The 1966 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 11 to October 9, 1966. The Braves played their inaugural season in Atlanta, following their relocation from Milwaukee. Three teams played the 1966 season in new stadiums. On April 12, the Braves ushered in Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium with the Pittsburgh Pirates taking a 3–2 win in 13 innings. One week later, Anaheim Stadium opened with the California Angels losing to the Chicago White Sox, 3–1 in the Angels' debut following their move from Los Angeles to nearby Orange County. On May 8, the St. Louis Cardinals closed out old Sportsman's Park/Busch Stadium I with a 10–5 loss to the San Francisco Giants before opening the new Busch Memorial Stadium four days later with a 4–3 win in 12 innings over the Atlanta Braves.
1966 MLB season | |
---|---|
League | Major League Baseball |
Sport | Baseball |
Duration | April 11 – October 9, 1966 |
Number of games | 162 |
Number of teams | 20 |
TV partner(s) | NBC |
Draft | |
Top draft pick | Steve Chilcott |
Picked by | New York Mets |
Regular season | |
Season MVP | AL: Frank Robinson (BAL) NL: Roberto Clemente (PIT) |
AL champions | Baltimore Orioles |
AL runners-up | Minnesota Twins |
NL champions | Los Angeles Dodgers |
NL runners-up | San Francisco Giants |
World Series | |
Champions | Baltimore Orioles |
Runners-up | Los Angeles Dodgers |
World Series MVP | Frank Robinson (BAL) |
In the World Series the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 4 games to 0.
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1 American League Triple Crown Batting Winner
2 National League Triple Crown Pitching
American League edit
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National League edit
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World Series | ||||
AL | Baltimore Orioles | 4 | ||
NL | Los Angeles Dodgers | 0 |
Team | Manager | Comments |
---|---|---|
Baltimore Orioles | Hank Bauer | Won the World Series |
Boston Red Sox | Billy Herman | Replaced during the season by Pete Runnels |
California Angels | Bill Rigney | |
Chicago White Sox | Eddie Stanky | |
Cleveland Indians | Birdie Tebbetts | Replaced during the season by George Strickland |
Detroit Tigers | Chuck Dressen | Replaced during the season by Bob Swift and then Frank Skaff |
Kansas City Athletics | Alvin Dark | |
Minnesota Twins | Sam Mele | Finished 2nd |
New York Yankees | Johnny Keane | Replaced during the season by Ralph Houk |
Washington Senators | Gil Hodges |
Team | Manager | Comments |
---|---|---|
Atlanta Braves | Bobby Bragan | Replaced during the season by Billy Hitchcock |
Chicago Cubs | Leo Durocher | |
Cincinnati Reds | Don Heffner | Replaced during the season by Dave Bristol |
Houston Astros | Grady Hatton | |
Los Angeles Dodgers | Walter Alston | Won the National League pennant |
New York Mets | Wes Westrum | |
Philadelphia Phillies | Gene Mauch | |
Pittsburgh Pirates | Harry Walker | Finished 3rd |
San Francisco Giants | Herman Franks | Finished 2nd |
St. Louis Cardinals | Red Schoendienst |
Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles Dodgers[3] | 95 | -2.1% | 2,617,029 | 2.5% | 32,309 |
New York Mets[4] | 66 | 32.0% | 1,932,693 | 9.3% | 23,860 |
Houston Astros[5] | 72 | 10.8% | 1,872,108 | -13.0% | 23,112 |
St. Louis Cardinals[6] | 83 | 3.8% | 1,712,980 | 38.0% | 21,148 |
San Francisco Giants[7] | 93 | -2.1% | 1,657,192 | 7.2% | 20,459 |
Atlanta Braves[8] | 85 | -1.2% | 1,539,801 | 177.1% | 18,778 |
California Angels[9] | 80 | 6.7% | 1,400,321 | 147.1% | 17,288 |
Minnesota Twins[10] | 89 | -12.7% | 1,259,374 | -13.9% | 15,548 |
Baltimore Orioles[11] | 97 | 3.2% | 1,203,366 | 54.0% | 15,232 |
Pittsburgh Pirates[12] | 92 | 2.2% | 1,196,618 | 31.6% | 14,773 |
New York Yankees[13] | 70 | -9.1% | 1,124,648 | -7.3% | 13,715 |
Detroit Tigers[14] | 88 | -1.1% | 1,124,293 | 9.2% | 13,880 |
Philadelphia Phillies[15] | 87 | 2.4% | 1,108,201 | -5.0% | 13,681 |
Chicago White Sox[16] | 83 | -12.6% | 990,016 | -12.4% | 12,222 |
Cleveland Indians[17] | 81 | -6.9% | 903,359 | -3.4% | 11,153 |
Boston Red Sox[18] | 72 | 16.1% | 811,172 | 24.4% | 10,014 |
Kansas City Athletics[15] | 74 | 25.4% | 773,929 | 46.5% | 9,555 |
Cincinnati Reds[19] | 76 | -14.6% | 742,958 | -29.1% | 9,405 |
Chicago Cubs[20] | 59 | -18.1% | 635,891 | -0.9% | 7,851 |
Washington Senators[21] | 71 | 1.4% | 576,260 | 2.9% | 7,388 |
For the first time, NBC became exclusive national TV broadcaster of MLB. The network replaced ABC as the holder of the Games of the Week package. The New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, which had instead sold their TV rights to CBS in prior seasons, also joined NBC's package. The new package under NBC called for 28 games, as compared to the 123 combined among three networks during the 1960s. NBC also continued to air the All-Star Game and World Series.