1966_Los_Angeles_Dodgers_season
1966 Los Angeles Dodgers season
Major League Baseball team season
The 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers won the National League championship with a 95–67 record (1+1⁄2 games over the San Francisco Giants), but were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.
| 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National League Champions | ||||
| League | National League | |||
| Ballpark | Dodger Stadium | |||
| City | Los Angeles | |||
| Owners | Walter O'Malley, James & Dearie Mulvey | |||
| President | Walter O'Malley | |||
| General managers | Buzzie Bavasi | |||
| Managers | Walter Alston | |||
| Television | KTTV (11) | |||
| Radio | KFI Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett KWKW José García, Jaime Jarrín | |||
| ||||
Sandy Koufax became the first pitcher to win three Cy Young Awards in a career.[1]
Season recap
The defending World Series champion Dodgers relied upon the same model that brought them the championship in 1965; great pitching, tight defense, and speed. However, ace pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale held out nearly all of spring training in a celebrated contract dispute, finally signing just before the start of the regular season. The hold out did not seem to affect Koufax, who went 27–9 with a 1.73 E.R.A. However, Drysdale had a sub par season going 13–16 with a 3.42 E.R.A. More than making up for that, Claude Osteen had his best season to date, winning 17 games with a 2.85 E.R.A., and rookie Don Sutton replaced aging Johnny Podres in the rotation, chipping in with 12 wins and a 2.99 E.R.A. Finally, reliever Phil Regan had a remarkable year, going 14–1 with 21 saves.
The National League race was a 4 team affair between the Dodgers, Giants, Pirates, and Phillies, with all but the Phillies taking their turn in 1st place during the summer. The Dodgers vaulted to the top with an 8-game win streak in mid-September. However, the pennant was still not decided until the final day of the season. The Giants, who had eliminated the Pirates by beating them on the next to last day, needed to beat the Pirates again in the season's final game, and then hope the Dodgers would lose both games of a double header in Philadelphia to the Phillies. If that happened, the Giants would have trailed the Dodgers by 1/2 game, and would still have had to fly to Cincinnati to play the Reds in a make-up game, needing a win to tie for 1st. The Giants defeated the Pirates in extra innings, and the Dodgers lost the first game of the double header, blowing a lead in the 8th inning. However, while the Giants were waiting at the Pittsburgh airport (not knowing if they were going to fly to Cincinnati or go home), Koufax beat the Phillies in the second game of the double header. While they were waiting, a reporter asked Giants pitcher Ron Herbel "you guys don't know where you're going yet, do you?" Herbel replied "we know where we're going. No way superman (Koufax) loses the second game."[citation needed]
Season standings
| National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 95 | 67 | 0.586 | — | 53–28 | 42–39 |
| San Francisco Giants | 93 | 68 | 0.578 | 1½ | 47–34 | 46–34 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 92 | 70 | 0.568 | 3 | 46–35 | 46–35 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 87 | 75 | 0.537 | 8 | 48–33 | 39–42 |
| Atlanta Braves | 85 | 77 | 0.525 | 10 | 43–38 | 42–39 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 83 | 79 | 0.512 | 12 | 43–38 | 40–41 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 76 | 84 | 0.475 | 18 | 46–33 | 30–51 |
| Houston Astros | 72 | 90 | 0.444 | 23 | 45–36 | 27–54 |
| New York Mets | 66 | 95 | 0.410 | 28½ | 32–49 | 34–46 |
| Chicago Cubs | 59 | 103 | 0.364 | 36 | 32–49 | 27–54 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | NYM | PHI | PIT | SF | STL | |||||
| Atlanta | — | 7–11 | 10–8 | 14–4–1 | 7–11 | 14–4 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 7–11 | |||||
| Chicago | 11–7 | — | 6–12 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 6–12 | 6–12 | 4–14 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 8–10 | 12–6 | — | 4–14 | 6–12 | 10–7 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 7–10 | 11–7 | |||||
| Houston | 4–14–1 | 13–5 | 14–4 | — | 7–11 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 4–14 | 6–12 | 10–8 | |||||
| Los Angeles | 11–7 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 11–7 | — | 12–6 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 10–8 | |||||
| New York | 4–14 | 10–8 | 7–10 | 11–7 | 6–12 | — | 7–11 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 7–11 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 7-11 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 11–7 | — | 10–8 | 10–8 | 10–8 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 11–7 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 14–4 | 9–9 | 13–5 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | 8–10 | |||||
| San Francisco | 10–8 | 12–6 | 10–7 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 11–7 | — | 12–6 | |||||
| St. Louis | 11–7 | 14–4 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 6–12 | — | |||||
Opening Day lineup
Notable transactions
- April 26, 1966: signed Jim Gilliam out of retirement.
- May 10, 1966: Johnny Podres was acquired from the Dodgers by the Detroit Tigers.[2]
- May 27, 1966: Howie Reed was traded by the Dodgers to the California Angels for Dick Egan and a player to be named later. The Angels completed the deal by sending John Butler (minors) to the Dodgers on December 7.[3]
- May 28, 1966: Wes Covington was signed as a free agent by the Dodgers.[4]
- July 5, 1966: Signed 1B Dick Stuart as a free agent.
- September 10, 1966: Thad Tillotson and cash were traded by the Dodgers to the New York Yankees for Dick Schofield.[5]
Roster
| 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
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 | John Roseboro | 142 | 445 | 123 | .276 | 9 | 53 |
| 1B | Wes Parker | 156 | 475 | 120 | .253 | 12 | 51 |
| 2B | Jim Lefebvre | 152 | 544 | 149 | .274 | 24 | 74 |
| SS | Maury Wills | 143 | 594 | 162 | .273 | 1 | 39 |
| 3B | John Kennedy | 125 | 274 | 55 | .201 | 3 | 24 |
| LF | Lou Johnson | 152 | 526 | 143 | .272 | 17 | 73 |
| CF | Willie Davis | 153 | 624 | 177 | .284 | 11 | 61 |
| RF | Ron Fairly | 117 | 351 | 101 | .288 | 14 | 61 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tommy Davis | 100 | 313 | 98 | .313 | 3 | 27 |
| Jim Gilliam | 88 | 235 | 51 | .217 | 1 | 16 |
| Jeff Torborg | 46 | 120 | 27 | .225 | 1 | 13 |
| Nate Oliver | 80 | 119 | 23 | .193 | 0 | 3 |
| Al Ferrara | 63 | 115 | 31 | .270 | 5 | 23 |
| Dick Stuart | 38 | 91 | 24 | .264 | 3 | 9 |
| Jim Barbieri | 39 | 82 | 23 | .280 | 0 | 3 |
| Dick Schofield | 20 | 70 | 18 | .257 | 0 | 4 |
| Wes Covington | 37 | 33 | 4 | .121 | 1 | 6 |
| Derrell Griffith | 23 | 15 | 1 | .067 | 0 | 2 |
| Bart Shirley | 12 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Tommy Hutton | 3 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Campanis | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Willie Crawford | 6 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandy Koufax | 41 | 323.0 | 27 | 9 | 1.73 | 317 |
| Don Drysdale | 40 | 273.2 | 13 | 16 | 3.42 | 177 |
| Claude Osteen | 39 | 240.1 | 17 | 14 | 2.85 | 137 |
| Don Sutton | 37 | 225.2 | 12 | 12 | 2.99 | 209 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Regan | 65 | 14 | 1 | 21 | 1.62 | 88 |
| Ron Perranoski | 55 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 3.18 | 50 |
| Bob Miller | 46 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2.77 | 58 |
| Jim Brewer | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3.68 | 8 |
| Nick Willhite | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.08 | 4 |
| Bill Singer | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 |
| Howie Reed | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
| Johnny Podres | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
Game 1
October 5, 1966, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Attendance: 55,941
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore (A) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| Los Angeles (N) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| W: Moe Drabowsky (1–0) L: Don Drysdale (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: BAL – Frank Robinson (1), Brooks Robinson (1) LAD – Jim Lefebvre (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 2
October 6, 1966, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Attendance: 55,947
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 0 |
| Los Angeles (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| W: Jim Palmer (1–0) L: Sandy Koufax (0–1) | ||||||||||||
Game 3
October 8, 1966, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. Attendance: 54,445
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Baltimore (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| W: Wally Bunker (1–0) L: Claude Osteen (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: BAL – Paul Blair (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 4
October 9, 1966, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. Attendance: 54,458
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Baltimore (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| W: Dave McNally (1–0) L: Don Drysdale (0–2) | ||||||||||||
| HR: BAL – Frank Robinson (2) | ||||||||||||
All-Stars
- 1966 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
- Sandy Koufax, starter, pitcher
- Jim Lefebvre, starter, second base
- Phil Regan, reserve
- Maury Wills, reserve
The Sporting News awards
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tri-City, Ogden
This was the second Major League Baseball Draft. The Dodgers drafted 67 players in the June draft and 9 in the January draft. The top draft pick was pitcher Lawrence Hutton from Greenfield High School in Greenfield, Indiana. He played in the Dodgers farm system through 1971 and finished with a 22–28 record and 4.33 ERA in 117 games, never advancing past AA.
The most successful picks from this draft class were Bill Russell and Charlie Hough. Russell, the ninth round pick out of Pittsburg High School played with the Dodgers through 1986, mostly as a shortstop and later managed the team from 1996 to 1998. Hough was drafted in the eighth round out of Hialeah High School as an infielder but quickly converted to pitcher. He played with the Dodgers through 1980 and then with three other teams until he retired in 1994. He later became a coach for the Dodgers organization.
| 1966 Draft Picks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
January draft[7] This was the first year that a January draft was held for college and high school players who graduated in the winter.
January Secondary phase
June draft
June secondary phase
|
- Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 234, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
