1966 Kansas City Athletics season

1966 Kansas City Athletics
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Municipal Stadium (since 1955)
Kansas City, Missouri (since 1955)
Other information
Owner(s)	Charles O. Finley
General manager(s)	Ed Lopat
Manager(s)	Alvin Dark
Local television	KCMO
Local radio	KCMO (AM) (Monte Moore, Lynn Faris)
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The 1966 Kansas City Athletics season was the twelfth and penultimate season in Kansas City, and the 66th in overall franchise history. It involved the A's finishing 7th in the American League with a record of 74 wins and 86 losses, 23 games behind the World Champion Baltimore Orioles. Paid attendance for the season was 773,929.^[1] The pitching staff had an Earned Run Average of 3.56, which ranked sixth in the American League.^[2]

Offseason

• October 15, 1965: Satchel Paige was released by the Athletics.^[3]
• November 28, 1965: Hank Peters resigned from the club and became the minor league director for the Cleveland Indians.^[4]
• November 29, 1965: Ron Stone was drafted by the Athletics from the Baltimore Orioles in the 1965 rule 5 draft.^[5]
• December 1, 1965: Jim Landis and Jim Rittwage were traded by the Athletics to the Cleveland Indians for Joe Rudi and Phil Roof.^[6]
• In early 1966, Jim Schaaf left the Athletics front office to work with the Kansas City Chiefs of the AFL.^[7]

Regular season

• The club won their home opener (contested on April 19) and proceeded to lose 14 of their next 16 games.^[8] From June 19 to the final game of the season, the club won 50 games and lost 49, their best stretch since playing in Kansas City.^[1] The Athletics did not finish in last place for the first time in three years.

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

• April 6, 1966: John O'Donoghue and cash were traded by the Athletics to the Cleveland Indians for Ralph Terry.^[9]
• April 13, 1966: Diego Seguí was purchased from the Athletics by the Washington Senators.^[10]
• May 27, 1966: Wayne Causey was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago White Sox for Danny Cater.^[11]
• June 7, 1966: 1966 Major League Baseball draft (June Draft) notable picks:^[12]

Round 1: Reggie Jackson (2nd pick) ^[13]

Round 5: Dave Hamilton

Round 6: Warren Bogle

Round 20: Larry Burchart (did not sign)

• July 1, 1966: Ron Stone was returned by the Athletics to the Baltimore Orioles.^[5]
• July 30, 1966: Jim Duckworth was traded by the Athletics to the Washington Senators for Diego Seguí.^[10]
• August 6, 1966: Ralph Terry was purchased from the Athletics by the New York Mets.^[9]
• August 24, 1966: 1966 Major League Baseball draft (August Legion) notable picks:^[14]

Round 1: Pete Varney (did not sign)

Roster

1966 Kansas City Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 23 Jack Aker 30 Gil Blanco 22 Jim Dickson 29 Chuck Dobson 31 Jim Duckworth 32 Bill Edgerton 24 Guido Grilli 17 Joe Grzenda 26 Vern Handrahan 31 Jesse Hickman 27 Catfish Hunter 20 Lew Krausse 25 Paul Lindblad 34 Aurelio Monteagudo 33 Jim Nash 13 Blue Moon Odom 34 Ken Sanders 15 Rollie Sheldon 22 Bill Stafford 15 Wes Stock 28 Fred Talbot 26 Ralph Terry 33 John Wyatt		Catchers  9 Billy Bryan 18 Rene Lachemann  4 Phil Roof  8 Ken Suarez 11 Tim Talton Infielders  6 Sal Bando  8 Don Blasingame 19 Bert Campaneris  2 Danny Cater  2 Wayne Causey 16 Ed Charles 22 John Donaldson  7 Ernie Fazio  1 Dick Green  6 Ken Harrelson 31 Randy Schwartz		Outfielders 12 Ossie Chavarria 21 Jim Gosger  3 Mike Hershberger 21 Manny Jiménez 28 Rick Monday 18,24 Joe Nossek  9 Roger Repoz 14 Larry Stahl 11 Ron Stone 10 José Tartabull		Manager  5 Alvin Dark Coaches 44 Luke Appling 42 Cot Deal 40 Bobby Hofman 41 Al Vincent

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	Roof, PhilPhil Roof	127	367	77	.209	7	44

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
Cater, DannyDanny Cater	116	425	124	.292	7	52
Tartabull, JoséJosé Tartabull	37	127	30	.236	0	4
Causey, WayneWayne Causey	28	79	18	.228	0	5
Bryan, BillyBilly Bryan	32	76	10	.132	0	7
Jiménez, MannyManny Jiménez	13	35	4	.114	0	1
Donaldson, JohnJohn Donaldson	15	30	4	.133	0	1
Stone, RonRon Stone	26	22	6	.273	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
Dobson, ChuckChuck Dobson	14	83.2	4	6	4.09	61
Talbot, FredFred Talbot	11	67.2	4	4	4.79	37

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
Krausse, LewLew Krausse	36	177.2	14	9	2.99	87
Terry, RalphRalph Terry	15	64	1	5	3.80	33
Blanco, GilGil Blanco	11	38.1	2	4	4.70	21
Edgerton, BillBill Edgerton	6	8.1	0	1	3.24	3

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
Aker, JackJack Aker	66	8	4	32	1.99	68
Dickson, JimJim Dickson	24	1	0	1	5.35	20
Wyatt, JohnJohn Wyatt	19	0	3	2	5.32	25
Grilli, GuidoGuido Grilli	16	0	1	1	6.89	8
Duckworth, JimJim Duckworth	8	0	2	1	9.00	10

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Vancouver Mounties	Pacific Coast League	Mickey Vernon
AA	Mobile Athletics	Southern League	John McNamara
A	Modesto Reds	California League	Gus Niarhos
A	Leesburg Athletics	Florida State League	Jimmy Williams
A	Burlington Bees	Midwest League	Al Ronning
A-Short Season	Lewiston Broncos	Northwest League	Grady Wilson

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Mobile, Modesto, Leesburg

References

1. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.98, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
2. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, pp.97–98, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
3. Satchel Paige at Baseball Reference
4. 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, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
5. Ron Stone at Baseball Reference
6. Joe Rudi at Baseball Reference
7. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.96, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
8. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.97, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
9. Ralph Terry at Baseball Reference
10. Diego Seguí at Baseball Reference
11. Causey plays for A's after being traded
12. 1966 Kansas City Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
13. Reggie Jackson at Baseball Reference
14. Kansas City Athletics Picks in the MLB August Legion Draft

External links

• 1966 Kansas City Athletics at Baseball Reference
• 1966 Kansas City Athletics at Baseball Almanac