The 1966 Baltimore Orioles season involved the Orioles finishing first in the American League with a record of 97 wins and 63 losses, nine games ahead of the runner-up Minnesota Twins. It was their first AL pennant since 1944, when the club was known as the St. Louis Browns. The Orioles swept the NL champion Los Angeles Dodgers in four games to register their first-ever World Series title. The team was managed by Hank Bauer, and played their home games at Memorial Stadium. They drew 1,203,366 fans to their home ballpark, third in the ten-team league. It would be the highest home attendance of the team's first quarter-century at Memorial Stadium, and was eclipsed by the pennant-winning 1979 Orioles.[1] This was the first season to feature names on the back of the uniforms and the first with the cartoon bird on the cap.
| 1966 Baltimore Orioles | ||
|---|---|---|
| World Series Champions American League Champions | ||
| League | American League | |
| Ballpark | Memorial Stadium | |
| City | Baltimore, Maryland | |
| Record | 97–63 (.606) | |
| League place | 1st | |
| Owners | Jerold Hoffberger | |
| General managers | Harry Dalton | |
| Managers | Hank Bauer | |
| Television | WJZ-TV | |
| Radio | WBAL (AM) (Chuck Thompson, Frank Messer, Bill O'Donnell) | |
| ||
Offseason
- October 12, 1965: John Orsino was traded by the Orioles to the Washington Senators for Woodie Held.[2]
- November 29, 1965: Ron Stone was drafted from the Orioles by the Kansas City Athletics in the 1965 rule 5 draft.[3]
- December 2, 1965: Norm Siebern was traded by the Orioles to the California Angels for Dick Simpson.[4]
- December 6, 1965: Darold Knowles and Jackie Brandt were traded by the Orioles to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jack Baldschun.[5]
- December 9, 1965: Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschun, and Dick Simpson were traded by the Orioles to the Cincinnati Reds for Frank Robinson.[6]
- March 10, 1966: Lou Piniella was traded by the Orioles to the Cleveland Indians for Cam Carreon.[7]
Regular season
Right fielder Frank Robinson, acquired via trade from the Cincinnati Reds in the off-season, won the Triple Crown, leading the AL with a .316 average, 49 home runs, and 122 RBI. He was named winner of the American League MVP Award, becoming the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to win MVP honors in both the American and National Leagues.[8]
On May 8, 1966, Frank Robinson hit a 540-foot home run off Cleveland Indians pitcher Luis Tiant, becoming the only player to hit a fair ball out of Memorial Stadium.[9] It cleared the left field single-deck portion of the grandstand.[10] A flag was later erected near the spot the ball cleared the back wall, with simply the word "HERE" upon it.
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Orioles | 97 | 63 | .606 | — | 48–31 | 49–32 |
| Minnesota Twins | 89 | 73 | .549 | 9 | 49–32 | 40–41 |
| Detroit Tigers | 88 | 74 | .543 | 10 | 42–39 | 46–35 |
| Chicago White Sox | 83 | 79 | .512 | 15 | 45–36 | 38–43 |
| Cleveland Indians | 81 | 81 | .500 | 17 | 41–40 | 40–41 |
| California Angels | 80 | 82 | .494 | 18 | 42–39 | 38–43 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 74 | 86 | .463 | 23 | 42–39 | 32–47 |
| Washington Senators | 71 | 88 | .447 | 25½ | 42–36 | 29–52 |
| Boston Red Sox | 72 | 90 | .444 | 26 | 40–41 | 32–49 |
| New York Yankees | 70 | 89 | .440 | 26½ | 35–46 | 35–43 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | 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 | — | |||
Opening Day starters
- Luis Aparicio
- Paul Blair
- Curt Blefary
- Wally Bunker
- Andy Etchebarren
- Davey Johnson
- Boog Powell
- Brooks Robinson
- Frank Robinson
Notable transactions
- May 21, 1966: Roger Freed was signed by the Orioles as an amateur free agent.[12]
- June 13, 1966: Jerry Adair was traded by the Orioles to the Chicago White Sox for Eddie Fisher and minor leaguer John Riddle.[13]
- July 1, 1966: Ron Stone was returned to the Orioles by the Kansas City Athletics.[3]
Roster
| 1966 Baltimore Orioles | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
| Catchers Infielders | Outfielders
Other batters
| Manager
Coaches | ||||||
Player stats
| = Indicates team leader |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Andy Etchebarren | 121 | 412 | 91 | .221 | 11 | 50 |
| 1B | Boog Powell | 140 | 491 | 141 | .287 | 34 | 109 |
| 2B | Davey Johnson | 131 | 501 | 129 | .257 | 7 | 56 |
| 3B | Brooks Robinson | 157 | 620 | 167 | .269 | 23 | 100 |
| SS | Luis Aparicio | 151 | 659 | 182 | .276 | 6 | 41 |
| LF | Curt Blefary | 131 | 419 | 107 | .255 | 23 | 64 |
| CF | Paul Blair | 133 | 303 | 84 | .277 | 6 | 33 |
| RF | Frank Robinson | 155 | 576 | 182 | .316 | 49 | 122 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russ Snyder | 117 | 373 | 114 | .306 | 3 | 41 |
| Sam Bowens | 89 | 243 | 51 | .210 | 6 | 20 |
| Bob Johnson | 71 | 157 | 34 | .217 | 1 | 10 |
| Vic Roznovsky | 41 | 97 | 23 | .237 | 1 | 10 |
| Woodie Held | 56 | 82 | 17 | .207 | 1 | 7 |
| Larry Haney | 20 | 56 | 9 | .161 | 1 | 3 |
| Jerry Adair | 17 | 52 | 15 | .288 | 0 | 3 |
| Mark Belanger | 8 | 19 | 3 | .158 | 0 | 0 |
| Charley Lau | 18 | 12 | 6 | .500 | 0 | 5 |
| Mike Epstein | 6 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 3 |
| Cam Carreon | 4 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave McNally | 34 | 213.0 | 13 | 6 | 3.17 | 158 |
| Jim Palmer | 30 | 208.1 | 15 | 10 | 3.46 | 147 |
| Wally Bunker | 29 | 142.2 | 10 | 6 | 4.29 | 89 |
| Steve Barber | 25 | 133.1 | 10 | 5 | 2.30 | 91 |
| Bill Short | 6 | 37.2 | 2 | 3 | 2.87 | 27 |
| Tom Phoebus | 3 | 22.0 | 2 | 1 | 1.23 | 17 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eddie Watt | 43 | 145.2 | 9 | 7 | 3.83 | 102 |
| John Miller | 23 | 100.2 | 4 | 8 | 4.74 | 81 |
| Frank Bertaina | 16 | 63.1 | 2 | 5 | 3.13 | 46 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stu Miller | 51 | 9 | 4 | 18 | 2.25 | 67 |
| Eddie Fisher | 44 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 2.64 | 39 |
| Moe Drabowsky | 44 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 2.81 | 98 |
| Dick Hall | 32 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 3.95 | 44 |
| Gene Brabender | 31 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3.55 | 62 |
| Ed Barnowski | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 2 |
1966 World Series
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance | Time of Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orioles – 5, Dodgers – 2 | October 5 | Dodger Stadium | 55,941 | 2:56 |
| 2 | Orioles – 6, Dodgers – 0 | October 6 | Dodger Stadium | 55,947 | 2:26 |
| 3 | Dodgers – 0, Orioles – 1 | October 8 | Memorial Stadium | 54,445 | 1:55 |
| 4 | Dodgers – 0, Orioles – 1 | October 9 | Memorial Stadium | 54,458 | 1:45 |
Awards and honors
- Frank Robinson, AL Most Valuable Player Award[14]
- Frank Robinson, Associated Press Athlete of the Year
- Frank Robinson, Triple Crown Winner[15][16]
- Frank Robinson, Babe Ruth Award[17]
- Frank Robinson, World Series Most Valuable Player Award[18]
- Brooks Robinson, All-Star Game MVP[18]
- Gold Glove Awards
- Brooks Robinson, third base[19]
- Luis Aparicio, shortstop[19]
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Elmira
Notes
References
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
- 1966 Baltimore Orioles at Baseball Reference
- 1966 Baltimore Orioles season at Baseball Almanac