1968 New York Yankees season explained

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).

Offseason

• November 28, 1967: Andy Kosco was drafted by the Yankees from the Oakland Athletics in the 1967 rule 5 draft.^[1]
• November 30, 1967: Gene Michael was purchased by the Yankees from the Los Angeles Dodgers.^[2]
• December 7, 1967: Bob Tillman and Dale Roberts were traded by the Yankees to the Atlanta Braves for Bobby Cox.^[3]
• Prior to 1968 season: Merritt Ranew was acquired by the Yankees from the California Angels.^[4]

Regular season

In 1968, Yankees executive E. Michael Burke was a candidate to become Commissioner of Baseball. Bowie Kuhn would eventually get the appointment.^[5]

Notable transactions

• June 7, 1968: 1968 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Thurman Munson was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round (4th pick).^[6]
  • Wayne Nordhagen was drafted by the Yankees in the 7th round.^[7]
• July 15, 1968: Rocky Colavito was signed as a free agent by the Yankees.^[8]
• September 30, 1968: Rocky Colavito was released by the Yankees.^[8]

Roster

1968 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		Outfielders		ManagerCoaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

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		124	423	31	90	.213	3	29	9
1B		144	435	57	103	.237	18	54	6
2B		148	579	52	133	.230	2	26	20
3B		135	437	33	100	.229	7	41	3
SS		152	507	60	99	.195	11	52	10
LF		159	577	89	154	.267	17	62	20
CF		108	380	41	93	.245	15	56	8
RF		131	466	47	112	.240	15	59	2

^[9]

Other batters

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
	107	342	34	82	.240	6	40	7
	85	150	24	23	.153	0	3	0
	51	135	15	23	.170	7	30	1
	61	116	8	23	.198	1	8	3
	39	91	13	20	.220	5	13	0
	23	87	5	14	.161	0	1	0
	46	70	2	16	.229	1	7	0
	28	60	3	7	.117	0	3	0
	47	41	3	5	.122	0	0	0
	9	24	1	5	.208	0	1	0
	1	1	0	0	.000	0	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
	36	278.2	21	12	2.45	140
	37	267.1	17	12	2.05	162
	36	212.1	12	11	2.63	115
	20	128.1	6	5	3.23	87
	17	89.1	5	7	4.43	32
	15	61.1	3	3	3.52	40

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
	29	99.0	1	9	3.36	67
	40	97.0	6	7	3.15	40
	12	44.0	1	1	3.68	24

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
	40	2	2	11	2.13	42
	45	3	7	2	3.21	27
	24	4	1	10	1.75	43
	7	1	0	0	4.35	1
	7	0	2	0	2.16	6
	1	0	0	0	0.00	3
	1	1	0	0	0.00	1
	1	0	0	0	9.00	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oneonta^[10]

References

• 1968 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference
• 1968 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

Notes and References

1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/k/koscoan01.shtml Andy Kosco page at Baseball Reference
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/michage01.shtml Gene Michael page at Baseball Reference
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/coxbo01.shtml Bobby Cox page at Baseball Reference
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ranewme01.shtml Merritt Ranew page at Baseball Reference
5. Book: Madden, Bill. Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball. 14. Harper Collins Publishing. New York. 2010. 978-0-06-169031-0. Bill Madden (sportswriter). registration.
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/munsoth01.shtml Thurman Munson page at Baseball Reference
7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/n/nordhwa01.shtml Wayne Nordhagen page at Baseball Reference
8. https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/colavro01.shtml Rocky Colavito page at Baseball Reference
9. Web site: 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