1966 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1966 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Location
Forbes Field (since 1909)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (since 1907)
Other information
Owner(s)	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas Johnson (minority shareholders)
General manager(s)	Joe L. Brown
Manager(s)	Harry Walker
Local television	KDKA-TV Bob Prince, Jim Woods, Don Hoak
Local radio	KDKA Bob Prince, Jim Woods, Don Hoak
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The 1966 Pittsburgh Pirates season involved the team's third-place finish in the National League at 92–70, three games behind the NL Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Offseason

• November 22, 1965: Bill Virdon was released by the Pirates.
• November 29, 1965: 1965 rule 5 draft
  • Dave Roberts was selected by the Pirates from the Houston Astros.
  • Jesse Gonder was drafted by the Pirates from the Atlanta Braves.
• January 29, 1966: Del Unser was drafted by the Pirates in the 4th round of the secondary phase of the 1966 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.

Regular season

Pirates outfielder Roberto Clemente was the National League's Most Valuable Player for the 1966 season.

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	67	0.586	—	53–28	42–39
San Francisco Giants	93	68	0.578	1½	47–34	46–34
Pittsburgh Pirates	92	70	0.568	3	46–35	46–35
Philadelphia Phillies	87	75	0.537	8	48–33	39–42
Atlanta Braves	85	77	0.525	10	43–38	42–39
St. Louis Cardinals	83	79	0.512	12	43–38	40–41
Cincinnati Reds	76	84	0.475	18	46–33	30–51
Houston Astros	72	90	0.444	23	45–36	27–54
New York Mets	66	95	0.410	28½	32–49	34–46
Chicago Cubs	59	103	0.364	36	32–49	27–54

Record vs. opponents

1966 National League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	NYM	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	7–11	10–8	14–4–1	7–11	14–4	11–7	7–11	8–10	7–11
Chicago	11–7	—	6–12	5–13	8–10	8–10	5–13	6–12	6–12	4–14
Cincinnati	8–10	12–6	—	4–14	6–12	10–7	10–8	8–10	7–10	11–7
Houston	4–14–1	13–5	14–4	—	7–11	7–11	7–11	4–14	6–12	10–8
Los Angeles	11–7	10–8	12–6	11–7	—	12–6	11–7	9–9	9–9	10–8
New York	4–14	10–8	7–10	11–7	6–12	—	7–11	5–13	9–9	7–11
Philadelphia	7-11	13–5	8–10	11–7	7–11	11–7	—	10–8	10–8	10–8
Pittsburgh	11–7	12–6	10–8	14–4	9–9	13–5	8–10	—	7–11	8–10
San Francisco	10–8	12–6	10–7	12–6	9–9	9–9	8–10	11–7	—	12–6
St. Louis	11–7	14–4	7–11	8–10	8–10	11–7	8–10	10–8	6–12	—

Notable transactions

• June 7, 1966: Bill Laxton was drafted by the Pirates in the 7th round of the 1966 Major League Baseball Draft.

Roster

1966 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers 28 Steve Blass 43 Don Cardwell 26 Roy Face 22 Woodie Fryman 32 Vern Law 34 Al McBean 19 Pete Mikkelsen 31 Billy O'Dell 37 Bob Purkey 29 Don Schwall 28 Jim Shellenback 25 Tommie Sisk 39 Bob Veale 31 Luke Walker		Catchers 20 Jesse Gonder 12 Jerry May 10 Jim Pagliaroni Infielders 14 Gene Alley  7 Bob Bailey 17 Donn Clendenon  9 Bill Mazeroski 45 Gene Michael 11 José Pagán 45 Dave Roberts 16 Andre Rodgers		Outfielders 18 Matty Alou 23 Don Bosch 21 Roberto Clemente 24 Jerry Lynch 15 Manny Mota  8 Willie Stargell Other batters 23 George Spriggs		Manager  3 Harry Walker Coaches  5 Alex Grammas  6 Clyde King  4 Johnny Pesky  2 Hal Smith

Player stats

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	Jim Pagliaroni	123	374	88	.235	11	49
1B	Donn Clendenon	155	571	171	.299	28	98
2B	Bill Mazeroski	162	621	163	.262	16	82
3B	Bob Bailey	126	380	106	.279	13	46
SS	Gene Alley	147	579	173	.299	7	43
LF	Willie Stargell	140	485	153	.315	33	102
CF	Matty Alou	141	535	183	.342	2	27
RF	Roberto Clemente	154	638	202	.317	29	119

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
José Pagán	109	368	97	.264	4	54
Jesse Gonder	59	160	36	.225	7	16
Dave Roberts	14	16	2	.125	0	0
Don Bosch	3	2	0	.000	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
Woodie Fryman	36	181.2	12	9	3.81	105
Vern Law	31	177.2	12	8	4.05	88
Steve Blass	34	155.2	11	7	3.87	76

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
Don Cardwell	32	101.2	6	6	4.60	60

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
Roy Face	54	6	6	18	2.70	67
Bob Purkey	10	0	1	1	1.37	5
Jim Shellenback	2	0	0	0	9.00	0

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Jets	International League	Larry Shepard
AA	Asheville Tourists	Southern League	Harding "Pete" Peterson
A	Raleigh Pirates	Carolina League	Joe Morgan
A	Clinton Pirates	Midwest League	Frank Oceak
A	Gastonia Pirates	Western Carolinas League	Bob Clear
Rookie	Salem Pirates	Appalachian League	George Detore

References

• 1966 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
• 1966 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac