The 1966 New York Yankees season was the 64th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 70–89, finishing 26.5 games behind the eventual World Series champion Baltimore Orioles. New York was managed by Johnny Keane and Ralph Houk. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. Keane managed his final MLB game in early May, and died the following January at the age of 55.

The Yankees finished in tenth place, although arguably a "strong" tenth. It was the first time they had finished in last place since 1912, their last year at the Hilltop. The Yankees would not finish in last place again for another twenty four years. It was also first time that the Yankees did not win the pennant in consecutive seasons since not winning the pennant in 3 straight seasons from 1944 to 1946.

On September 22, a paid attendance of 413 was announced at the 65,000-seat Yankee Stadium.Retrosheet Boxscore: Chicago White Sox 4, New York Yankees 1 WPIX announcer Red Barber asked the TV cameras to pan the empty stands as he commented on the low attendance. Although denied the camera shots on orders from the Yankees' head of media relations, he said, "I don't know what the paid attendance is today, but whatever it is, it is the smallest crowd in the history of Yankee Stadium, and this crowd is the story, not the game." By a horrible stroke of luck, that game was the first for CBS executive Mike Burke as team president. A week later, Barber was invited to breakfast where Burke told him that his contract would not be renewed.

Offseason November 29, 1965: Rich Barry was drafted from the Yankees by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1965 minor league draft.Rich Barry page at Baseball-Reference January 14, 1966: Doc Edwards was traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Lou Clinton.Doc Edwards page at Baseball-Reference January 29, 1966: Darrell Evans was drafted by the Yankees in the 2nd round of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft (secondary phase), but did not sign.Darrell Evans page at Baseball-Reference

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions May 3, 1966: Al Closter was purchased by the Yankees from the Washington Senators.Al Closter page at Baseball-Reference June 7, 1966: Joe Pactwa was drafted by the Yankees in the 18th round of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft.Joe Pactwa page at Baseball-Reference

Roster 1966 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; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C 126 410 105 .256 6 35 1B 152 585 149 .255 31 83 2B 149 610 153 .251 7 42 3B 144 500 120 .240 14 57 SS 96 312 83 .266 6 28 LF 151 537 125 .233 27 68 CF 106 333 96 .288 23 56 RF 119 348 81 .233 13 43

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 115 316 71 .225 7 20 62 182 47 .258 3 20 80 159 35 .220 5 21 54 117 25 .214 4 16 31 114 28 .246 7 15 61 75 14 .187 3 13 27 69 15 .217 4 5 21 69 12 .174 0 5 25 58 9 .155 0 2 37 43 15 .349 0 9 13 39 8 .205 0 2 10 28 5 .179 0 0 14 23 5 .217 0 3 6 23 2 .087 1 2

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 37 251.0 12 20 3.80 146 34 215.0 12 11 3.31 96 30 200.0 10 11 3.56 152 23 124.1 7 7 4.15 85 24 120.1 3 8 2.69 65 4 23.0 1 1 3.52 16

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 22 73.0 2 5 2.47 43 12 44.2 1 2 4.84 22

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 52 3 9 13 3.61 58 56 3 7 9 3.21 79 42 7 3 4 2.64 50 44 8 3 3 3.00 57 5 1 0 0 3.97 7 2 0 0 0 0.00 3

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL YankeesJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

Notes

References 1966 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference 1966 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com