| 1966 Detroit Tigers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Ballpark | Tiger Stadium | |||
| City | Detroit,Michigan | |||
| Owners | John Fetzer | |||
| General managers | Jim Campbell | |||
| Managers | Chuck Dressen,Bob Swift,Frank Skaff | |||
| Television | WJBK (George Kell,Ray Lane) | |||
| Radio | WJR (Ernie Harwell,Gene Osborn) | |||
| ||||
The1966Detroit Tigers season was the 66th consecutive season for theDetroit franchise in theAmerican League. The Tigers, who had finished fourth in the ten-team AL in 1965 with an 89–73 record, won one less game in 1966, going 88–74, but moved up to third in the league, ten full games behind the eventualworld championBaltimore Orioles. The team attracted 1,124,293 fans toTiger Stadium, fifth in the ten-team circuit.[1]
The 1966 season saw the maturation of the core of the1968 world champion Tiger club, and the addition of startingpitcherEarl Wilson, a future 20-game winner. But it was marred by the in-season illnesses, ultimately fatal, that struckmanagerChuck Dressen and his immediate successor, interim pilotBob Swift.
Dressen, 71, suffered aheart attack on May 16 (his second in two years) with Detroit 16–10, three games behind theCleveland Indians. He was admitted to a Detroit hospital andthird-base coach Swift, 51, took the reins as acting manager, as he had done in 1965. Under Swift, the Tigers won 32 of their next 57 games. But during the July 11–13All-Star break, with Detroit in second place, eight games behind Baltimore, Swift was hospitalized for rapid weight loss and what was first suspected to be food poisoning. Tests revealed that he was suffering fromlung cancer, and he was forced to step aside. Dressen died August 10, and Swift succumbed October 17.
Another Tiger coach,Frank Skaff, finished the season as acting manager, with the team playing only one game above the .500 mark for him, at 40–39. The Tigers eventually hiredMayo Smith as their new manager for1967, and Smith would lead them to within one game of the 1967 pennant and the1968 world title.
| 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 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | MIN | NYY | WAS | |||
| 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 | — | |||
| 1966 Detroit Tigers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders | Manager Coaches
| ||||||
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 | Bill Freehan | 136 | 492 | 115 | .234 | 12 | 46 |
| 1B | Norm Cash | 160 | 603 | 168 | .279 | 32 | 93 |
| 2B | Jerry Lumpe | 113 | 385 | 89 | .231 | 1 | 26 |
| SS | Dick McAuliffe | 124 | 430 | 118 | .274 | 23 | 56 |
| 3B | Don Wert | 150 | 559 | 150 | .268 | 11 | 70 |
| LF | Willie Horton | 146 | 526 | 138 | .262 | 27 | 100 |
| CF | Al Kaline | 142 | 479 | 138 | .288 | 29 | 88 |
| RF | Jim Northrup | 123 | 419 | 111 | .265 | 16 | 58 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mickey Stanley | 92 | 235 | 68 | .289 | 3 | 19 |
| Jake Wood | 98 | 230 | 58 | .252 | 2 | 27 |
| Ray Oyler | 71 | 210 | 36 | .171 | 1 | 9 |
| Gates Brown | 88 | 169 | 45 | .266 | 7 | 27 |
| Orlando McFarlane | 49 | 138 | 35 | .254 | 5 | 13 |
| Dick Tracewski | 81 | 124 | 24 | .194 | 0 | 7 |
| Don Demeter | 32 | 99 | 21 | .212 | 5 | 12 |
| Arlo Brunsberg | 2 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Pepper | 4 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denny McLain | 38 | 264.1 | 20 | 14 | 3.92 | 192 |
| Mickey Lolich | 40 | 203.2 | 14 | 14 | 4.77 | 173 |
| Earl Wilson | 23 | 163.1 | 13 | 6 | 2.59 | 133 |
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 Wickersham | 38 | 140.2 | 8 | 3 | 3.20 | 93 |
| Johnny Podres | 36 | 107.2 | 4 | 5 | 3.43 | 53 |
| Hank Aguirre | 30 | 103.2 | 3 | 9 | 3.82 | 50 |
| Bill Monbouquette | 30 | 102.2 | 7 | 8 | 4.73 | 61 |
| Joe Sparma | 29 | 91.2 | 2 | 7 | 5.30 | 61 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Sherry | 55 | 8 | 5 | 20 | 3.82 | 63 |
| Orlando Peña | 54 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 3.08 | 79 |
| Fred Gladding | 51 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3.28 | 57 |
| Terry Fox | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6.30 | 6 |
| George Korince | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
| Bill Graham | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
| John Hiller | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 |
| Julio Navarro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | inf | 0 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rocky Mount