1968 New York Yankees season

1968 New York Yankees
1968 New York Yankees
League	American League
Ballpark	Yankee Stadium
City	New York City
Record	83–75 (.525)
League place	5th
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)
	← 1967 Seasons 1969 →

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 2025).

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]

Season standings

v
t
e
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

1968 American League record v t e 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
- 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

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

35 Ralph Houk

Coaches

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	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

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

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
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

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

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

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

↑ Andy Kosco page at Baseball Reference
↑ Gene Michael page at Baseball Reference
↑ Bobby Cox page at Baseball Reference
↑ Merritt Ranew page at Baseball Reference
↑ Madden, Bill (2010). Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball. New York: Harper Collins Publishing. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0.
↑ Thurman Munson page at Baseball Reference
↑ Wayne Nordhagen page at Baseball Reference
1 2 Rocky Colavito page at Baseball Reference
↑ "1961 New York Yankees Statistics".
↑ 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

[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

[colavito-8] 1 2 Rocky Colavito page at Baseball Reference

[baseball-reference.com-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

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