1968 New York Yankees season

The 1968 New York Yankees season was the 66th season for the team. 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 a team in a full season in the live-ball era (as of 2023).

1968 New York Yankees
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkYankee Stadium
CityNew York City
OwnersCBS
General managersLee MacPhail
ManagersRalph Houk
TelevisionWPIX
(Phil Rizzuto, Jerry Coleman, Frank Messer)
RadioWHN
(Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Jerry Coleman)
← 1967 Seasons 1969 →

Offseason

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Regular season

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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

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American League
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

Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET MIN NYY OAK WSH
Baltimore 9–9 10–8 11–7 7–11 8–10 10–8 13–5 9–9 14–4
Boston 9–9 9–9 14–4 10–8 6–12 9–9 10–8 8–10 11–7
California 8–10 9–9 8–10 7–11 5–13 7–11 6–12 5–13 12–6
Chicago 7–11 4–14 10–8 5–13 5–13 10–8 6–12 10–8 10–8
Cleveland 11–7 8–10 11–7 13–5 6–12 14–4 10–8–1 6–12 7–10
Detroit 10–8 12–6 13–5 13–5 12–6 10–8 10–8–1 13–5–1 10–8
Minnesota 8–10 9–9 11–7 8–10 4–14 8–10 12–6 8–10 11–7
New York 5–13 8–10 12–6 12–6 8–10–1 8–10–1 6–12 10–8 14–4
Oakland 9–9 10–8 13–5 8–10 12–6 5–13–1 10–8 8–10 7–11
Washington 4–14 7–11 6–12 8–10 10–7 8–10 7–11 4–14 11–7


Notable transactions

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Roster

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1968 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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= Indicates team leader

Batting

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Starters by position

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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

[9]

Other batters

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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
Mike Ferraro 23 87 5 14 .161 0 1 0
Charley Smith 46 70 2 16 .229 1 7 0
Steve Whitaker 28 60 3 7 .117 0 3 0
Rubén Amaro 47 41 3 5 .122 0 0 0
Ellie Rodríguez 9 24 1 5 .208 0 1 0
Tony Solaita 1 1 0 0 .000 0 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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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 36 278.2 21 12 2.45 140
Stan Bahnsen 37 267.1 17 12 2.05 162
Fritz Peterson 36 212.1 12 11 2.63 115
Steve Barber 20 128.1 6 5 3.23 87
Bill Monbouquette 17 89.1 5 7 4.43 32
Al Downing 15 61.1 3 3 3.52 40

Other pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Fred Talbot 29 99.0 1 9 3.36 67
Joe Verbanic 40 97.0 6 7 3.15 40
Jim Bouton 12 44.0 1 1 3.68 24

Relief pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Steve Hamilton 40 2 2 11 2.13 42
Dooley Womack 45 3 7 2 3.21 27
Lindy McDaniel 24 4 1 10 1.75 43
Thad Tillotson 7 1 0 0 4.35 1
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
John Cumberland 1 0 0 0 9.00 1

Farm system

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Level Team League Manager
AAA Syracuse Chiefs International League Gary Blaylock and Frank Verdi
AA Binghamton Triplets Eastern League Frank Verdi, Cloyd Boyer and Jim Gleeson
A Kinston Eagles Carolina League Bob Bauer
A Fort Lauderdale Yankees Florida State League Billy Shantz
A-Short Season Oneonta Yankees New York–Penn League Jerry Walker
Rookie Johnson City Yankees Appalachian League Gene Hassell

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oneonta[10]

Notes

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  1. ^ Andy Kosco page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Gene Michael page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Bobby Cox page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Merritt Ranew page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Madden, Bill (2010). Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball. New York: Harper Collins Publishing. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0.
  6. ^ Thurman Munson page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Wayne Nordhagen page at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ a b Rocky Colavito page at Baseball Reference
  9. ^ "1961 New York Yankees Statistics".
  10. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

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