# 1968 New York Yankees season

The 1968 New York Yankees season was the 66th season for the team. The team finished above .500 for the first time since 1964, with a record of 83–79, finishing 20 games behind the Detroit Tigers. New York was managed by Ralph Houk. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. The 1968 season was notable for being Mickey Mantle's final season before he announced his retirement the following spring. The Yankees batted .214 as a team, the lowest total ever for a team in a full season in the live-ball era (as of 2023).

## Offseason

* November 28, 1967: Andy Kosco was drafted by the Yankees from the Oakland Athletics in the 1967 rule 5 draft.
* November 30, 1967: Gene Michael was purchased by the Yankees from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
* December 7, 1967: Bob Tillman and Dale Roberts were traded by the Yankees to the Atlanta Braves for Bobby Cox.
* Prior to 1968 season: Merritt Ranew was acquired by the Yankees from the California Angels.

## Regular season

In 1968, Yankees executive E. Michael Burke was a candidate to become Commissioner of Baseball. Bowie Kuhn would eventually get the appointment.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Detroit Tigers | 103 | 59 | .636 | — | 56‍–‍25 | 47‍–‍34 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 91 | 71 | .562 | 12 | 47‍–‍33 | 44‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 86 | 75 | .534 | 16½ | 43‍–‍37 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Boston Red Sox | 86 | 76 | .531 | 17 | 46‍–‍35 | 40‍–‍41 |
| New York Yankees | 83 | 79 | .512 | 20 | 39‍–‍42 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Oakland Athletics | 82 | 80 | .506 | 21 | 44‍–‍38 | 38‍–‍42 |
| Minnesota Twins | 79 | 83 | .488 | 24 | 41‍–‍40 | 38‍–‍43 |
| California Angels | 67 | 95 | .414 | 36 | 32‍–‍49 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Chicago White Sox | 67 | 95 | .414 | 36 | 36‍–‍45 | 31‍–‍50 |
| Washington Senators | 65 | 96 | .404 | 37½ | 34‍–‍47 | 31‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1968 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | MIN | NYY | OAK | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 9–9 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 14–4 |
| Boston | 9–9 | — | 9–9 | 14–4 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 11–7 |
| California | 8–10 | 9–9 | — | 8–10 | 7–11 | 5–13 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 5–13 | 12–6 |
| Chicago | 7–11 | 4–14 | 10–8 | — | 5–13 | 5–13 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 10–8 |
| Cleveland | 11–7 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 13–5 | — | 6–12 | 14–4 | 10–8–1 | 6–12 | 7–10 |
| Detroit | 10–8 | 12–6 | 13–5 | 13–5 | 12–6 | — | 10–8 | 10–8–1 | 13–5–1 | 10–8 |
| Minnesota | 8–10 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 4–14 | 8–10 | — | 12–6 | 8–10 | 11–7 |
| New York | 5–13 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 12–6 | 8–10–1 | 8–10–1 | 6–12 | — | 10–8 | 14–4 |
| Oakland | 9–9 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 5–13–1 | 10–8 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 |
| Washington | 4–14 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 10–7 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 4–14 | 11–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 7, 1968: 1968 Major League Baseball Draft
** Thurman Munson was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round (4th pick).
** Wayne Nordhagen was drafted by the Yankees in the 7th round.
* July 15, 1968: Rocky Colavito was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.
* September 30, 1968: Rocky Colavito was released by the Yankees.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R= Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| C | Jake Gibbs | 124 | 423 | 31 | 90 | .213 | 3 | 29 | 9 |
| 1B | Mickey Mantle | 144 | 435 | 57 | 103 | .237 | 18 | 54 | 6 |
| 2B | Horace Clarke | 148 | 579 | 52 | 133 | .230 | 2 | 26 | 20 |
| 3B | Bobby Cox | 135 | 437 | 33 | 100 | .229 | 7 | 41 | 3 |
| SS | Tom Tresh | 152 | 507 | 60 | 99 | .195 | 11 | 52 | 10 |
| LF | Roy White | 159 | 577 | 89 | 154 | .267 | 17 | 62 | 20 |
| CF | Joe Pepitone | 108 | 380 | 41 | 93 | .245 | 15 | 56 | 8 |
| RF | Andy Kosco | 131 | 466 | 47 | 112 | .240 | 15 | 59 | 2 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R= Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| Bill Robinson | 107 | 342 | 34 | 82 | .240 | 6 | 40 | 7 |
| Dick Howser | 85 | 150 | 24 | 23 | .153 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Frank Fernández | 51 | 135 | 15 | 23 | .170 | 7 | 30 | 1 |
| Gene Michael | 61 | 116 | 8 | 23 | .198 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| Rocky Colavito | 39 | 91 | 13 | 20 | .220 | 5 | 13 | 0 |
| Mike Ferraro | 23 | 87 | 5 | 14 | .161 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Charley Smith | 46 | 70 | 2 | 16 | .229 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Steve Whitaker | 28 | 60 | 3 | 7 | .117 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Rubén Amaro | 47 | 41 | 3 | 5 | .122 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ellie Rodríguez | 9 | 24 | 1 | 5 | .208 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tony Solaita | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Mel Stottlemyre | 36 | 278.2 | 21 | 12 | 2.45 | 140 |
| Stan Bahnsen | 37 | 267.1 | 17 | 12 | 2.05 | 162 |
| Fritz Peterson | 36 | 212.1 | 12 | 11 | 2.63 | 115 |
| Steve Barber | 20 | 128.1 | 6 | 5 | 3.23 | 87 |
| Bill Monbouquette | 17 | 89.1 | 5 | 7 | 4.43 | 32 |
| Al Downing | 15 | 61.1 | 3 | 3 | 3.52 | 40 |

#### 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 |
| Fred Talbot | 29 | 99.0 | 1 | 9 | 3.36 | 67 |
| Joe Verbanic | 40 | 97.0 | 6 | 7 | 3.15 | 40 |
| Jim Bouton | 12 | 44.0 | 1 | 1 | 3.68 | 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 |
| Steve Hamilton | 40 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 2.13 | 42 |
| Dooley Womack | 45 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 3.21 | 27 |
| Lindy McDaniel | 24 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 1.75 | 43 |
| Thad Tillotson | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.35 | 1 |
| John Wyatt | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.16 | 6 |
| Gene Michael | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |
| Rocky Colavito | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
| John Cumberland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Syracuse Chiefs | International League | Gary Blaylock and Frank Verdi |
| AA | Binghamton Triplets | Eastern League | Frank Verdi, Cloyd Boyer and Jim Gleeson |
| A | Kinston Eagles | Carolina League | Bob Bauer |
| A | Fort Lauderdale Yankees | Florida State League | Billy Shantz |
| A-Short Season | Oneonta Yankees | New York–Penn League | Jerry Walker |
| Rookie | Johnson City Yankees | Appalachian League | Gene Hassell |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oneonta