1968 Washington Senators season
Major League Baseball team season
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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,[1] 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.[2]
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| 1968 Washington Senators | |
|---|---|
| |
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | D.C. Stadium |
| City | Washington, D.C. |
| Record | 65–96 (.404) |
| League place | 10th |
| Owners | James H. Lemon |
| General managers | George Selkirk |
| Managers | Jim Lemon |
| Television | WTOP |
| Radio | WTOP (Dan Daniels, John MacLean) |
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.[3]
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.[4] Williams' signing was announced just prior to spring training on February 21, 1969.[5]
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.[6]
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.[7]
Opening Day starters
Season standings
| 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
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | MIN | NYY | OAK | WAS | |||
| 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
- June 7, 1968: 1968 Major League Baseball draft
- Don Castle was drafted by the Senators in the 1st round.[8]
- Jim Mason was drafted by the Senators in the 2nd round.[9]
- Mike Cubbage was drafted by the Senators in the 6th round, but did not sign.[10]
- August 2, 1968: Ron Hansen was traded by the Senators to the Chicago White Sox for Tim Cullen.[6]
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 | Paul Casanova | 96 | 322 | 63 | .196 | 4 | 25 |
| 1B | Mike Epstein | 123 | 385 | 90 | .234 | 13 | 33 |
| 2B | Bernie Allen | 120 | 373 | 90 | .241 | 6 | 40 |
| SS | Ron Hansen | 86 | 275 | 51 | .185 | 8 | 28 |
| 3B | Ken McMullen | 151 | 557 | 138 | .248 | 20 | 62 |
| LF | Frank Howard | 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 |
| Frank Coggins | 62 | 171 | 30 | .175 | 0 | 7 |
| Jim French | 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 |
| Tim Cullen | 47 | 114 | 31 | .272 | 1 | 16 |
| Billy Bryan | 40 | 108 | 22 | .204 | 3 | 8 |
| Fred Valentine | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Coleman | 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 |
| Frank Bertaina | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dick Bosman | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Higgins | 59 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 3.25 | 66 |
| Bob Humphreys | 56 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 3.69 | 56 |
| Dave Baldwin | 40 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4.07 | 30 |
| Darold Knowles | 32 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2.18 | 37 |
| Bill Haywood | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.70 | 10 |
| Steve Jones | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5.91 | 11 |
| Casey Cox | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.35 | 4 |
| Jim Miles | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.46 | 5 |
| Bill Denehy | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 |
Awards and honors
League leaders
- Frank Howard, American League leader, Home runs