1966 Baltimore Orioles season

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)
←  1965 Seasons 1967  →

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.

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

v t e American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	97	63	0.606	—	48–31	49–32
Minnesota Twins	89	73	0.549	9	49–32	40–41
Detroit Tigers	88	74	0.543	10	42–39	46–35
Chicago White Sox	83	79	0.512	15	45–36	38–43
Cleveland Indians	81	81	0.500	17	41–40	40–41
California Angels	80	82	0.494	18	42–39	38–43
Kansas City Athletics	74	86	0.463	23	42–39	32–47
Washington Senators	71	88	0.447	25½	42–36	29–52
Boston Red Sox	72	90	0.444	26	40–41	32–49
New York Yankees	70	89	0.440	26½	35–46	35–43

Record vs. opponents

1966 American League record v t e Sources:
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

^[11]

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 13 Steve Barber 38 Ed Barnowski 24,40 Frank Bertaina 32 Gene Brabender 27 Wally Bunker 25 Moe Drabowsky 28 Eddie Fisher 29 Dick Hall 19 Dave McNally 17 John Miller 37 Stu Miller 22 Jim Palmer 36 Tom Phoebus 24 Bill Short 39 Eddie Watt		Catchers 35 Cam Carreon  8 Andy Etchebarren 34 Larry Haney 23 Vic Roznovsky Infielders  7 Jerry Adair 11 Luis Aparicio  7 Mark Belanger 18 Mike Epstein  2 Bob Johnson 15 Davey Johnson 26 Boog Powell  5 Brooks Robinson		Outfielders  6 Paul Blair  3 Curt Blefary 16 Sam Bowens 12 Woodie Held 20 Frank Robinson  9 Russ Snyder Other batters 44 Charley Lau		Manager 42 Hank Bauer Coaches 31 Harry Brecheen 55 Billy Hunter 41 Sherm Lollar 14 Gene Woodling

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	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

Main article: 1966 World Series

AL Baltimore Orioles (4) vs. NL Los Angeles Dodgers (0)

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

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Rochester Red Wings	International League	Earl Weaver
AA	Elmira Pioneers	Eastern League	Darrell Johnson
A	Stockton Ports	California League	Harry Malmberg
A	Miami Marlins	Florida State League	Billy DeMars
A-Short Season	Aberdeen Pheasants	Northern League	Cal Ripken Sr.
Rookie	Bluefield Orioles	Appalachian League	Joe Altobelli

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Elmira

Notes

1. Baseball Reference: Baltimore Orioles attendance history
2. Woodie Held at Baseball Reference
3. Ron Stone at Baseball Reference
4. Norm Siebern at Baseball Reference
5. Darold Knowles at Baseball Reference
6. Frank Robinson at Baseball Reference
7. Lou Piniella at Baseball Reference
8. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.153, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN   978-0-451-22363-0
9. 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
10. "Retrosheet Boxscore: Baltimore Orioles 8, Cleveland Indians 3 (2)". www.retrosheet.org.
11. 1966 Baltimore Oriole roster at Baseball Almanac
12. Roger Freed at Baseball-Reference
13. Eddie Fisher at Baseball-Reference
14. American League MVP Award voting results at Baseball Reference
15. Triple Crown winners at Baseball Reference
16. 1966 Batting leaders at Baseball Reference
17. Babe Ruth Award winners at Baseball Reference
18. 1966 Post-Season Awards at Baseball Reference
19. American League Gold Glove Award winners at Baseball Reference

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

External links

• 1966 Orioles Roster through Baseball Cards – OriolesCards.com