1966 Cleveland Indians season
The 1966 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fifth in the American League with a record of 81–81, 17 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. The 1966 season started off hopeful for the Cleveland Indians as they won their first ten games, and held a 27-10 record in late May. They would hold first place as late as June 12 but were out of first place after that and never returned to the top. A struggle in run production brought the Indians back to the .500 mark, as a seemingly promising season ended up being one of the most disappointing. The Indians are the only team to win the regular season series vs the World Series Winning 1966 Baltimore Orioles (who would sweep the Dodgers, while allowing only 2 runs the entire series).
1966 Cleveland Indians | |
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Owner(s) | Gabe Paul, Vernon Stouffer |
General manager(s) | Gabe Paul |
Manager(s) | Birdie Tebbetts, George Strickland |
Local television | WJW-TV (Harry Jones, Herb Score) |
Local radio | WERE (Jimmy Dudley, Bob Neal) |
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Offseason
- Vernon Stouffer bought eighty percent of the Cleveland Indians for eight million dollars.[1]
- November 28, 1965: Hank Peters resigned from the Kansas City Athletics and became the minor league director for the Cleveland Indians.[2]
Notable transactions
- November 29, 1965: Al Closter was selected by the Indians from the New York Yankees in the first-year player draft.[3]
- November 29, 1965: Al Luplow was purchased from the Indians by the New York Mets.[4]
- December 1, 1965: Joe Rudi and Phil Roof were traded by the Indians to the Kansas City Athletics for Jim Landis and Jim Rittwage.[5]
- January 14, 1966: Lou Clinton was traded by the Indians to the New York Yankees for Doc Edwards.[6]
- March 10, 1966: Cam Carreon was traded by the Indians to the Baltimore Orioles for Lou Piniella.[7]
Regular season
On May 1, Sam McDowell threw his second consecutive one-hitter for the Indians.
Season standings
American League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
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Baltimore Orioles | 97 | 63 | 0.606 | — | 48–31 | 49–32 |
Minnesota Twins | 89 | 73 | 0.549 | 9 | 49–32 | 40–41 |
Detroit Tigers | 88 | 74 | 0.543 | 10 | 42–39 | 46–35 |
Chicago White Sox | 83 | 79 | 0.512 | 15 | 45–36 | 38–43 |
Cleveland Indians | 81 | 81 | 0.500 | 17 | 41–40 | 40–41 |
California Angels | 80 | 82 | 0.494 | 18 | 42–39 | 38–43 |
Kansas City Athletics | 74 | 86 | 0.463 | 23 | 42–39 | 32–47 |
Washington Senators | 71 | 88 | 0.447 | 25½ | 42–36 | 29–52 |
Boston Red Sox | 72 | 90 | 0.444 | 26 | 40–41 | 32–49 |
New York Yankees | 70 | 89 | 0.440 | 26½ | 35–46 | 35–43 |
Record vs. opponents
1966 American League Records Sources: | |||||||||||||
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Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | 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 | — |
Notable transactions
- April 6, 1966: Ralph Terry was traded by the Indians to the Kansas City Athletics for John O'Donoghue and cash.[8]
Roster
1966 Cleveland Indians | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches
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Player stats
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 |
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2B | Pedro González | 110 | 352 | 82 | .233 | 2 | 17 |
SS | Larry Brown | 105 | 340 | 78 | .229 | 3 | 17 |
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 |
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Jim Landis | 85 | 158 | 35 | .222 | 3 | 14 |
Bill Davis | 23 | 38 | 6 | .158 | 1 | 4 |
José Vidal | 17 | 32 | 6 | .188 | 0 | 3 |
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 |
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Gary Bell | 40 | 254.1 | 14 | 15 | 3.22 | 194 |
Sam McDowell | 35 | 194.1 | 9 | 8 | 2.87 | 225 |
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 |
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Steve Hargan | 38 | 192 | 13 | 10 | 2.48 | 132 |
John O'Donoghue | 32 | 108 | 6 | 8 | 3.83 | 49 |
George Culver | 5 | 9.2 | 0 | 2 | 8.38 | 6 |
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 |
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Bob Allen | 36 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4.21 | 33 |
Farm system
Level | Team | League | Manager |
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AAA | Portland Beavers | Pacific Coast League | Johnny Lipon |
AA | Pawtucket Indians | Eastern League | Clay Bryant |
A | Reno Silver Sox | California League | Phil Cavarretta |
A | Dubuque Packers | Midwest League | Elmer Valo |
Notes
- Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, p. 4, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0
- Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.95, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
- Al Closter page at Baseball Reference
- Al Luplow page at Baseball Reference
- Joe Rudi page at Baseball Reference
- Doc Edwards page at Baseball-Reference
- Lou Piniella page at Baseball Reference
- Ralph Terry page at Baseball Reference
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007