1966 Kansas City Athletics season

1966  Kansas City Athletics
League	American League
Ballpark	Municipal Stadium
City	Kansas City, Missouri
Owners	Charles O. Finley
General managers	Ed Lopat
Managers	Alvin Dark
Television	KCMO
Radio	KCMO (AM) (Monte Moore, Lynn Faris)
←  1965 1967  →

The 1966 Kansas City Athletics season was the 12th and penultimate season in Kansas City, and the 66th in overall franchise history. It involved the A's finishing seventh in the American League with a record of 74 wins and 86 losses (the team's best finish in Kansas City), 23 games behind the World Champion Baltimore Orioles. Paid attendance for the season was 773,929. ^[1] The pitching staff had an earned run average of 3.56, which ranked sixth in the American League. ^[2]

Offseason

• October 15, 1965: Satchel Paige was released by the Athletics. ^[3]
• November 28, 1965: Hank Peters resigned from the club and became the minor league director for the Cleveland Indians. ^[4]
• November 29, 1965: Ron Stone was drafted by the Athletics from the Baltimore Orioles in the 1965 rule 5 draft. ^[5]
• December 1, 1965: Jim Landis and Jim Rittwage were traded by the Athletics to the Cleveland Indians for Joe Rudi and Phil Roof. ^[6]
• In early 1966, Jim Schaaf left the Athletics front office to work with the Kansas City Chiefs of the AFL. ^[7]

Regular season

• The club won their home opener (contested on April 19) and proceeded to lose 14 of their next 16 games. ^[8] From June 19 to the final game of the season, the club won 50 games and lost 49, their best stretch since playing in Kansas City. ^[1] The Athletics did not finish in last place for the first time in three years.

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:
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: John O'Donoghue and cash were traded by the Athletics to the Cleveland Indians for Ralph Terry. ^[9]
• April 13, 1966: Diego Seguí was purchased from the Athletics by the Washington Senators. ^[10]
• May 27, 1966: Wayne Causey was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago White Sox for Danny Cater. ^[11]
• June 7, 1966: 1966 Major League Baseball draft (June Draft) notable picks: ^[12]

Round 1: Reggie Jackson (2nd pick) ^[13]

Round 5: Dave Hamilton

Round 6: Warren Bogle

Round 20: Larry Burchart (did not sign)

• July 1, 1966: Ron Stone was returned by the Athletics to the Baltimore Orioles. ^[5]
• July 30, 1966: Jim Duckworth was traded by the Athletics to the Washington Senators for Diego Seguí. ^[10]
• August 6, 1966: Ralph Terry was purchased from the Athletics by the New York Mets. ^[9]
• August 24, 1966: 1966 Major League Baseball draft (August Legion) notable picks: ^[14]

Round 1: Pete Varney (did not sign)

Roster

1966 Kansas City Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 23 Jack Aker 30 Gil Blanco 22 Jim Dickson 29 Chuck Dobson 31 Jim Duckworth 32 Bill Edgerton 24 Guido Grilli 17 Joe Grzenda 26 Vern Handrahan 31 Jesse Hickman 27 Catfish Hunter 20 Lew Krausse Jr. 25 Paul Lindblad 34 Aurelio Monteagudo 33 Jim Nash 13 Blue Moon Odom 34 Ken Sanders 15 Rollie Sheldon 22 Bill Stafford 15 Wes Stock 28 Fred Talbot 26 Ralph Terry 33 John Wyatt		Catchers  9 Billy Bryan 18 Rene Lachemann  4 Phil Roof  8 Ken Suarez 11 Tim Talton Infielders  6 Sal Bando  8 Don Blasingame 19 Bert Campaneris  2 Danny Cater  2 Wayne Causey 16 Ed Charles 22 John Donaldson  7 Ernie Fazio  1 Dick Green  6 Ken Harrelson 31 Randy Schwartz		Outfielders 12 Ossie Chavarria 21 Jim Gosger  3 Mike Hershberger 21 Manny Jiménez 28 Rick Monday 18,24 Joe Nossek  9 Roger Repoz 14 Larry Stahl 11 Ron Stone 10 José Tartabull		Manager  5 Alvin Dark Coaches 44 Luke Appling 42 Cot Deal (Pitching) 40 Bobby Hofman 41 Al Vincent

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

= Indicates league 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	SB
C	Phil Roof	127	367	77	.209	7	44	2
1B	Ken Harrelson	63	210	47	.224	5	22	9
2B	Dick Green	140	507	127	.250	9	62	6
SS	Bert Campaneris	142	573	153	.267	5	42	52
3B	Ed Charles	118	385	110	.286	9	42	12
LF	Larry Stahl	119	312	78	.250	5	34	5
CF	Joe Nossek	87	230	60	.261	1	27	4
RF	Mike Hershberger	146	538	136	.253	2	57	13

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
Danny Cater	116	425	124	.292	7	52
Roger Repoz	101	319	69	.216	11	34
Jim Gosger	88	272	61	.224	5	27
Ossie Chavarria	86	191	46	.241	2	10
José Tartabull	37	127	30	.236	0	4
Wayne Causey	28	79	18	.228	0	5
Billy Bryan	32	76	10	.132	0	7
Ken Suarez	35	69	10	.145	0	2
Tim Talton	37	53	18	.340	2	6
Rick Monday	17	41	4	.098	0	2
Manny Jiménez	13	35	4	.114	0	1
Ernie Fazio	27	34	7	.206	0	2
John Donaldson	15	30	4	.133	0	1
Sal Bando	11	24	7	.292	0	1
Ron Stone	26	22	6	.273	0	0
Don Blasingame	12	19	3	.158	0	1
Randy Schwartz	10	11	1	.091	0	1
Rene Lachemann	5	5	1	.200	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
Catfish Hunter	30	176.2	9	11	4.02	102
Jim Nash	18	127.0	12	1	2.06	98
Blue Moon Odom	14	90.1	5	5	2.49	47
Chuck Dobson	14	83.2	4	6	4.09	61
Rollie Sheldon	14	69.0	4	7	3.13	26
Fred Talbot	11	67.2	4	4	4.79	37

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
Lew Krausse Jr.	36	177.2	14	9	2.99	87
Paul Lindblad	38	121.0	5	10	4.17	69
Ralph Terry	15	64.0	1	5	3.80	33
Bill Stafford	9	39.2	0	4	4.99	31
Gil Blanco	11	38.1	2	4	4.70	21
Bill Edgerton	6	8.1	0	1	3.24	3

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
Jack Aker	66	8	4	32	1.99	68
Ken Sanders	38	3	4	1	3.72	41
Wes Stock	35	2	2	3	2.66	31
Jim Dickson	24	1	0	1	5.35	20
Joe Grzenda	21	0	2	0	3.27	14
John Wyatt	19	0	3	2	5.32	25
Vern Handrahan	16	0	1	1	4.26	18
Guido Grilli	16	0	1	1	6.89	8
Jim Duckworth	8	0	2	1	9.00	10
Aurelio Monteagudo	6	0	0	0	2.84	3
Jesse Hickman	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

• Catfish Hunter, Pitcher, Reserve

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Vancouver Mounties	Pacific Coast League	Mickey Vernon
AA	Mobile A's	Southern League	John McNamara
A	Modesto Reds	California League	Gus Niarhos
A	Leesburg Athletics	Florida State League	Jimmy Williams
A	Burlington Bees	Midwest League	Al Ronning
A-Short Season	Lewiston Broncos	Northwest League	Grady Wilson

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Mobile, Modesto, Leesburg

References

1. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.98, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN   978-0-8027-1745-0
2. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, pp.97–98, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN   978-0-8027-1745-0
3. Satchel Paige at Baseball Reference
4. 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
5. Ron Stone at Baseball Reference
6. Joe Rudi at Baseball Reference
7. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.96, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN   978-0-8027-1745-0
8. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.97, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN   978-0-8027-1745-0
9. Ralph Terry at Baseball Reference
10. Diego Seguí at Baseball Reference
11. Causey plays for A's after being traded
12. 1966 Kansas City Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
13. Reggie Jackson at Baseball Reference
14. Kansas City Athletics Picks in the MLB August Legion Draft

External links

• 1966 Kansas City Athletics at Baseball Reference
• 1966 Kansas City Athletics at Baseball Almanac