The 1966 Kansas City Athletics season was the 12th and penultimate season in Kansas City, and the 66th in overall franchise history. It involved the A's finishing seventh in the American League with a record of 74 wins and 86 losses (the team's best finish in Kansas City), 23 games behind the World Champion Baltimore Orioles. Paid attendance for the season was 773,929.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, The pitching staff had an earned run average of 3.56, which ranked sixth in the American League.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,
Offseason October 15, 1965: Satchel Paige was released by the Athletics.Satchel Paige at Baseball Reference November 28, 1965: Hank Peters resigned from the club and became the minor league director for the Cleveland Indians.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, November 29, 1965: Ron Stone was drafted by the Athletics from the Baltimore Orioles in the 1965 rule 5 draft.Ron Stone at Baseball Reference December 1, 1965: Jim Landis and Jim Rittwage were traded by the Athletics to the Cleveland Indians for Joe Rudi and Phil Roof.Joe Rudi at Baseball Reference In early 1966, Jim Schaaf left the Athletics front office to work with the Kansas City Chiefs of the AFL.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,
Regular season The club won their home opener (contested on April 19) and proceeded to lose 14 of their next 16 games.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, 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. The Athletics did not finish in last place for the first time in three years.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions April 6, 1966: John O'Donoghue and cash were traded by the Athletics to the Cleveland Indians for Ralph Terry.Ralph Terry at Baseball Reference April 13, 1966: Diego Seguí was purchased from the Athletics by the Washington Senators.Diego Seguí at Baseball Reference May 27, 1966: Wayne Causey was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago White Sox for Danny Cater.Causey plays for A's after being traded June 7, 1966: 1966 Major League Baseball draft (June Draft) notable picks:1966 Kansas City Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft Round 1: Reggie Jackson (2nd pick)Reggie Jackson at Baseball Reference 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. July 30, 1966: Jim Duckworth was traded by the Athletics to the Washington Senators for Diego Seguí. August 6, 1966: Ralph Terry was purchased from the Athletics by the New York Mets. August 24, 1966: 1966 Major League Baseball draft (August Legion) notable picks:Kansas City Athletics Picks in the MLB August Legion Draft Round 1: Pete Varney (did not sign)
Roster 1966 Kansas City Athletics Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches
(Pitching)
Player stats
= Indicates team leader
= Indicates league leader 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 SB C 127 367 77 .209 7 442 1B Ken Harrelson 63 210 47 .224 5 229 2B Dick Green 140 507 127 .250 9 626 SS Bert Campaneris 142 573 153 .267 5 4252 3B Ed Charles 118 385 110 .286 9 4212 LF Larry Stahl 119 312 78 .250 5 345 CF Joe Nossek 87 230 60 .261 1 274 RF Mike Hershberger 146 538 136 .253 2 5713
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 116 425 124 .292 7 52 Roger Repoz 101 319 69 .216 11 34 Jim Gosger 88 272 61 .224 5 27 Ossie Chavarria 86 191 46 .241 2 10 37 127 30 .236 0 4 28 79 18 .228 0 5 32 76 10 .132 0 7 Ken Suarez 35 69 10 .145 0 2 Tim Talton 37 53 18 .340 2 6 Rick Monday 17 41 4 .098 0 2 13 35 4 .114 0 1 Ernie Fazio 27 34 7 .206 0 2 15 30 4 .133 0 1 Sal Bando 11 24 7 .292 0 1 26 22 6 .273 0 0 Don Blasingame 12 19 3 .158 0 1 Randy Schwartz 10 11 1 .091 0 1 Rene Lachemann 5 5 1 .200 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 Catfish Hunter 30 176.2 9 11 4.02 102 Jim Nash 18 127.0 12 1 2.06 98 Blue Moon Odom 14 90.1 5 5 2.49 47 14 83.2 4 6 4.09 61 Rollie Sheldon 14 69.0 4 7 3.13 26 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 36 177.2 14 9 2.99 87 Paul Lindblad 38 121.0 5 10 4.17 69 15 64.0 1 5 3.80 33 Bill Stafford 9 39.2 0 4 4.99 31 11 38.1 2 4 4.70 21 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 66 8 4 32 1.99 68 Ken Sanders 38 3 4 1 3.72 41 Wes Stock 35 2 2 3 2.66 31 24 1 0 1 5.35 20 Joe Grzenda 21 0 2 0 3.27 14 19 0 3 2 5.32 25 Vern Handrahan 16 0 1 1 4.26 18 16 0 1 1 6.89 8 8 0 2 1 9.00 10 Aurelio Monteagudo 6 0 0 0 2.84 3 Jesse Hickman 1 0 0 0 0.00 0
Awards and honors All-Star Game
Catfish Hunter, Pitcher, Reserve
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Mobile, Modesto, Leesburg
References
External links 1966 Kansas City Athletics at Baseball Reference 1966 Kansas City Athletics at Baseball Almanac