1968 Major League Baseball season
The 1968 major league baseball season began on April 10, 1968. The regular season ended on September 29, with the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 65th World Series on October 2 and ended with Game 7 on October 10. In the second iteration of this World Series matchup, the Tigers defeated the Cardinals, four games to three, capturing their third championship in franchise history, since their previous in. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the St. Louis Cardinals from the season.
The 39th Major League Baseball All-Star Game, was held on July 9 at the Houston Astrodome in Houston, Texas, home of the Houston Astros. The National League won, 1–0.
The 1968 season was the final year of baseball's pre-division era, in which the teams that finished in first place in each league went directly to the World Series to face each other for the "World Championship."
The Kansas City Athletics moved to Oakland, California as the Oakland Athletics, being the eighth team since 1953 to relocate, and the fourth of American League teams since them. Kansas City would be without a major league team for the 1968 season. Legal pressure from the city moved the originally planned 1971 American League expansion up to, which saw the enfranchisement of the Kansas City Royals.
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 atPostseason
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
League leaders
Any team shown in indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.American League
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Carl Yastrzemski | .301 |
| OPS | Carl Yastrzemski | .922 |
| HR | Frank Howard | 44 |
| RBI | Ken Harrelson | 109 |
| R | Dick McAuliffe | 95 |
| H | Bert Campaneris | 177 |
| SB | Bert Campaneris | 62 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Denny McLain | 31 |
| L | George Brunet | 17 |
| ERA | Luis Tiant | 1.60 |
| K | Sam McDowell | 283 |
| IP | Denny McLain | 336.0 |
| SV | Al Worthington | 18 |
| WHIP | Dave McNally | 0.842 |
National League
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Pete Rose | .335 |
| OPS | Willie McCovey | .923 |
| HR | Willie McCovey | 36 |
| RBI | Willie McCovey | 105 |
| R | Glenn Beckert | 98 |
| H | Felipe Alou Pete Rose | 210 |
| SB | Lou Brock | 62 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Juan Marichal | 26 |
| L | Claude Osteen Ray Sadecki | 18 |
| ERA | Bob Gibson | 1.12 |
| K | Bob Gibson | 268 |
| IP | Juan Marichal | 325.2 |
| SV | Phil Regan | 25 |
| WHIP | Bob Gibson | 0.853 |
Awards and honors
Other awards
Monthly awards
Player of the Month
| Month | National League |
| May | Don Drysdale |
| June | Bob Gibson |
| July | Bob Gibson |
| August | Pete Rose |
| September | Steve Blass |
Baseball Hall of Fame
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 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.