1968 New York Yankees season
| 1968 New York Yankees | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:NY Yankees Logo.png | ||
| Ballpark | Yankee Stadium | |
| City | New York City, New York | |
| Owners | CBS | |
| Managers | Ralph Houk | |
| Television | WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Jerry Coleman, Frank Messer) | |
| Radio | WHN (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Jerry Coleman) | |
| ||
The 1968 New York Yankees season was the 66th season for the team in New York, and its 68th season overall. The team finished above .500 for the first time since 1964, with a record of 83–79, finishing 20 games behind the Detroit Tigers. New York was managed by Ralph Houk. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. The 1968 season was notable for being Mickey Mantle's final season before he announced his retirement the following spring. The Yankees batted .214 as a team, the lowest total ever for the live-ball era (as of 2011).
Offseason
- November 28, 1967: Andy Kosco was drafted by the Yankees from the Oakland Athletics in the 1967 rule 5 draft.[1]
- November 30, 1967: Gene Michael was purchased by the Yankees from the Los Angeles Dodgers.[2]
- December 7, 1967: Bob Tillman and Dale Roberts were traded by the Yankees to the Atlanta Braves for Bobby Cox.[3]
- Prior to 1968 season: Merritt Ranew was acquired by the Yankees from the California Angels.[4]
Regular season
In 1968, Yankees executive E. Michael Burke was a candidate to become Commissioner of Baseball. Bowie Kuhn would eventually get the appointment.[5]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Tigers | 103 | 59 | .636 | — | 56–25 | 47–34 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 91 | 71 | .562 | 12 | 47–33 | 44–38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 86 | 75 | .534 | 16½ | 43–37 | 43–38 |
| Boston Red Sox | 86 | 76 | .531 | 17 | 46–35 | 40–41 |
| New York Yankees | 83 | 79 | .512 | 20 | 39–42 | 44–37 |
| Oakland Athletics | 82 | 80 | .506 | 21 | 44–38 | 38–42 |
| Minnesota Twins | 79 | 83 | .488 | 24 | 41–40 | 38–43 |
| California Angels | 67 | 95 | .414 | 36 | 32–49 | 35–46 |
| Chicago White Sox | 67 | 95 | .414 | 36 | 36–45 | 31–50 |
| Washington Senators | 65 | 96 | .404 | 37½ | 34–47 | 31–49 |
Notable transactions
- June 7, 1968: 1968 Major League Baseball Draft
- Thurman Munson was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round (4th pick).[6]
- Wayne Nordhagen was drafted by the Yankees in the 7th round.[7]
- July 15, 1968: Rocky Colavito was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.[8]
- September 30, 1968: Rocky Colavito was released by the Yankees.[8]
Roster
| 1968 New York Yankees | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
| = Indicates team leader |
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R= Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Jake Gibbs | 124 | 423 | 31 | 90 | .213 | 3 | 29 | 9 |
| 1B | Mickey Mantle | 144 | 435 | 57 | 103 | .237 | 18 | 54 | 6 |
| 2B | Horace Clarke | 148 | 579 | 52 | 133 | .230 | 2 | 26 | 20 |
| 3B | Bobby Cox | 135 | 437 | 33 | 100 | .229 | 7 | 41 | 3 |
| SS | Tom Tresh | 152 | 507 | 60 | 99 | .195 | 11 | 52 | 10 |
| LF | Roy White | 159 | 577 | 89 | 154 | .267 | 17 | 62 | 20 |
| CF | Joe Pepitone | 108 | 380 | 41 | 93 | .245 | 15 | 56 | 8 |
| RF | Andy Kosco | 131 | 466 | 47 | 112 | .240 | 15 | 59 | 2 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R= Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Robinson | 107 | 342 | 34 | 82 | .240 | 6 | 40 | 7 |
| Dick Howser | 85 | 150 | 24 | 23 | .153 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Frank Fernández | 51 | 135 | 15 | 23 | .170 | 7 | 30 | 1 |
| Gene Michael | 61 | 116 | 8 | 23 | .198 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| Rocky Colavito | 39 | 91 | 13 | 20 | .220 | 5 | 13 | 0 |
| Steve Whitaker | 28 | 60 | 3 | 7 | .117 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Rubén Amaro | 47 | 41 | 3 | 5 | .122 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony Solaita | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mel Stottlemyre | 36 | 278.7 | 21 | 12 | 2.45 | 140 |
| Stan Bahnsen | 37 | 267.3 | 17 | 12 | 2.05 | 162 |
| Fritz Peterson | 36 | 212.3 | 12 | 11 | 2.63 | 115 |
| Steve Barber | 20 | 128.1 | 6 | 5 | 3.23 | 87 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Bouton | 12 | 44 | 1 | 1 | 3.68 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dooley Womack | 45 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 3.21 | 27 |
| Steve Hamilton | 40 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 2.13 | 42 |
| John Wyatt | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.16 | 6 |
| Gene Michael | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |
| Rocky Colavito | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oneonta[10]
Notes
- ^ Andy Kosco page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Gene Michael page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Bobby Cox page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Merritt Ranew page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Madden, Bill (2010). Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball. New York: Harper Collins Publishing. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0.
- ^ Thurman Munson page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Wayne Nordhagen page at Baseball Reference
- ^ a b Rocky Colavito page at Baseball Reference
- ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/1961.shtml
- ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007