1966 Cleveland Indians season explained

Cleveland Indians
Season:	1966
League:	American League
Ballpark:	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
City:	Cleveland, Ohio
Owners:	Gabe Paul, Vernon Stouffer
General Managers:	Gabe Paul
Managers:	Birdie Tebbetts, George Strickland
Television:	WJW-TV (Harry Jones, Herb Score)
Radio:	WERE (Jimmy Dudley, Bob Neal)

The 1966 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fifth in the American League with a record of 81–81, 17 games behind the Baltimore Orioles.

Offseason

• Vernon Stouffer bought 80% of the Cleveland Indians for $8,000,000.^[1]
• November 28, 1965: Hank Peters resigned from the Kansas City Athletics and became the minor league director for the Cleveland Indians.^[2]

Notable transactions

• November 29, 1965: Al Closter was selected by the Indians from the New York Yankees in the first-year player draft.^[3]
• November 29, 1965: Al Luplow was purchased from the Indians by the New York Mets.^[4]
• December 1, 1965: Joe Rudi and Phil Roof were traded by the Indians to the Kansas City Athletics for Jim Landis and Jim Rittwage.^[5]
• January 14, 1966: Lou Clinton was traded by the Indians to the New York Yankees for Doc Edwards.^[6]
• March 10, 1966: Cam Carreon was traded by the Indians to the Baltimore Orioles for Lou Piniella.^[7]

Regular season

• On May 1, Sam McDowell threw his second consecutive one-hitter for the Indians.
• On May 8, 1966, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Frank Robinson hit a 540-foot home run off Indians pitcher Luis Tiant, becoming the only player to hit a fair ball out of Memorial Stadium.^[8]

Notable transactions

• April 6, 1966: Ralph Terry was traded by the Indians to the Kansas City Athletics for John O'Donoghue and cash.^[9]

Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters

	Name	Position
25		CF
10		3B
27		LF
21		RF
23		1B
24		2B
16		SS
7		C
48		P

^[10]

Roster

1966 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		OutfieldersOther batters		Manager Coaches (First Base) (Third Base) (Pitching)

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		98	302	83	.275	9	37
1B		137	502	121	.241	27	78
2B		110	352	82	.233	2	17
SS		105	340	78	.229	3	17
3B		157	596	146	.245	17	55
LF		150	549	153	.279	23	66
CF		121	344	86	.250	3	19
RF		151	533	127	.238	30	72

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
	126	422	108	.256	7	40
	123	348	89	.256	12	50
	85	158	35	.222	3	14
	67	140	32	.229	2	4
	52	133	35	.263	6	19
	50	108	25	.231	4	8
	16	47	11	.234	2	2
	33	47	6	.128	2	4
	23	38	6	.158	1	4
	17	32	6	.188	0	3
	18	28	6	.214	2	5
	17	17	5	.294	0	0
	19	16	2	.125	0	3
	4	4	1	.250	0	1
	2	2	0	.000	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
	40	254.1	14	15	3.22	194
	34	241.0	16	8	2.80	163
	35	194.1	9	8	2.87	225

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
	38	192.0	13	10	2.48	132
	46	155.0	12	11	2.79	145
	32	108.0	6	8	3.83	49
	31	95.1	4	8	4.34	64
	8	16.0	1	0	2.81	8
	5	13.0	0	1	3.46	7
	5	9.2	0	2	8.38	6

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
	39	0	3	10	4.61	49
	36	2	2	5	4.21	33
	27	3	4	0	3.82	31
	12	1	1	1	2.92	5

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

^[11]

References

• 1966 Cleveland Indians season at Baseball Reference

Notes and References

1. Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, p. 4, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010,
2. 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,
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/clostal01.shtml Al Closter page at Baseball Reference
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/l/luploal01.shtml Al Luplow page at Baseball Reference
5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/rudijo01.shtml Joe Rudi page at Baseball Reference
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/edwardo01.shtml Doc Edwards page at Baseball-Reference
7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/p/pinielo01.shtml Lou Piniella page at Baseball Reference
8. 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
9. https://www.baseball-reference.com/t/terryra01.shtml Ralph Terry page at Baseball Reference
10. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WS2/WS2196604110.shtml 1966 Opening Day Lineup
11. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007