# 1966 Major League Baseball season

The 1966 major league baseball season began on April 11, 1966. The regular season ended on October 2, with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 63rd World Series on October 5 and ended with Game 4 on October 9. The Orioles swept the Dodgers in four games, capturing their first championship in franchise history. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the Los Angeles Dodgers from the 1965 season.
The 37th Major League Baseball All-Star Game, was held on July 12 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, home of the St. Louis Cardinals. The National League won, 2–1.
The Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Braves, being the seventh team since 1953 to relocate, and the fourth of National League teams since then. The move from Milwaukee was the second time in modern-era baseball (since 1901) that the city was left without a team. Previously, the 1901 Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis following the 1901 season (the team, the St. Louis Browns, went on to relocate to Baltimore as the Baltimore Orioles in 1953). Major league baseball would return to Milwaukee in 1970 with the relocation of the American League Seattle Pilots as the Milwaukee Brewers. The National League would see its return in 1998 when the Brewers transferred in to the league.
Three teams played the 1966 season in new stadiums. On April 12, the Braves ushered in Atlanta Stadium with the Pittsburgh Pirates taking a 3–2 win in 13 innings. One week later, Anaheim Stadium opened with the California Angels losing to the Chicago White Sox, 3–1 in the Angels' debut following their move from Los Angeles to nearby Orange County. On May 8, the St. Louis Cardinals closed out old Sportsman's Park/Busch Stadium I with a 10–5 loss to the San Francisco Giants before opening the new Busch Memorial Stadium four days later with a 4–3 win in 12 innings over the Atlanta Braves.

## Schedule

The 1966 schedule consisted of 162 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had ten teams. Each team was scheduled to play 18 games against the other nine teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place by the American League since the 1961 season and by the National League since the 1962 season, and would be used until 1969.
American League Opening Day took place on April 11, featuring a game between the Cleveland Indians and Washington Senators, while National League Opening Day took place the following day, featuring six teams. The final day of the regular season was on October 2, which saw all 20 teams play, continuing the trend from the previous season. The World Series took place between October 5 and October 9.

## Teams

An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| American League | Baltimore Orioles | Baltimore, Maryland | Baltimore Memorial Stadium | 52,185 | Hank Bauer |
| American League | Boston Red Sox | Boston, Massachusetts | Fenway Park | 33,524 | Billy Herman |
| American League | Boston Red Sox | Boston, Massachusetts | Fenway Park | 33,524 | Pete Runnels |
| American League | California Angels | Anaheim, California | Anaheim Stadium | 43,202 | Bill Rigney |
| American League | Chicago White Sox | Chicago, Illinois | White Sox Park | 46,550 | Eddie Stanky |
| American League | Cleveland Indians | Cleveland, Ohio | Cleveland Stadium | 73,811 | Birdie Tebbetts |
| American League | Cleveland Indians | Cleveland, Ohio | Cleveland Stadium | 73,811 | George Strickland |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Tiger Stadium | 53,089 | Chuck Dressen |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Tiger Stadium | 53,089 | Bob Swift |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Tiger Stadium | 53,089 | Frank Skaff |
| American League | Kansas City Athletics | Kansas City, Missouri | Municipal Stadium | 34,165 | Alvin Dark |
| American League | Minnesota Twins | Bloomington, Minnesota | Metropolitan Stadium | 45,182 | Sam Mele |
| American League | New York Yankees | New York, New York | Yankee Stadium | 67,000 | Johnny Keane |
| American League | New York Yankees | New York, New York | Yankee Stadium | 67,000 | Ralph Houk |
| American League | Washington Senators | Washington, D.C. | District of Columbia Stadium | 43,500 | Gil Hodges |
| National League | Atlanta Braves | Atlanta, Georgia | Atlanta Stadium | 50,893 | Bobby Bragan |
| National League | Atlanta Braves | Atlanta, Georgia | Atlanta Stadium | 50,893 | Billy Hitchcock |
| National League | Chicago Cubs | Chicago, Illinois | Wrigley Field | 36,644 | Leo Durocher |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | Crosley Field | 29,603 | Don Heffner |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | Crosley Field | 29,603 | Dave Bristol |
| National League | Houston Astros | Houston, Texas | Houston Astrodome | 46,000 | Grady Hatton |
| National League | Los Angeles Dodgers | Los Angeles, California | Dodger Stadium | 56,000 | Walter Alston |
| National League | New York Mets | New York, New York | Shea Stadium | 55,300 | Wes Westrum |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Connie Mack Stadium | 33,608 | Gene Mauch |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Forbes Field | 35,500 | Harry Walker |
| National League | San Francisco Giants | San Francisco, California | Candlestick Park | 42,500 | Herman Franks |
| National League | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis, Missouri | Busch Stadium* | 30,500* | Red Schoendienst |
| National League | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis, Missouri | Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium | 49,275 | Red Schoendienst |

## Standings
### American League

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 |

### National League

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 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| World Series | World Series | World Series |
| AL | Baltimore Orioles | 4 |
| NL | Los Angeles Dodgers | 0 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Chicago Cubs | Lou Klein | Leo Durocher |
| Chicago White Sox | Al López | Eddie Stanky |
| Cincinnati Reds | Dick Sisler | Don Heffner |
| Houston Astros | Lum Harris | Grady Hatton |
| Kansas City Athletics | Haywood Sullivan | Alvin Dark |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Atlanta Braves | Bobby Bragan | Billy Hitchcock |
| Boston Red Sox | Billy Herman | Pete Runnels |
| Cincinnati Reds | Don Heffner | Dave Bristol |
| Cleveland Indians | Birdie Tebbetts | George Strickland |
| Detroit Tigers | Chuck Dressen | Bob Swift |
| Detroit Tigers | Bob Swift | Frank Skaff |
| New York Yankees | Johnny Keane | Ralph Houk |

## League leaders
### American League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Frank Robinson$^1$ (BAL) | .316 |
| OPS | Frank Robinson (BAL) | 1.047 |
| HR | Frank Robinson$^1$ (BAL) | 49 |
| RBI | Frank Robinson$^1$ (BAL) | 122 |
| R | Frank Robinson (BAL) | 122 |
| H | Tony Oliva (MIN) | 191 |
| SB | Bert Campaneris (KC) | 52 |
$^1$ American League Triple Crown batting winner
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Jim Kaat (MIN) | 25 |
| L | Mel Stottlemyre (NYY) | 20 |
| ERA | Gary Peters (CWS) | 1.98 |
| K | Sam McDowell (CLE) | 225 |
| IP | Jim Kaat (MIN) | 304.2 |
| SV | Jack Aker (KC) | 32 |
| WHIP | Gary Peters (CWS) | 0.982 |

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Matty Alou (PIT) | .342 |
| OPS | Dick Allen (PHI) | 1.027 |
| HR | Hank Aaron (ATL) | 44 |
| RBI | Hank Aaron (ATL) | 127 |
| R | Felipe Alou (ATL) | 122 |
| H | Felipe Alou (ATL) | 218 |
| SB | Lou Brock (STL) | 74 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Sandy Koufax$^2$ (LA) | 27 |
| L | Dick Ellsworth (CHC) | 22 |
| ERA | Sandy Koufax$^2$ (LA) | 1.73 |
| K | Sandy Koufax$^2$ (LA) | 317 |
| IP | Sandy Koufax (LA) | 323.0 |
| SV | Phil Regan (LA) | 21 |
| WHIP | Juan Marichal (SF) | 0.859 |
$^2$ National League Triple Crown pitching winner

## Awards and honors
### Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards :
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Rookie of the Year | Tommy Helms (CHC) | Tommie Agee (CWS) |
| Cy Young Award | Sandy Koufax (LA) | — |
| Most Valuable Player | Roberto Clemente (PIT) | Frank Robinson (BAL) |
| Gold Glove Awards |||
| Position | National League | American League |
| Pitcher | Bob Gibson (STL) | Jim Kaat (MIN) |
| Catcher | John Roseboro (LA) | Bill Freehan (DET) |
| 1st Base | Bill White (PHI) | Joe Pepitone (NYY) |
| 2nd Base | Bill Mazeroski (PIT) | Bobby Knoop (CAL) |
| 3rd Base | Ron Santo (CHC) | Brooks Robinson (BAL) |
| Shortstop | Gene Alley (PIT) | Luis Aparicio (BAL) |
| Outfield | Roberto Clemente (PIT) | Tommie Agee (CWS) |
| Outfield | Curt Flood (STL) | Al Kaline (DET) |
| Outfield | Willie Mays (SF) | Tony Oliva (MIN) |

### Other awards

* Sport Magazine's World Series Most Valuable Player Award: Frank Robinson (BAL)
* Babe Ruth Award (BBWAA World Series MVP): Frank Robinson (BAL)
* Hutch Award: Sandy Koufax (LA)
The Sporting News Awards :
| Award | National League | American League |
| Player of the Year | — | Frank Robinson (BAL) |
| Pitcher of the Year | Sandy Koufax (LA) | Jim Kaat (MIN) |
| Fireman of the Year (Relief pitcher) | Phil Regan (LA) | Jack Aker (KC) |
| Rookie Player of the Year | Tommy Helms (CHC) | Tommie Agee (CWS) |
| Rookie Pitcher of the Year | Don Sutton (LA) | Jim Nash (KC) |
| Comeback Player of the Year | Phil Regan (LA) | Boog Powell (BAL) |
| Manager of the Year | — | Hank Bauer (BAL) |
| Executive of the Year | Lee MacPhail (MLB Chief Assistant) | Lee MacPhail (MLB Chief Assistant) |

### Monthly awards
#### Player of the Month

| Month | National League |
| May | Juan Marichal (SF) |
| June | Gaylord Perry (SF) |
| July | Mike Shannon (STL) |
| August | Pete Rose (CIN) |

### Baseball Hall of Fame

* Ted Williams
* Casey Stengel (manager)

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 95 | −2.1% | 2,617,029 | 2.5% | 32,309 |
| New York Mets | 66 | 32.0% | 1,932,693 | 9.3% | 23,860 |
| Houston Astros | 72 | 10.8% | 1,872,108 | −13.0% | 23,112 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 83 | 3.8% | 1,712,980 | 38.0% | 21,148 |
| San Francisco Giants | 93 | −2.1% | 1,657,192 | 7.2% | 20,459 |
| Atlanta Braves | 85 | −1.2% | 1,539,801 | 177.1% | 18,778 |
| California Angels | 80 | 6.7% | 1,400,321 | 147.1% | 17,288 |
| Minnesota Twins | 89 | −12.7% | 1,259,374 | −13.9% | 15,548 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 97 | 3.2% | 1,203,366 | 54.0% | 15,232 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 92 | 2.2% | 1,196,618 | 31.6% | 14,773 |
| New York Yankees | 70 | −9.1% | 1,124,648 | −7.3% | 13,715 |
| Detroit Tigers | 88 | −1.1% | 1,124,293 | 9.2% | 13,880 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 87 | 2.4% | 1,108,201 | −5.0% | 13,681 |
| Chicago White Sox | 83 | −12.6% | 990,016 | −12.4% | 12,222 |
| Cleveland Indians | 81 | −6.9% | 903,359 | −3.4% | 11,153 |
| Boston Red Sox | 72 | 16.1% | 811,172 | 24.4% | 10,014 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 74 | 25.4% | 773,929 | 46.5% | 9,555 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 76 | −14.6% | 742,958 | −29.1% | 9,405 |
| Chicago Cubs | 59 | −18.1% | 635,891 | −0.9% | 7,851 |
| Washington Senators | 71 | 1.4% | 576,260 | 2.9% | 7,388 |

## Events

* January 20 – The Baseball Writers' Association of America voters elect Ted Williams to the Hall of Fame. Williams receives 282 of a possible 302 votes.
* February 28 – Seeking an unprecedented 3-year $1.05 million to be divided evenly, the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale begin a joint holdout.
* March 5 – In what will prove to be one of the more influential off-the-field events in Major League history, representatives of the players elect Marvin Miller to the post of executive director of the Major League Players Association (MLPA).
* March 8 – The Special Veterans Committee waives Hall of Fame election rules and inducts Casey Stengel, recently retired manager of the New York Mets.
* March 17 – Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale escalate their threat of retirement by signing movie contracts.
* March 30 – Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale end their 32-day holdout, signing for $130,000 and $105,000 respectively.
* April 3 – USC pitcher Tom Seaver signs with the New York Mets. He had been drafted by the Atlanta Braves, but they had signed him to a minor league contract while he was still in college. This voided Seaver's remaining eligibility, and voided the contract. The Mets won a special lottery over Cleveland and Philadelphia to win the right to sign him.
* April 11 – Emmett Ashford takes the field in Washington to officiate a 5–2 Washington Senators win over the Cleveland Indians. He is the first African-American umpire in Major League history.
* April 12 – A sellout crowd of 50,671 fans show up at Atlanta Stadium to watch the Braves' first home game in Atlanta. The home team falls to the Pittsburgh Pirates 3–2 in 13 innings, as Willie Stargell delivers a two-run homer for the game-winning hit off Tony Cloninger, who pitches the entire game.
* May 8 – The visiting San Francisco Giants defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, 10–5 in the final game at Busch Stadium I.
* May 12 – Four days after the closing of Busch Stadium I, the St. Louis Cardinals defeat the visiting Atlanta Braves 4–3 in 12 innings, in front of 46,048 fans in attendance, in the first game at Busch Memorial Stadium.
* May 14 – The San Francisco Giants' Willie Mays hits his then National League record 512th home run – topping another Giant, Mel Ott. The Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6–1 at San Francisco's Candlestick Park.
* June 7 – The Kansas City Athletics use the second overall pick to draft Arizona State outfielder Reggie Jackson.
* June 10 – Sonny Siebert of the Cleveland Indians no-hits the Washington Senators 2–0 at Cleveland Stadium. The no-hitter is the first by an Indian since Bob Feller's third career no-hitter, in 1951.
* July 3 – Atlanta pitcher Tony Cloninger hits two grand slams in a game against the Giants, the first National League player and first pitcher in history to do so. His nine RBI in a game is a record for pitchers.
* July 12 – At St. Louis, Maury Wills' 10th-inning single scores Tim McCarver, as the National League wins 2–1 over the American League in the All-Star Game, but AL Brooks Robinson's stellar game (three hits, eight fielding chances) earns him the MVP honors.
* July 25 – During his Hall of Fame induction speech, Ted Williams publicly calls on baseball to induct former great players from the Negro leagues. He specifically calls for the induction of Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige.
* September 22 – The Baltimore Orioles beat the host Kansas City Athletics 6–1 to clinch their first American League pennant since moving to Baltimore. Both Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson have two RBIs. Frank Robinson will end the year as the Triple Crown winner, the first to achieve the feat since Mickey Mantle in 1956. He clinches with a batting average of .316, 49 home runs and 122 RBIs.
* September 22 – In a one-game series delayed two days by rain, the New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox 4-1. The game was played in front of just 413 fans in Yankee Stadium I, the smallest crowd in the history of any version of Yankee Stadium and the fifth-smallest crowd in Major League Baseball history. Four days after this game was played (September 26, 1966), broadcast pioneer Red Barber was told that his contract would not be renewed by then-Yankees owner CBS. This has been disputed, but the belief of Barber among others was that his firing was tie to his reporting the small crowd of that infamous game on television The game aired locally on WPIX-TV, Channel 11, the Yankees TV home at that time. Barber would never broadcast another game. He was allowed to finish his contract for 1966, however, as what were to be his final three games for the Yankees in Washington against the Senators were rained out and he was not scheduled to work the season-ending series versus the White Sox in Chicago.
* September 26 – Willie McCovey hits his 200th career home run, helping the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves 8–2.
* October 9 – In Game Four of the World Series, Dave McNally wraps up a brilliant pitching display, and the first World Championship for the Baltimore Orioles, with a four-hit, 1–0 shutout against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Series MVP Frank Robinson hits a home run off Don Drysdale for the only run of the game and gave Baltimore a surprising sweep of the defending World Champion Dodgers. The shutout completes a World Series record 33+2⁄3 scoreless innings pitched by Orioles pitchers, beginning with Moe Drabowsky pitching 62⁄3 innings in relief of McNally in Game One, followed by shutouts by Jim Palmer and Wally Bunker. The Orioles are the last of the original eight American League franchises to win their first World Series.

## Television coverage

For the first time, NBC became exclusive national TV broadcaster of MLB. The network replaced ABC as the holder of the Games of the Week package. The New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, which had instead sold their TV rights to CBS in prior seasons, also joined NBC's package. The new package under NBC called for 28 games, as compared to the 123 combined among three networks during the 1960s. NBC also continued to air the All-Star Game and World Series.