| 1968 New York Yankees | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Ballpark | Yankee Stadium | |||
| City | New York City | |||
| Owners | CBS | |||
| General managers | Lee MacPhail | |||
| 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. 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).
In 1968, Yankees executive E. Michael Burke was a candidate to become Commissioner of Baseball. Bowie Kuhn would eventually get the appointment.[5]
| 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 |
|
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 | — | |||
| 1968 New York Yankees | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oneonta[10]
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1968 MLB season by team
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| American League |
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| National League |
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