1966 Minnesota Twins season

1966 Minnesota Twins
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General manager(s) Calvin Griffith
Manager(s) Sam Mele
Local television WTCN-TV
Local radio 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Ray Scott)
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The 1966 Minnesota Twins finished 89–73, second in the American League. 1,259,374 fans attended Twins games, the second highest total in the American League.

Regular season

In the June 9 game against the Kansas City Athletics, the Twins set a major-league record that still stands, by hitting five home runs in their half of the seventh inning. Only a Sandy Valdespino groundout amidst the onslaught kept them from being consecutive. Rich Rollins homered to drive in two, followed by solo shots by Zoilo Versalles, Tony Oliva, Don Mincher and Harmon Killebrew, with his second of the day.

On July 21, in a 1-0 three-hit win over the Washington Senators, pitcher Jim Merritt struck out seven consecutive batters in the middle innings to set an American League record.

Against the California Angels on August 18, the Twins turned their first-ever triple play, off a grounder by Frank Malzone. The play went Rich Rollins to César Tovar to Harmon Killebrew to retire the side.

Jim Kaat won an AL best 25 games. Kaat became the first pitcher in the history of the American League to win 25 games but not win the Cy Young Award.[1] Kaat also won his fifth Gold Glove. He led the AL in: wins, games started, complete games, innings pitched, batters faced, most hits allowed, fewest walks per nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Sporting News named Kaat the AL Pitcher of the Year.

Tony Oliva led the AL with 191 hits. Harmon Killebrew again led the team with 39 HR and 110 RBI.[2]

Four Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Harmon Killebrew, outfielder Tony Oliva, catcher Earl Battey, and pitcher Jim Kaat.

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 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 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
C Battey, EarlEarl Battey 115 364 93 .255 4 34
1B Mincher, DonDon Mincher 139 431 108 .251 14 62
2B Allen, BernieBernie Allen 101 319 76 .238 5 30
3B Killebrew, HarmonHarmon Killebrew 162 569 160 .281 39 110
SS Versalles, ZoiloZoilo Versalles 137 543 135 .249 7 36
LF Hall, JimmieJimmie Hall 120 356 85 .239 20 47
CF Uhlaender, TedTed Uhlaender 105 367 83 .226 2 22
RF Oliva, TonyTony Oliva 159 622 191 .307 25 87

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
Tovar, CésarCésar Tovar 134 465 121 .260 2 41
Clark, RonRon Clark 5 1 1 1.000 0 1

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
Kaat, JimJim Kaat 41 304.2 25 13 2.75 205
Grant, MudcatMudcat Grant 35 249 13 13 3.25 110
Perry, JimJim Perry 33 184.1 11 7 2.54 122
Boswell, DaveDave Boswell 28 169.1 12 5 3.14 173

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
Merritt, JimJim Merritt 31 144 7 14 3.38 124
Siebler, DwightDwight Siebler 23 49.2 2 2 3.44 24

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
Worthington, AlAl Worthington 65 6 3 16 2.46 93
Cimino, PetePete Cimino 35 2 5 4 5.06 1
Keller, RonRon Keller 2 0 0 0 5.06 1

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Denver Bears Pacific Coast League Cal Ermer
AA Charlotte Hornets Southern League Harry Warner
A Wilson Tobs Carolina League Vern Morgan
A Orlando Twins Florida State League Johnny Goryl
A Wisconsin Rapids Twins Midwest League Ray Bellino
A Thomasville Hi-Toms Western Carolinas League Ralph Rowe
A-Short Season St. Cloud Rox Northern League Ken Staples
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: St. Cloud

Notes

  1. ↑ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 236, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  2. ↑ "Minnesota Twins". Baseball=Reference.com. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  3. ↑ Steve Garvey at Baseball-Reference
  4. ↑ Roger Freed at Baseball-Reference

References

External links

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