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1966 Major League Baseball season

Field	Value
title	1966 MLB season
league	American League (AL)
National League (NL)
sport	Baseball
duration	Regular season:{{Bulleted list
no_of_games	162
no_of_teams	20 (10 per league)
TV	NBC
draft	Draft
draft_link	1966 Major League Baseball draft
top_pick	Steve Chilcott
top_pick_link	List of first overall MLB draft picks
picked_by	New York Mets
season	Regular season
MVP	AL: Frank Robinson (BAL)
NL: Roberto Clemente (PIT)
MVP_link	Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award
conf1	AL
conf1_champ	[Baltimore Orioles](1966-baltimore-orioles-season)
conf1_runner-up	[Minnesota Twins](1966-minnesota-twins-season)
conf2	NL
conf2_champ	[Los Angeles Dodgers](1966-los-angeles-dodgers-season)
conf2_runner-up	[San Francisco Giants](1966-san-francisco-giants-season)
finals	World Series
finals_link	1966 World Series
finals_champ	[Baltimore Orioles](1966-baltimore-orioles-season)
finals_runner-up	[Los Angeles Dodgers](1966-los-angeles-dodgers-season)
World_Series_MVP	Frank Robinson (BAL)
World_Series_MVP_link	World Series Most Valuable Player Award
seasonslist	List of MLB seasons
seasonslistnames	MLB
prevseason_link	1965 Major League Baseball season
prevseason_year	1965
nextseason_link	1967 Major League Baseball season
nextseason_year	1967

National League (NL) | April 11 – October 2, 1966 (AL) | April 12 – October 2, 1966 (NL)}}World Series:{{Bulleted list | October 5–9, 1966}} NL: Roberto Clemente (PIT) | conf1_runner-up = Minnesota Twins | conf2_runner-up = San Francisco Giants | finals_runner-up = Los Angeles Dodgers 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 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 season (the team, the St. Louis Browns, went on to relocate to Baltimore as the Baltimore Orioles in ). Major league baseball would return to Milwaukee in with the relocation of the American League Seattle Pilots as the Milwaukee Brewers. The National League would see its return in 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.

1966 would be William Eckert's first season as commissioner.

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 season and by the National League since the season, and would be used until .

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.

Rule change

The 1966 season would see the following rule change:

The 15-day disabled list (now called injured list) was introduced, reducing the minimum time a player remained on the list from 30 to 15 days.

Teams

An asterisk () denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at*

League	Team	City
Baltimore, Maryland	Baltimore Memorial Stadium	52,185
Boston, Massachusetts	Fenway Park	33,524
Anaheim, California	Anaheim Stadium	43,202
Chicago, Illinois	White Sox Park	46,550
Cleveland, Ohio	Cleveland Stadium	73,811
Detroit, Michigan	Tiger Stadium	53,089
Kansas City, Missouri	Municipal Stadium	34,165
Bloomington, Minnesota	Metropolitan Stadium	45,182
New York, New York	Yankee Stadium	67,000
Washington, D.C.	District of Columbia Stadium	43,500
Atlanta, Georgia	Atlanta Stadium	50,893
Chicago, Illinois	Wrigley Field	36,644
Cincinnati, Ohio	Crosley Field	29,603
Houston, Texas	Houston Astrodome	46,000
Los Angeles, California	Dodger Stadium	56,000
New York, New York	Shea Stadium	55,300
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Connie Mack Stadium	33,608
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Forbes Field	35,500
San Francisco, California	Candlestick Park	42,500
St. Louis, Missouri	Busch Stadium*	30,500*
Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium	49,275

Standings

American League

National League

Postseason

The postseason began on October 5 and ended on October 9 with the Baltimore Orioles sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1966 World Series in four games.

Bracket

Managerial changes

Off-season

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

In-season

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

League leaders

American League

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Frank Robinson1 (BAL)	.316
OPS	Frank Robinson (BAL)	1.047
HR	Frank Robinson1 (BAL)	49
RBI	Frank Robinson1 (BAL)	122
R	Frank Robinson (BAL)	122
H	Tony Oliva (MIN)	191
SB	Bert Campaneris (KCA)	52

1 American League Triple Crown batting winner

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 (KCA)	32
WHIP	Gary Peters (CWS)	0.982

National League

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

Stat	Player	Total
W	Sandy Koufax2 (LAD)	27
L	Dick Ellsworth (CHC)	22
ERA	Sandy Koufax2 (LAD)	1.73
K	Sandy Koufax2 (LAD)	317
IP	Sandy Koufax (LAD)	323.0
SV	Phil Regan (LAD)	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
Rookie of the Year	Tommy Helms (CIN)	Tommie Agee (CWS)
Cy Young Award	Sandy Koufax (LAD)	—
Most Valuable Player	Roberto Clemente (PIT)	Frank Robinson (BAL)
Babe Ruth Award
(World Series MVP)	—	Frank Robinson (BAL)
Pitcher	Bob Gibson (STL)	Jim Kaat (MIN)
Catcher	John Roseboro (LAD)	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)
Curt Flood (STL)	Al Kaline (DET)
Willie Mays (SF)	Tony Oliva (MIN)

Other awards

Hutch Award: Sandy Koufax (LAD)
Sport Magazine's World Series Most Valuable Player Award: Frank Robinson (BAL)

The Sporting News Awards	Award	National League
Player of the Year	—	Frank Robinson (BAL)
Pitcher of the Year	Sandy Koufax (LAD)	Jim Kaat (MIN)
Fireman of the Year
(Relief pitcher)	Phil Regan (LAD)	Jack Aker (KCA)
Rookie Player of the Year	Tommy Helms (CHC)	Tommie Agee (CWS)
Rookie Pitcher of the Year	Don Sutton (LAD)	Jim Nash (KCA)
Comeback Player of the Year	Phil Regan (LAD)	Boog Powell (BAL)
Manager of the Year	—	Hank Bauer (BAL)
Executive of the Year	Lee MacPhail (MLB Chief Assistant)

Monthly awards

Player of the Month

Main article: Major League Baseball Player of the Month Award

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

Baseball Hall of Fame

Main article: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

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
url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYM/attend.shtml	title=New York Mets Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors	access-date=September 8, 2020	publisher=Baseball-Reference.com}}	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
url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/attend.shtml	title=New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors	access-date=September 8, 2020	publisher=Baseball-Reference.com}}	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

Venues

The 1966 season saw three teams move to three new venues.

With the relocation of the Milwaukee Braves from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Braves, they leave Milwaukee County Stadium (where they played 13 seasons) and move into Atlanta Stadium. They would go on to play there for 31 seasons through .
The California Angels leave Chavez Ravine Stadium (Dodger Stadium) and Los Angeles, California (where they played four seasons), and opened Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California, where they remain to this day.
The St. Louis Cardinals would play their last game at Busch Stadium on May 8, having played 58 seasons there going back to (with a gap between and part of ), and opened Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium (with the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals) on May 12, where they would go on to play for 40 seasons through .

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.

References

Bokser, Andy. "1965 Winter Meetings: Exit the Sportswriter and Enter the General – Society for American Baseball Research".
"1966 Major League Managers".
"1966 American League Batting Leaders".
"1966 American League Pitching Leaders".
"1966 National League Batting Leaders".
"1966 National League Pitching Leaders".
"Major League Player of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
"Pitcher of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
"Fireman of the Year Award / Reliever of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
"Rookie Player of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
"Rookie Pitcher of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
"The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
"Manager of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
"MLB Executive of the Year Award {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
"Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"New York Mets Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Houston Astros Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Los Angeles Angels Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Texas Rangers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].

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