1966 Cleveland Indians season

1966 Cleveland Indians
1966 Cleveland Indians
League	American League
Ballpark	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
City	Cleveland, Ohio
Owners	Gabe Paul, Vernon Stouffer
General managers	Gabe Paul
Managers	Birdie Tebbetts, George Strickland
Television	WJW-TV; (Harry Jones, Herb Score)
Radio	WERE; (Jimmy Dudley, Bob Neal)

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. This was the first season to feature the players' last names on the back of the jerseys.

Offseason

Vernon Stouffer bought 80% of the Cleveland Indians for $8,000,000.^[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.
On May 8, 1966, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Frank Robinson hit a 540-foot home run off Indians pitcher Luis Tiant, becoming the only player to hit a fair ball out of Memorial Stadium.^[8]

Season standings

v
t
e
American League
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

1966 American League record v t e 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	—

Notable transactions

April 6, 1966: Ralph Terry was traded by the Indians to the Kansas City Athletics for John O'Donoghue and cash.^[9]

Opening Day Lineup


Opening Day Starters
#	Name	Position
25	Vic Davalillo	CF
10	Max Alvis	3B
27	Leon Wagner	LF
21	Rocky Colavito	RF
23	Chuck Hinton	1B
24	Pedro González	2B
16	Larry Brown	SS
7	Del Crandall	C
48	Sam McDowell	P

^[10]

Roster

1966 Cleveland Indians

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

3 George Strickland

1 Birdie Tebbetts

Coaches

5 Ray Mueller
4 Reggie Otero (First Base)
3 George Strickland (Third Base)
2 Early Wynn (Pitching)

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
C	Joe Azcue	98	302	83	.275	9	37
1B	Fred Whitfield	137	502	121	.241	27	78
2B	Pedro González	110	352	82	.233	2	17
SS	Larry Brown	105	340	78	.229	3	17
3B	Max Alvis	157	596	146	.245	17	55
LF	Leon Wagner	150	549	153	.279	23	66
CF	Vic Davalillo	121	344	86	.250	3	19
RF	Rocky Colavito	151	533	127	.238	30	72

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
Chico Salmon	126	422	108	.256	7	40
Chuck Hinton	123	348	89	.256	12	50
Jim Landis	85	158	35	.222	3	14
Dick Howser	67	140	32	.229	2	4
Duke Sims	52	133	35	.263	6	19
Del Crandall	50	108	25	.231	4	8
Vern Fuller	16	47	11	.234	2	2
Jim Gentile	33	47	6	.128	2	4
Bill Davis	23	38	6	.158	1	4
José Vidal	17	32	6	.188	0	3
Buddy Booker	18	28	6	.214	2	5
Tony Martínez	17	17	5	.294	0	0
Tony Curry	19	16	2	.125	0	3
George Banks	4	4	1	.250	0	1
Paul Dicken	2	2	0	.000	0	0

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
Gary Bell	40	254.1	14	15	3.22	194
Sonny Siebert	34	241.0	16	8	2.80	163
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
Steve Hargan	38	192.0	13	10	2.48	132
Luis Tiant	46	155.0	12	11	2.79	145
John O'Donoghue	32	108.0	6	8	3.83	49
Tom Kelley	31	95.1	4	8	4.34	64
Lee Stange	8	16.0	1	0	2.81	8
Bob Heffner	5	13.0	0	1	3.46	7
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
Dick Radatz	39	0	3	10	4.61	49
Bob Allen	36	2	2	5	4.21	33
Jack Kralick	27	3	4	0	3.82	31
Don McMahon	12	1	1	1	2.92	5

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
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

^[11]

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
^ 100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Dan Connolly, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2015, ISBN 978-1-62937-041-5, p.117
^ Ralph Terry page at Baseball Reference
^ 1966 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference
^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

1966 Cleveland Indians season at Baseball Reference

[1] Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, p. 4, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0

[2] 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

[3] Al Closter page at Baseball Reference

[4] Al Luplow page at Baseball Reference

[5] Joe Rudi page at Baseball Reference

[6] Doc Edwards page at Baseball-Reference

[7] Lou Piniella page at Baseball Reference

[8] 100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Dan Connolly, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2015, ISBN 978-1-62937-041-5, p.117

[9] Ralph Terry page at Baseball Reference

[10] 1966 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference

[11] Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

v t e 1966 MLB season by team
American League	Baltimore Boston California Chicago Cleveland Detroit Kansas City Minnesota New York Washington
National League	Atlanta Chicago Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis San Francisco
1966 MLB draft 1966 All-Star Game 1966 World Series