1966 Detroit Tigers season explained

Detroit Tigers
Season:	1966
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)

The 1966 Detroit Tigers season was the 66th consecutive season for the Detroit franchise in the American 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 eventual world champion Baltimore Orioles. The team attracted 1,124,293 fans to Tiger Stadium, fifth in the ten-team circuit.^[1]

Regular season

The 1966 season saw the maturation of the core of the 1968 world champion Tiger club, and the addition of starting pitcher Earl Wilson, a future 20-game winner. But it was marred by the in-season illnesses, ultimately fatal, that struck manager Chuck Dressen and his immediate successor, interim pilot Bob Swift.

Dressen, 71, suffered a heart attack on May 16 (his second in two years) with Detroit 16–10, three games behind the Cleveland Indians. He was admitted to a Detroit hospital and third-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 11–13 All-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 from lung 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 hired Mayo Smith as their new manager for 1967, and Smith would lead them to within one game of the 1967 pennant and the 1968 world title.

Notable transactions

• April 11, 1966: Mike Marshall was purchased by the Tigers from the Philadelphia Phillies.^[2]
• June 7, 1966: Les Cain was drafted by the Tigers in the 4th round of the 1966 Major League Baseball Draft.^[3]
• June 14, 1966: Don Demeter and a player to be named later were traded by the Tigers to the Boston Red Sox for Joe Christopher and Earl Wilson. The Tigers completed the deal by sending Julio Navarro to the Red Sox at June 21.^[4]
• July 2, 1966: Tim Hosley was signed by the Tigers as an amateur free agent.^[5]

Roster

1966 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		Outfielders		ManagerCoaches (First base) (Pitching) (Bullpen) (Bench/third base) (Third base)

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		136	492	115	.234	12	46
1B		160	603	168	.279	32	93
2B		113	385	89	.231	1	26
SS		124	430	118	.274	23	56
3B		150	559	150	.268	11	70
LF		146	526	138	.262	27	100
CF		142	479	138	.288	29	88
RF		123	419	111	.265	16	58

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
	92	235	68	.289	3	19
	98	230	58	.252	2	27
	71	210	36	.171	1	9
	88	169	45	.266	7	27
	49	138	35	.254	5	13
	81	124	24	.194	0	7
	32	99	21	.212	5	12
	2	3	1	.333	0	0
	4	3	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
	38	264.1	20	14	3.92	192
	40	203.2	14	14	4.77	173
	23	163.1	13	6	2.59	133

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	140.2	8	3	3.20	93
	36	107.2	4	5	3.43	53
	30	103.2	3	9	3.82	50
	30	102.2	7	8	4.73	61
	29	91.2	2	7	5.30	61

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
	55	8	5	20	3.82	63
	54	4	2	7	3.08	79
	51	5	0	2	3.28	57
	4	0	1	1	6.30	6
	2	0	0	0	0.00	2
	1	0	0	0	0.00	2
	1	0	0	0	9.00	1
	1	0	0	0	inf	0

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rocky Mount

References

• Book: Johnson. Lloyd. Wolff. Miles. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. 2nd. Durham, N.C.. Baseball America. 1997. 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1966 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference

Notes and References

1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1966-misc.shtml 1966 AL Attendance
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/marshmi01.shtml Mike Marshall page at Baseball Reference
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/cainle01.shtml Les Cain page at Baseball Reference
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/chrisjo01.shtml Joe Christopher page at Baseball Reference
5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hosleti01.shtml Tim Hosley page at Baseball Reference