1966 Los Angeles Dodgers season

1966  Los Angeles Dodgers
National League champions
League	National League
Ballpark	Dodger Stadium
City	Los Angeles
Record	95–67 (.586)
League place	1st
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
←  1965 Seasons 1967  →

The 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 77th season for the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise in Major League Baseball (MLB), their 9th season in Los Angeles, California, and their 5th season playing their home games at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles California. The 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.

Regular season

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."

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	67	.586	—	53‍–‍28	42‍–‍39
San Francisco Giants	93	68	.578	1½	47‍–‍34	46‍–‍34
Pittsburgh Pirates	92	70	.568	3	46‍–‍35	46‍–‍35
Philadelphia Phillies	87	75	.537	8	48‍–‍33	39‍–‍42
Atlanta Braves	85	77	.525	10	43‍–‍38	42‍–‍39
St. Louis Cardinals	83	79	.512	12	43‍–‍38	40‍–‍41
Cincinnati Reds	76	84	.475	18	46‍–‍33	30‍–‍51
Houston Astros	72	90	.444	23	45‍–‍36	27‍–‍54
New York Mets	66	95	.410	28½	32‍–‍49	34‍–‍46
Chicago Cubs	59	103	.364	36	32‍–‍49	27‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

1966 National League record v t e 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

Opening Day starters
Name	Position
Maury Wills	Shortstop
Wes Parker	First baseman
Willie Davis	Center fielder
Ron Fairly	Right fielder
Jim Lefebvre	Third baseman
Lou Johnson	Left fielder
John Roseboro	Catcher
Nate Oliver	Second baseman
Claude Osteen	Starting pitcher

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 21 Jim Brewer 53 Don Drysdale 32 Sandy Koufax 15 Bob Miller 38 Joe Moeller 23 Claude Osteen 16 Ron Perranoski 22 Johnny Podres 39 Howie Reed 27 Phil Regan 40 Bill Singer 20 Don Sutton 45 Nick Willhite		Catchers 31 Jim Campanis  8 John Roseboro 10 Jeff Torborg Infielders 19 Jim Gilliam  4 Tommy Hutton 11 John Kennedy  5 Jim Lefebvre 29 Nate Oliver 28 Wes Parker  2 Dick Schofield  2 Bart Shirley  7 Dick Stuart 30 Maury Wills		Outfielders 17 Jim Barbieri 25 Wes Covington 12 Tommy Davis  3 Willie Davis  6 Ron Fairly  9 Al Ferrara 26 Derrell Griffith 41 Lou Johnson Other batters 43 Willie Crawford		Manager 24 Walter Alston Coaches 19 Jim Gilliam 18 Preston Gómez 33 Danny Ozark 36 Lefty Phillips

Game log

Regular season

Legend
	Dodgers win
	Dodgers loss
	Postponement
	Clinched pennant
Bold	Dodgers team member

1966 regular season game log: 95–67 (Home: 54–27; Away: 41–40) [6]
April: 11–7 (Home: 8–4; Away: 3–3) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
May: 16–11 (Home: 9–4; Away: 7–7) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
June: 14–14 (Home: 3–4; Away: 11–10) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
July: 18–10 (Home: 13–6; Away: 5–4) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak — July 12 11:00 a.m. PDT 37th All-Star Game American League vs. National League (Busch Memorial Stadium , St. Louis, Missouri)
August: 15–15 (Home: 9–5; Away: 6–10) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
September: 20–9 (Home: 11–5; Away: 9–4) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
October: 1–1 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–1) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak

Postseason Game log

1966 Postseason game log: 0–4 (Home: 0–2; Away: 0–2)

World Series: vs. Baltimore Orioles 0–4 (Home: 0–2; Away: 0–2) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Series Box Streak 1 October 5 1:00 p.m. PDT Orioles L2–5 Drabowski (1–0) Drysdale (0–1) — 2:56 55,941 BAL 1–0 L1 2 October 6 1:00 p.m. PDT Orioles L0–6 Palmer (1–0) Koufax (0–1) — 2:26 55,947 BAL 2–0 L2 3 October 8 10:00 a.m. PDT @ Orioles L0–1 Bunker (1–0) Osteen (0–1) — 1:55 54,445 BAL 3–0 L3 4 October 9 11:00 a.m. PDT @ Orioles L0–1 McNally (1–0) Drysdale (0–2) — 1:45 54,458 BAL 4–0 L4

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
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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Joe Moeller	29	78.2	2	4	2.52	31

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

1966 World Series

Main article: 1966 World Series

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)

Awards and honors

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax

• Cy Young Award
  • Sandy Koufax
• Gold Glove Award
  • John Roseboro, catcher
• Comeback Player of the Year Award
  • Phil Regan

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

• TSN Rookie Pitcher of the Year Award
  • Don Sutton
• TSN Pitcher of the Year Award
  • Sandy Koufax
• TSN Fireman of the Year Award
  • Phil Regan
• TSN National League All-Star
  • Sandy Koufax
• Hutch Award
  • Sandy Koufax ^[7]

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Spokane Indians	Pacific Coast League	Roy Hartsfield
AA	Albuquerque Dodgers	Texas League	Bob Kennedy
A	Santa Barbara Dodgers	California League	Norm Sherry
A	Jamestown Dodgers	New York–Penn League	Bill Berrier
A	Tri-City Atoms	Northwest League	Duke Snider
Rookie	Ogden Dodgers	Pioneer League	Tommy Lasorda

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tri-City, Ogden

1966 Major League Baseball draft

Main article: 1966 Major League Baseball draft

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 [8] This was the first year that a January draft was held for college and high school players who graduated in the winter. Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 James Roberts RHP University of Alabama Yes 1966–1967 AA 2 Ivey Armstrong 2B Miami-Dade College Yes 1966–1969 A 3 Robert Childress 3B Methacton High School No 4 Albert Choate RHP Sam Houston State University Yes 1966–1967 A 5 Jorge Benitez 1B Miami-Dade College No January secondary phase [9] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 John Herbst LHP University of Southern California No Twins – 1967 1968–1969 A 2 Hank Tenney OF Vista High School Yes 1966–1969 A 3 Jim Hibbs C Stanford University Yes 1966–1973 MLB 4 Mike Garrett OF University of Southern California No June draft [10] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Lawrence Hutton RHP Greenfield High School Yes 1966–1971 AA 2 John Gamble SS Carson City High School Yes 1966–1976 MLB 3 Rich Thompson 2B University of North Carolina Yes 1966–1970 A 4 Jerry Bagwell SS Wren High School Yes 1966–1967 A 5 Gordon Allen OF Ludlow High School No Astros – 1967 1967–1970 A 6 Dennis James LHP Albany High School Yes 1966–1974 AAA 7 James Doran OF Madison Township High School Yes 1967–1968 A- 8 Charlie Hough INF Hialeah High School Yes 1966–1994 MLB 9 Bill Russell OF Pittsburg High School Yes 1966–1986 MLB 10 Dennis Thornton 1B Eisenhower High School Yes 1966–1967 Rookie 11 Kenneth Burrow C De Anza High School No 12 Billy Grabarkewitz 3B St. Mary's University Yes 1966–1975 MLB 13 Romel Canada OF Chester High School Yes 1966–1979 AAA 14 James Raynor RHP East Carolina University Yes 1967–1972 AA 15 Ted Sizemore C University of Michigan Yes 1966–1980 MLB 16 Allen Siflet C McCallum High School No 17 Kenneth Raab RHP Northview High School Yes 1966–1967 A 18 Craig Menzl 1B Islip High School No 19 Martin Parker RHP King High School Yes 1966–1969 A 20 Loyd Colson RHP Gould High School No Yankees – 1967 1967–1973 MLB 21 John Jiles OF North Cobb High School Yes 1966 Rookie 22 Charles Sutton RHP Tate High School Yes 1967 Rookie 23 James Frye RHP Northern High School Yes 1966–1970 A 24 Bill Ralston 2B California Polytechnic State University Yes 1966–1975 AAA 25 Bob Perruchon OF Vallejo Junior College No Angels – 1967 1967–1968 A 26 Kenneth Danson C Forrest High School No Indians – 1968 1968–1970 A 27 Lawrence Land RHP Bamberg High School No 28 Tom Alger LHP Hudson High School Yes 1966–1973 A 29 Michael Pierce LHP Rincon High School No Indians – 1967 1967–1970 A 30 Stephen Howder OF City College of San Francisco Yes 1966–1970 A- 31 Radford Mawhinney OF Santa Maria High School No 32 James Arkell OF Claremont College Yes 1966 A- 33 Ronald Reece RHP Campbell High School Yes 1966 Rookie 34 James McCray OF San Diego State University Yes 1966 Rookie 35 David Nitchke C California State University Fresno No 36 Mark Harris RHP University of Maryland No 37 Robert Johnson LHP Trenton High School Yes 1966–1970 A 38 Stephen Hockensmith 1B Florida Southern College Yes 1966 A- 39 Billy Carthel OF Sul Ross State University No Indians – 1967 1968–1974 AAA 40 Ray Lamb RHP University of Southern California Yes 1966–1973 MLB 41 Donald Spain RHP Eisenhower High School Yes 1966–1971 AA 42 Donny Tidwell RHP New Diana High School Yes 1966 Rookie 43 Julio Guerrero SS Centralia High School Yes 1966–1967 A 44 John Shulock 3B Vero Beach High School Yes 1967–1969 A 45 Dicky Shaw SS Central State University Yes 1966 A 46 Jeffrey King RHP Mainland High School Yes 1966–1970 AA 47 Richard LeBlanc LHP Forrest High School Yes 1966–1967 Rookie 48 Lamar Haynes LHP Chipola College Yes 1967 A 49 Jody Gioffoni RHP Santa Monica High School No 50 Kenneth Wiedemann 2B West Covina High School No 51 Mark Johnson OF University of New Mexico No 52 Walter Pierce OF William Carey College Yes 1966–1967 A 53 Jack Butorac RHP Montebello High School No Cardinals – 1969 1969–1970 A- 54 David Lindsey LHP Fremont High School No Pilots – 1969 1969–1979 AAA 55 Bob Randall SS Gove High School No Dodgers −1969 1969–1980 MLB 56 Francis Staab RHP Hays High School Yes 1966–1968 A 57 John Turston C Archbishop Molloy High School No 58 Adrian Zabala RHP University of Florida No Indians – 1967 1967 Rookie 59 William Scott SS Germantown Academy No 60 Tom Smith RHP Foley High School No Athletics – 1968 1969–1972 AA 61 James Raynor RHP Hamilton High School Yes 1966–1972 AA 62 Robert Chandler 2B Rollins College No June secondary phase [11] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Bob Stinson C Miami-Dade College Yes 1966–1980 MLB 2 Richard Schryer OF University of Michigan Yes 1966–1968 A 3 James Carter 3B Trinity University Yes 1966–1967 A- 4 John Green RHP Gulf Coast Community College No 5 John Herbst LHP University of Southern California No Twins – 1967 1968–1969 A

Notes

1. 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
2. Johnny Podres page at Baseball Reference
3. Howie Reed page at Baseball Reference
4. Wes Covington page at Baseball Reference
5. Thad Tillotson page at Baseball Reference
6. "1966 Los Angeles Dodgers Schedule & Results". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 2, 2025.
7. "Hutch Award | Baseball Almanac".
8. 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Regular Phase
9. 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase
10. 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
11. 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• Los Angeles Dodgers 1966 uniform
• Los Angeles Dodgers official web site