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
Manager(s)	Alvin Dark
Local television	KCMO
Local radio	KCMO (AM) (Monte Moore, Lynn Faris)
< Previous season Next season >

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]

1 Offseason
2 Regular season
3 Player stats
- 3.1 Batting
  - 3.1.1 Starters by position
  - 3.1.2 Other batters
- 3.2 Pitching
4 Farm system
5 References
6 External links

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
Baltimore Orioles	97	63	.606	--
Minnesota Twins	89	73	.549	9
Detroit Tigers	88	74	.543	10
Chicago White Sox	83	79	.512	15
Cleveland Indians	81	81	.500	17
California Angels	80	82	.494	18
Kansas City Athletics	74	86	.463	23
Washington Senators	71	88	.447	25.5
Boston Red Sox	72	90	.444	26
New York Yankees	70	89	.440	26.5

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

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
Short-Season A	Lewiston Broncos	Northwest League	Grady Wilson

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Mobile, Modesto, Leesburg

References

^ ^a ^b 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
^ 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
^ Satchel Paige page at Baseball Reference
^ 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
^ ^a ^b Ron Stone page at Baseball Reference
^ Joe Rudi page at Baseball Reference
^ 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
^ 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
^ ^a ^b Ralph Terry page at Baseball Reference
^ ^a ^b Diego Segui page at Baseball Reference
^ Danny Cater page at Baseball Reference
^ 1966 Kansas City Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
^ Reggie Jackson page at Baseball Reference
^ Kansas City Athletics Picks in the MLB August Legion Draft

External links

1966 Kansas City Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
1966 Kansas City Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

1966 MLB season by team

American League	Baltimore Boston California Chicago Cleveland Detroit Kansas City Minnesota New York Washington

National League	Atlanta Chicago Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis San Francisco

1966 Major League Baseball Draft 1966 All-Star Game 1966 World Series

Oakland Athletics

Formerly the Philadelphia Athletics and the Kansas City Athletics
Based in Oakland, California (Bay Area)

The Franchise

History in Philadelphia • History in Oakland • Seasons • Records • No-hitters • Players • Owners and executives • Managers • Broadcasters • Award winners and league leaders • First-round draft picks • Opening Day starting pitchers

Ballparks

Columbia Park • Shibe Park • Municipal Stadium • Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum • Cisco Field (proposed)

Spring Training: Barrs Field; Terry Park Ballfield; Wilmington Park; McCurdy Field; Connie Mack Field; McKechnie Field; Rendezvous Park; Scottsdale Stadium I; Phoenix Municipal Stadium; HoHoKam Stadium (2015)

Culture

Philadelphia Athletics (football) • Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame • Charlie-O • Stomper • $100,000 Infield • "Holy Toledo!" • Billyball • Celebration • Moneyball (book • film)

Lore

The Mack Attack • Catfish Hunter's perfect game • 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake • Dallas Braden's perfect game

Rivalries

City Series • Bay Bridge Series

Important figures

Hall of Fame members	Home Run Baker Chief Bender Mickey Cochrane Eddie Collins Dennis Eckersley Rollie Fingers Jimmie Foxx Lefty Grove Rickey Henderson Catfish Hunter Reggie Jackson Nap Lajoie Connie Mack Eddie Plank Al Simmons Rube Waddell Dick Williams

Wall of Fame members	Sam Chapman Jack Coombs Jimmy Dykes George Earnshaw Ferris Fain Bob Johnson Eddie Joost Bing Miller Wally Moses Rube Oldring Bobby Shantz Eddie Rommel Elmer Valo Rube Walberg Gus Zernial

Retired numbers

World Series
Champions (9)

American League
Championships (15)

A.L. West Division
Championships (16)

A.L. Wild Card (2)

2001
2014

Minors

AAA: Nashville Sounds
AA: Midland RockHounds
A: Stockton Ports; Beloit Snappers; Vermont Lake Monsters
Rookie: Arizona League Athletics; DSL Athletics

Seasons (115)

1900s-1910s	1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

1920s-1930s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

1940s-1950s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1960s-1970s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980s-1990s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

2000s-2010s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

1966 Kansas City Athletics season