.32 | 2 |
| Guido Grilli | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.71 | 4 |
| Garry Roggenburk | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Toronto Maple Leafs | International League | Dick Williams |
| AA | Pittsfield Red Sox | Eastern League | Eddie Popowski |
| A | Winston-Salem Red Sox | Carolina League | Bill Slack |
| A | Waterloo Hawks | Midwest League | Dave Philley |
| A | Oneonta Red Sox | New York–Penn League | Matt Sczesny |
| Rookie | Covington Red Sox | Appalachian League | Rac Slider |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Toronto
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