The 1968 Washington Senators season was the eighth in the expansion team's history, and it saw the Senators finish tenth and last in the ten-team American League with a record of 65 wins and 96 losses. The club also finished 20th and last in MLB attendance, with a total of 564,661 fans, a decrease of about 206,000 from 1967. Civil unrest in Washington, D.C., resulting from the April 4 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., caused a two-day postponement of the traditional Presidential opener, which had been scheduled for D.C. Stadium on April 8.

The Senators' struggles on the field and at the turnstiles helped drive owner James H. Lemon to put the team on the market. On December 3, 1968, it was announced that Minneapolis businessman and politician Bob Short had outbid entertainer Bob Hope to purchase the Washington franchise. Short had earlier owned a professional sports team when he purchased the Minneapolis Lakers of the NBA in 1957, moved them to Los Angeles in 1960, and sold the reborn Los Angeles Lakers to Jack Kent Cooke in 1964.

In a front-office housecleaning, Short ousted general manager George Selkirk and took responsibility for the club's baseball operations himself. He then made headlines by replacing 1968's first-year manager Jim Lemon (no relation to the former owner) with Baseball Hall of Fame hitter Ted Williams, whom he lured back into uniform to become the club's new pilot. Williams' signing was announced just prior to spring training on February 21, 1969.

Offseason February 13, 1968: Tim Cullen, Buster Narum and Bob Priddy were traded by the Senators to the Chicago White Sox for Dennis Higgins, Steve Jones, and Ron Hansen.Tim Cullen page at Baseball reference

Regular season July 30, 1968, Ron Hansen of the Senators turned an unassisted triple play. He caught a line drive, touched second base and tagged the runner coming from first base.

Opening Day starters Paul Casanova Frank Coggins Mike Epstein Ron Hansen Frank Howard Ken McMullen Camilo Pascual Del Unser Fred Valentine

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions June 7, 1968: 1968 Major League Baseball draft Don Castle was drafted by the Senators in the 1st round.Don Castle page at Baseball Reference Jim Mason was drafted by the Senators in the 2nd round.Jim Mason page at Baseball Reference Mike Cubbage was drafted by the Senators in the 6th round, but did not sign.Mike Cubbage page at Baseball Reference August 2, 1968: Ron Hansen was traded by the Senators to the Chicago White Sox for Tim Cullen.

Roster 1968 Washington Senators Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 C 96 322 63 .196 4 25 1B 123 385 90 .234 13 33 2B Bernie Allen 120 373 90 .241 6 40 SS 86 275 51 .185 8 28 3B Ken McMullen 151 557 138 .248 20 62 LF 158 598 164 .274 44 106 CF Del Unser 156 635 146 .230 1 30 RF Ed Stroud 105 306 73 .239 4 23

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 Cap Peterson 94 226 46 .204 3 18 Ed Brinkman 77 193 36 .187 0 6 62 171 30 .175 0 7 59 165 32 .194 1 10 Brant Alyea 53 150 40 .267 6 23 Hank Allen 68 128 28 .219 1 9 Sam Bowens 57 115 22 .191 4 7 47 114 31 .272 1 16 Billy Bryan 40 108 22 .204 3 8 37 101 24 .238 3 7 Gary Holman 75 85 25 .294 0 7 Dick Billings 12 33 6 .182 1 3 Gene Martin 9 11 4 .364 1 1

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 33 223.0 12 16 3.27 139 Camilo Pascual 31 201.0 13 12 2.69 111 Jim Hannan 25 140.1 10 6 3.01 75 27 127.1 7 13 4.66 81 Gerry Schoen 1 3.2 0 1 7.36 1

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 46 139.0 2 9 3.69 63 Barry Moore 32 117.2 4 6 3.37 56 Phil Ortega 31 115.2 5 12 4.98 57 Bruce Howard 13 48.2 1 4 5.86 23

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 59 4 4 13 3.25 66 Bob Humphreys 56 5 7 2 3.69 56 40 0 2 5 4.07 30 32 1 1 4 2.18 37 Bill Haywood 14 0 0 0 4.70 10 7 1 2 0 5.91 11 4 0 1 0 2.35 4 Jim Miles 3 0 0 0 12.46 5 3 0 0 0 9.00 1

Awards and honors

League leaders Frank Howard, American League leader, Home runs

All-Stars All-Star Game

Farm system

Notes

References 1968 Washington Senators team page at Baseball Reference 1968 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com