1966 in baseball


Champions

Major League Baseball

1 American League Triple Crown batting winner
2 Major league Triple Crown pitching winner

Major league baseball final standings

American League final standings

National League final standings

Nippon Professional Baseball final standings

Central League final standings

Pacific League final standings

Events

January

  • January 3 – The Baltimore Orioles release veteran left-hander Harvey Haddix. The 40-year-old hurler, famed for throwing 12 perfect innings on May 26, 1959, is beginning a new career as a pitching coach for the 1966 New York Mets.
  • January 10 – The Philadelphia Phillies send Wes Covington to the Chicago Cubs for fellow outfielder Doug Clemens.
  • January 14 – The New York Yankees trade backup catcher Doc Edwards to the Cleveland Indians for outfielder Lou Clinton.
  • January 15 – The California Angels purchase the contract of veteran catcher Ed Bailey from the Chicago Cubs.
  • 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

  • February 22 – Slugger Dick Stuart's tenure in Philadelphia ends after only one season when the Phillies deal the indifferent-fielding first baseman to the New York Mets for catcher Jimmie Schaffer, second baseman Bobby Klaus and third baseman Wayne Graham.
  • February 24 – The Orioles fly their starting catcher, Dick Brown, from their spring training camp to Baltimore to undergo tests to determine the cause of his severe headaches. Two weeks later, the 31-year-old Brown undergoes surgery to remove a brain tumor. Although he recovers from the operation, Brown's career is ended and he will ultimately succumb to the malady in April 1970.
  • February 28 – Seeking an unprecedented three-year $1.05 million to be divided evenly, the Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale begin a joint holdout.

    March

  • March 5 – In what will prove to be one of the more influential off-the-field events in Major League history, United Steelworkers union official Marvin Miller is elected the Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. Under Miller's guidance, the players' union will make major gains such as salary increases, improvements in pension benefits, and the advent of free agency and salary arbitration. Miller will occupy his position from 1966 to 1982, as the players' union is transformed into one of the strongest unions in the United States.
  • March 8 – The Special Veterans Committee waives Hall of Fame election rules and inducts Casey Stengel, 75, who managed the New York Yankees to ten American League pennants and seven World Series titles between and. Stengel had retired from the New York Mets on August 30, 1965.
  • March 10 – The Cleveland Indians trade backup catcher Cam Carreon to the Baltimore Orioles for minor-league outfielder Lou Piniella, coming off a.249, 11-homer season with Double-A Elmira. At this point in his career, the 22-year-old Piniella has been given only one at bat in the major leagues.
  • March 17 – Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale escalate their threat of retirement by signing movie contracts. On March 30, they will end their 32-day holdout, signing for $130,000 and $105,000 respectively.
  • March 30
  • *The Houston Astros activate veteran right-hander Robin Roberts. The 39-year-old future Hall-of-Famer had signed a coach's contract after the 1965 season, and he'd been given the opportunity to pitch himself back onto the Houston mound staff over spring training.
  • *The Baltimore Orioles pick up left-handed-hitting backup catcher Vic Roznovsky from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for outfielder Carl Warwick. Roznovsky, Cam Carreon and Larry Haney will play behind rookie Andy Etchebarren, elevated to first-string catcher by Dick Brown's career-ending brain surgery.

    April

  • April 3
  • *University of Southern California pitcher Tom Seaver signs with the New York Mets. He had been drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the January 1966 Major League Baseball draft, but Atlanta signed him to a minor league contract while he was still in college and rendered him ineligible to play for the Trojans. Commissioner of Baseball William Eckert voids the contract, with the Mets winning a special lottery over Cleveland and Philadelphia to win the right to sign him.
  • *The Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox swap veteran infielders, with the Astros getting former AL All-Star Félix Mantilla for Eddie Kasko.
  • April 6 – The Kansas City Athletics trade left-hander John O'Donoghue to the Cleveland Indians for righty Ralph Terry, a former 20-game winner and World Series MVP for the New York Yankees.
  • April 7 – The St. Louis Cardinals sell the contract of veteran pitcher Bob Purkey to his original team, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Purkey, too, won 20+ games in when he was with the Cincinnati Reds.
  • April 11 – At the traditional Presidential Opener at D.C. Stadium, Emmett Ashford officiates at third base in the Washington Senators' 5–2 win over the Cleveland Indians to become the first African-American umpire in MLB history. Ashford, 51, spent 12 years in the Pacific Coast League before being promoted to the American League umpiring staff over the winter. Vice President Hubert Humphrey throws out the first ball of the season.
  • April 12
  • *MLB officially enters the Southeastern U.S., as 50,671 fans show up at Atlanta Stadium to watch the Braves' first home game. In 13 innings, the Braves fall to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3–2. Atlanta's Joe Torre hits the first homer in the ballpark, but the decisive blow is Willie Stargell's two-run blast off starting pitcher Tony Cloninger in the top of the 13th. Torre's second homer of the day, a solo shot in the home half, narrows the margin of defeat to one run.
  • *On Opening Day at Fenway Park, the Baltimore Orioles' Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson go a combined five for ten, score three runs and collect four RBI to spearhead a 13-inning 5–4 triumph over the Boston Red Sox. Each "Robby" hits a home run off Boston starter Earl Wilson. It's Frank Robinson's first American League game after ten seasons in Cincinnati and by the end of 1966, he'll be a Triple Crown winner, an AL MVP, and World Series champion.
  • April 19 – The California Angels play their first regular-season game in their new ballpark, Anaheim Stadium, in front of 31,660 fans. The Angels' Rick Reichardt scores the first run, with a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the second inning. The Angels fall to the Chicago White Sox and Tommy John, 3–1, with Marcelino Lopez taking the loss for the home side.
  • April 21 – The Chicago Cubs make one of the most successful trades of the 1960s, acquiring 23-year-old rookie right-hander Ferguson Jenkins from the Philadelphia Phillies, along with first baseman John Herrnstein and centerfielder Adolfo Phillips, for veteran pitchers Bob Buhl, 37, and Larry Jackson, 34. The trade helps transform the Cubs into a first division team in, when Jenkins will begin a skein of six consecutive seasons of 20 or more victories, earning the National League Cy Young Award along the way. In two stints as a Cub, Jenkins will go 167–132 over ten seasons, and in 1991 he will be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
  • April 26 – The Los Angeles Dodgers place coach and veteran infielder Jim Gilliam on their 28-man roster. Gilliam will start 52 games at third base during the 1966 season and help the Dodgers win the NL pennant in his last year as an active player.
  • April 28
  • *Sonny Siebert and reliever Bob Allen scatter five hits and Leon Wagner hits a game-deciding sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to lead the Cleveland Indians to their tenth consecutive victory of 1966, 2–1 over the California Angels.
  • *The Chicago Cubs trade minor-league third baseman Bobby Cox to the Atlanta Braves for spare outfielder Billy Cowan. Cox, 24, never plays for the MLB Braves but he will return to the team to become their Hall-of-Fame manager over 25 seasons between and.
  • April 30 – The California Angels erase a 9–3, eighth-inning deficit by scoring 12 runs, as they defeat the Boston Red Sox, 16–9 at Fenway Park. During the 11-hit, late-game uprising, Rick Reichardt hits two home runs and drives in four.

    May

  • May 1 – "Sudden Sam" McDowell, the Cleveland Indians' fireballing, 23-year-old left-hander, one-hits the visiting Chicago White Sox and earns his fourth win of the year with a 1–0 victory. Don Buford's third-inning double spoils the no no. McDowell himself singles twice in his three at bats off hard-luck loser Tommy John. Cleveland's record improves to 11–1, but, incredibly, the Indians are a half game behind the first-place, 12–1 Baltimore Orioles.
  • May 4
  • *At Yankee Stadium, Indians shortstop Larry Brown and left-fielder Leon Wagner collide while chasing a fourth-inning pop fly hit by Roger Maris. Wagner sustains a concussion but misses only one game of action; however, Brown suffers a broken nose and fractured skull and he doesn't return to the Cleveland lineup until June 16. Maris's popup lands for a double, but Sonny Siebert fires a complete-game, 2–1 Tribe victory.
  • *The San Francisco Giants' Willie Mays hits his 512th career home run, breaking the existing National League and topping another Giant, the late Mel Ott. San Francisco beats the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6–1, at Candlestick Park.
  • May 6 – In a head-to-head matchup between the Indians and Orioles at Memorial Stadium, it takes 15 innings for Baltimore to outlast Cleveland, 3–2. The Tribe take a 2–1 lead in the visitors' half of the 15th, but the Orioles tie the game on rookie Davey Johnson's home run and win it on a "walk-off," RBI single by Boog Powell.
  • May 7 – One day after the New York Yankees' record falls to 4–16, general manager Ralph Houk fires Johnny Keane as manager and returns to manage the team himself. Dan Topping, Jr. replaces Houk as general manager. Houk had managed the Yankees to three consecutive American League pennants from 1961 to 1963 and a World Series title during the first two of those years, but his second stint will have a far less than successful beginning. Their talent and farm system both depleted, the Yankees, after finishing in sixth place in, will finish dead last—their first time doing so since.
  • May 8
  • *The San Francisco Giants trade first baseman/outfielder Orlando Cepeda to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Ray Sadecki. Cepeda will go on to win the National League Most Valuable Player award in on the Cardinals' World Championship team. That same day, the Giants defeat the Cardinals 10–5 in the final game at the old Busch Stadium.
  • *Frank Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles hits what will be the only home run hit out of Memorial Stadium. The shot comes against Luis Tiant in the first inning of the Orioles' 8–3 victory in the second game of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians.
  • May 10
  • *In a clash of the National League's two top teams at Forbes Field, the visiting San Francisco Giants edge the Pittsburgh Pirates 2–1 in 15 innings. The winning run scores on a fielder's choice. With the victory, the Giants improve to 19–7 on the year, and the Bucs fall to 14–9, 3½ games behind.
  • *The Los Angeles Dodgers send left-hander Johnny Podres to the Detroit Tigers for "future considerations." Podres, 33, is a Dodger immortal thanks to his Game 7 shutout victory in the 1955 World Series that delivered Brooklyn's only world championship. He went 136–104 in 13 seasons with the club, led the National League in ERA and winning percentage , was a four-time NL All-Star, and a 4x World Series champion, going 4–1 in six World Series games spanning 11 seasons.
  • May 12 – With 46,048 spectators in attendance for the first game at the new Busch Memorial Stadium, the St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Atlanta Braves in 12 innings, 4–3, behind a single RBI by Lou Brock. Braves outfielder Felipe Alou delivers a pair of home runs.
  • May 13 – At Shea Stadium, Jim Davenport's 17th-inning home run is the difference as the San Francisco Giants defeat the New York Mets, 5–4.
  • 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.
  • May 16 – Detroit Tigers manager Chuck Dressen is hospitalized with his second heart attack in as many seasons. Third-base coach Bob Swift takes over as interim manager for the second consecutive year while Dressen recuperates.
  • May 18 – Boston Red Sox right-hander Earl Wilson, one of the best-hitting pitchers in the American League, homers off Jim Palmer to give himself a ten-inning, 2–1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Memorial Stadium.
  • May 27 – The Kansas City Athletics trade infielder Wayne Causey to the Chicago White Sox for first baseman Danny Cater.
  • May 31
  • *San Francisco Giants' staff ace and future Hall-of-Famer Juan Marichal improves to 10–0 in 11 starts with a 5–3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field. Marichal has thrown nine complete games and four shutouts—including a 14-inning, complete game blanking of the Philadelphia Phillies May 26—and the three earned runs he allows today "balloon" his ERA from 0.59 to 0.80.
  • *The Cleveland Indians maintain their three-game lead in the American League with a 17-inning, 7–5 victory over the California Angels at Anaheim Stadium. Steve Hargan throws ten innings of one-run relief to get the win, and Luis Tiant gets the save.