1966 Detroit Tigers season

1966 Detroit Tigers
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) John Fetzer
General manager(s) Jim Campbell
Manager(s) Chuck Dressen, Bob Swift, Frank Skaff
Local television WJBK
(George Kell, Ray Lane)
Local radio WJR
(Ernie Harwell, Gene Osborn)
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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 fewer game in 1966, going 88–74, but moved up to third in the league, ten full games behind the eventual world champion Baltimore Orioles.

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 heart attack 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. However, 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.

Season standings

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 Records

Sources:

Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC 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

Roster

1966 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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
1B Cash, NormNorm Cash 603 168 .279 32 93
LF Horton, WillieWillie Horton 146 526 138 .262 27 100
LF Kaline, AlAl Kaline 142 479 138 .288 29 88
RF Northrup, JimJim Northrup 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
Wood, JakeJake Wood 98 230 58 .252 2 27
Demeter, DonDon Demeter 32 99 21 .212 5 12
Brunsberg, ArloArlo Brunsberg 2 3 1 .333 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
McLain, DennyDenny McLain 38 264.1 20 14 3.92 192
Lolich, MickeyMickey Lolich 40 203.2 14 14 4.77 173
Wilson, EarlEarl Wilson 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
Aguirre, HankHank Aguirre 30 103.2 3 9 3.82 50

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
Peña, OrlandoOrlando Peña 54 4 2 7 3.08 79
Gladding, FredFred Gladding 51 5 0 2 3.28 57
Fox, TerryTerry Fox 4 0 1 1 6.30 6
Korince, GeorgeGeorge Korince 2 0 0 0 0.00 2
Graham, BillBill Graham 1 0 0 0 0.00 2
Hiller, JohnJohn Hiller 1 0 0 0 9.00 1
Navarro, JulioJulio Navarro 1 0 0 0 ∞ 0

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Syracuse Chiefs International League Frank Carswell
AA Montgomery Rebels Southern League Wayne Blackburn
A Rocky Mount Leafs Carolina League Al Federoff
A Daytona Beach Islanders Florida State League Gail Henley
A Statesville Tigers Western Carolinas League Al Lakeman and George Spencer

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rocky Mount

Notes

References

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