1966 Washington Senators season

1966  Washington Senators
League	American League
Ballpark	D.C. Stadium
City	Washington, D.C.
Record	71–88 (.447)
League place	8th
Owners	James M. Johnston and James H. Lemon
General managers	George Selkirk
Managers	Gil Hodges
Television	WTOP
Radio	WTOP (Dan Daniels, John MacLean)
←  1965 Seasons 1967  →

The 1966 Washington Senators season involved the Senators finishing eighth in the American League with a record of 71 wins and 88 losses.

Offseason

• October 12, 1965: Woodie Held was traded by the Senators to the Baltimore Orioles for John Orsino. ^[1]
• November 19, 1965: Don Zimmer was released by the Senators. ^[2]
• November 29, 1965: Bob Saverine was drafted by the Senators from the Houston Astros in the 1965 rule 5 draft. ^[3]

Regular season

• Emmett Ashford, the first black umpire in Major League Baseball history made his debut at D.C. Stadium on April 9, 1966.

Opening Day starters

• Ed Brinkman
• Doug Camilli
• Joe Cunningham
• Ken Hamlin
• Frank Howard
• Don Lock
• Ken McMullen
• Pete Richert
• Fred Valentine

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	—

Notable transactions

• April 5, 1966: Al Closter was purchased by the Senators from the Cleveland Indians. ^[4]
• April 13, 1966: Diego Seguí was purchased by the Senators from the Kansas City Athletics. ^[5]
• July 30, 1966: Diego Seguí was traded by the Senators to the Kansas City Athletics for Jim Duckworth. ^[5]

Draft picks

• June 7, 1966: Del Unser was drafted by the Senators in the 1st round (18th pick) of the secondary phase of the 1966 Major League Baseball Draft. Player signed June 28, 1966. ^[6]

Roster

1966 Washington Senators
Roster
Pitchers 31 Dave Baldwin 25,38 Dick Bosman 22 Tom Cheney 25 Al Closter 37 Joe Coleman 29,50 Casey Cox 35 Pete Craig 17 Jim Duckworth 19 Jim Hannan 18,23 Bob Humphreys 27 Ron Kline 31 Howie Koplitz 32 Frank Kreutzer 18 Dick Lines 16 Mike McCormick 25 Barry Moore 20 Buster Narum 26 Phil Ortega 24 Pete Richert 32 Diego Seguí		Catchers  8 Mike Brumley 21 Doug Camilli 20 Paul Casanova 28 Jim French Infielders  1 Don Blasingame 11 Ed Brinkman 10 Bob Chance  1 Tim Cullen  3 Joe Cunningham  7 Ken Hamlin  3 Ken Harrelson  2 Ken McMullen  5 Dick Nen 12 John Orsino 22 Dick Phillips 15 Bob Saverine		Outfielders 17 Hank Allen  9 Frank Howard 30 Jim King  6 Willie Kirkland  4 Don Lock 34 Fred Valentine		Manager 14 Gil Hodges Coaches 44 Joe Pignatano 43 George Susce 41 Rube Walker 42 Eddie Yost

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	Paul Casanova	122	429	109	.254	13	44
1B	Ken Harrelson	71	250	62	.248	7	28
2B	Bob Saverine	120	406	102	.251	5	24
SS	Ed Brinkman	158	582	133	.229	7	48
3B	Ken McMullen	147	524	122	.233	13	54
LF	Frank Howard	146	493	137	.278	18	71
CF	Don Lock	138	386	90	.233	16	48
RF	Jim King	117	310	77	.248	10	30

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
Fred Valentine	146	508	140	.276	16	59
Dick Nen	94	235	50	.213	6	30
Don Blasingame	68	200	43	.215	1	11
Willie Kirkland	124	163	31	.190	6	17
Ken Hamlin	66	158	34	.215	1	16
Doug Camilli	44	107	22	.206	2	8
Bob Chance	37	57	10	.175	1	8
Dick Phillips	25	37	6	.162	0	4
Tim Cullen	18	34	8	.235	0	0
Hank Allen	9	31	12	.387	1	6
Jim French	10	24	5	.208	0	3
John Orsino	14	23	4	.174	0	0
Mike Brumley	9	18	2	.111	0	0
Joe Cunningham	3	8	1	.125	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
Pete Richert	36	245.2	14	14	3.37	195
Mike McCormick	41	216.0	11	14	3.46	101
Phil Ortega	33	197.1	12	12	3.92	121
Barry Moore	12	62.1	3	3	3.75	28
Jim Duckworth	5	14.1	0	3	5.02	14
Joe Coleman	1	9.0	1	0	2.00	4

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
Jim Hannan	30	114.0	3	9	4.26	68
Diego Seguí	21	72.0	3	7	5.00	54
Dick Bosman	13	39.0	2	6	7.60	20
Frank Kreutzer	9	31.1	0	5	6.03	24
Tom Cheney	3	5.1	0	1	5.06	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
Ron Kline	63	6	4	23	2.39	46
Casey Cox	66	4	5	7	3.50	46
Bob Humphreys	58	7	3	3	2.82	88
Dick Lines	53	5	2	2	2.28	49
Dave Baldwin	4	0	0	0	3.86	4
Buster Narum	3	0	0	0	21.60	0
Howie Koplitz	1	0	0	0	0.00	0
Pete Craig	1	0	0	0	4.50	1
Al Closter	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Hawaii Islanders	Pacific Coast League	George Case
AA	York White Roses	Eastern League	Billy Klaus
A	Burlington Senators	Carolina League	Wayne Terwilliger
A	Geneva Senators	New York–Penn League	Gordon Mackenzie

Notes

1. Woodie Held page at Baseball Reference
2. Don Zimmer page at Baseball Reference
3. Bob Saverine page at Baseball Reference
4. Al Closter page at Baseball Reference
5. Diego Segui page at Baseball Reference
6. Del Unser page at Baseball Reference

References

• 1966 Washington Senators team page at Baseball Reference
• 1966 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN   978-1-932391-17-6.