1968 Major League Baseball season

Schedule

The 1968 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. This would be the last season with this format, as the following season would see a new format due to expansion and the creation of divisions.

Opening Day took place on April 10, featuring all 20 teams in both leagues. The final day of the regular season was on September 29, which saw all teams play, except for the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians. The World Series took place between October 2 and October 10.

Rule changes

The 1968 season saw the following rule changes:

• To greater enforce the ban on the spitball, any pitcher who was found to have touched their mouth with their pitching hand will first get a warning, and second an ejection.
• In an attempt to speed up the game, the following rules were implemented:
  • Batters must now run back to the plate following a fouled bunt.
  • Pinch-hitters must be on the bench by the time the previous batter completed their at bat.
  • Teams were recommended to use golf carts to bring from the bullpen a relief pitcher.
• Any usage of "players to be named later" for trades were banned during the season. Over the offseason, players must be identified before the start of the season.
• Opening Day rosters were reduced to 25 players. Previously, prior to May 15, teams could have 28 players on their rosters.
• Teams were no longer able to pick up a player they dropped after August 31 until May 15 the following season.
• Any player under contract must pass through waivers before the team the players was on could drop him.
• For spring training, the American League approved a proto-designated hitter rule. Before a game, a player could be "designated" by the manager to be a pinch-hitter. This pinch-hitter would twice be allowed to pinch-hit, though not in the same inning.

Teams

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

Standings

American League

National League

Postseason

The postseason began on October 2 and ended on October 10 with the Detroit Tigers defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1968 World Series in seven games.

Bracket

| RD1-seed1=AL | RD1-team1=Detroit Tigers | RD1-score1=4 | RD1-seed2=NL | RD1-team2=St. Louis Cardinals | RD1-score2=3

Managerial changes

Off-season

In-season

League leaders

Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.

American League

National League

Awards and honors

Regular season

Other awards

• Hutch Award: Pete Rose (CIN)
• Sport Magazine's World Series Most Valuable Player Award: Mickey Lolich (STL)

Monthly awards

Player of the Month

Main article: Major League Baseball Player of the Month Award

Baseball Hall of Fame

Main article: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

• Kiki Cuyler
• Goose Goslin
• Joe Medwick

Home field attendance

Events

• May 1 – Philadelphia Phillies pitcher John Boozer is ejected from a game against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium without throwing a pitch. Boozer had put spit on his hand to clean his uniform, which was in contravention of the anti-spitball rule that had been introduced that year. After calling him for that indiscretion and two further examples, umpire Ed Vargo ejected Boozer.

Venues

With the relocation of the Kansas City Athletics from Kansas City, Missouri to Oakland, California as the Oakland Athletics, they leave Municipal Stadium (where they played 13 seasons) and move into Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. They would go on to play there for 57 seasons through , before again relocating.

The Chicago White Sox began playing select games in the former home of the Milwaukee Braves in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at Milwaukee County Stadium, hosting nine of 81 home games. Though only 11% of home games, these nine games accounted for 33% of all home games attendance for the White Sox.

Television coverage

NBC was the exclusive national TV broadcaster of MLB, airing the weekend Game of the Week, the All-Star Game, and the World Series.

References

References

1. Peterson, John E.. (2003). "The Kansas City Athletics: A Baseball History, 1954–1967". McFarland.
2. Armour, Mark. "1967 Winter Meetings: Expansion, Inevitably – Society for American Baseball Research".
3. "1968 Major League Managers".
4. "1968 American League Batting Leaders".
5. "1968 American League Pitching Leaders".
6. "1968 National League Batting Leaders".
7. "1968 National League Pitching Leaders".
8. "Major League Player of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
9. "Pitcher of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
10. "Fireman of the Year Award / Reliever of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
11. "Rookie Player of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
12. "Rookie Pitcher of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
13. "The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
14. "Manager of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
15. "MLB Executive of the Year Award {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
16. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
17. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
18. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
19. "New York Mets Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
20. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
21. "Houston Astros Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
22. "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
23. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
24. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
25. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
26. "Los Angeles Angels Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
27. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
28. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
29. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
30. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
31. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
32. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
33. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
34. "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
35. "Texas Rangers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
36. "Ejected While Warming Up".