1968 American League

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The 1968 season of the American League was the sixty-eighth season of the league.

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Season summary[edit]

Standings[edit]

Bold indicates league champion, Italics indicates World Series champion
Rank Team G W L T WPCT GB RS (RS/G) RA (RA/G) AVG OBP SLG ERA FPCT
1 Detroit Tigers 164 103 59 2 .628 -.- 671 (4.09) 492 (3.00) 0.235 0.302 0.385 2.71 0.984
2 Baltimore Orioles 162 91 71 0 .562 12.0 579 (3.57) 497 (3.07) 0.225 0.301 0.352 2.66 0.981
3 Cleveland Indians 162 86 75 1 .531 16.5 516 (3.19) 504 (3.11) 0.234 0.290 0.327 2.66 0.979
4 Boston Red Sox 162 86 76 0 .531 17.0 614 (3.79) 611 (3.77) 0.236 0.312 0.352 3.33 0.979
5 New York Yankees 164 83 79 2 .506 20.0 536 (3.27) 531 (3.24) 0.214 0.290 0.318 2.79 0.979
6 Oakland Athletics 163 82 80 1 .503 21.0 569 (3.49) 544 (3.34) 0.240 0.301 0.343 2.94 0.976
7 Minnesota Twins 162 79 83 0 .488 24.0 562 (3.47) 546 (3.37) 0.237 0.295 0.350 2.89 0.973
8 California Angels 162 67 95 0 .414 36.0 498 (3.07) 615 (3.80) 0.227 0.287 0.318 3.43 0.977
9 Chicago White Sox 162 67 95 0 .414 30.0 463 (2.86) 527 (3.25) 0.228 0.281 0.311 2.75 0.977
10 Washington Senators 161 65 96 0 .404 37.5 524 (3.25) 665 (4.13) 0.224 0.284 0.336 3.64 0.976

League leaders[edit]

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Games Played Sal Bando
Brooks Robinson
Oakland Athletics
Baltimore Orioles
162
At Bats Bert Campaneris Oakland Athletics 642
Runs Scored Dick McAuliffe Detroit Tigers 95
Hits Bert Campaneris Oakland Athletics 177
Doubles Reggie Smith Boston Red Sox 37
Triples Jim Fregosi California Angels 13
Home Runs Frank Howard Washington Senators 44
Total Bases Frank Howard Washington Senators 330
Runs Batted In Ken Harrelson Boston Red Sox 109
Stolen Bases Bert Campaneris Oakland Athletics 62
Caught Stealing Bert Campaneris Oakland Athletics 22
Walks Carl Yastrzemski Boston Red Sox 119
Intentional Base-on-Balls Tony Oliva Minnesota Twins 16
Hit by Pitch Bill Freehan Detroit Tigers 24
Strikeouts Reggie Jackson Oakland Athletics 171
Sacrifice Hits Denny McLain Detroit Tigers 16
Sacrifice Flies Curt Blefary
Roger Repoz
Brooks Robinson
Baltimore Orioles
California Angels
Baltimore Orioles
8
Grounded into Double Plays Mickey Stanley Detroit Tigers 22
Batting Average Carl Yastrzemski Boston Red Sox 0.301
On-Base Percentage Carl Yastrzemski Boston Red Sox 0.426
Slugging Percentage Frank Howard Washington Senators 0.552
On-Base plus Slugging Carl Yastrzemski Boston Red Sox 0.921
On-Base plus Slugging Plus Carl Yastrzemski Boston Red Sox 171

Pitching[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Wins Denny McLain Detroit Tigers 31
Losses George Brunet California Angels 17
Win-Loss Percentage Denny McLain Detroit Tigers 0.838
Appearances Wilbur Wood Chicago White Sox 88
Games Started Denny McLain Detroit Tigers 41
Complete Games Denny McLain Detroit Tigers 28
Shutouts Luis Tiant Cleveland Indians 9
Games Finished Wilbur Wood Chicago White Sox 46
Saves Al Worthington Minnesota Twins 18
Innings Pitched Denny McLain Detroit Tigers 336.0
Batters Faced Denny McLain Detroit Tigers 1288
Hits Allowed Mel Stottlemyre New York Yankees 243
Home Runs Allowed Denny McLain Detroit Tigers 31
Base-on-Balls Allowed Sam McDowell Cleveland Indians 110
Intentional Base-on-Balls Bob Locker Chicago White Sox 13
Hit Batsmen Joe Horlen Chicago White Sox 14
Strikeouts Sam McDowell Cleveland Indians 283
Wild Pitches Frank Bertaina
Blue Moon Odom
Washington Senators
Oakland Athletics
17
Balks Dave Leonhard
Tom Phoebus
Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
3
Runs Allowed Jim Merritt Minnesota Twins 102
Earned Runs Allowed Catfish Hunter Oakland Athletics 87
Earned Run Average Luis Tiant Cleveland Indians 1.60
Walks plus Hits
per Inning Pitched
Dave McNally Baltimore Orioles 0.842

All-Star Game[edit]

The American League lost the thirty-ninth midsummer classic at Astrodome in Houston, TX on Tuesday, July 9, 1968 by a score of 1 to 0. The league's manager was Dick Williams.

Postseason[edit]

In the World Series, the American League champion Detroit Tigers defeated the National League's St. Louis Cardinals, 4 games to 3.

Award winners[edit]

The winner of the league's Most Valuable Player Award, given its Most Valuable Player, was Denny McLain, a pitcher with the Detroit Tigers. In the award's voting, he had 280 out of a possible 280 points and 20 first place votes.

The winner of the league's Cy Young Award, given its best pitcher, was Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers. In the award's voting, he had 20 out of a possible 20 points and 20 first place votes.

The winner of the league's Rookie of the Year Award, given its best rookie player, was Stan Bahnsen, a pitcher with the New York Yankees. In the award's voting, he had 17 out of a possible 20 points and 17 first place votes.

Gold Gloves[edit]

The following players won the Gold Glove Award, given to the league's best fielders as voted upon by its managers and coaches, at their respective position.

Position Player Team
P Jim Kaat Minnesota Twins
C Bill Freehan Detroit Tigers
1B George Scott Boston Red Sox
2B Bobby Knoop California Angels
3B Brooks Robinson Baltimore Orioles
SS Luis Aparicio Chicago White Sox
OF Carl Yastrzemski Boston Red Sox
Reggie Smith Boston Red Sox
Mickey Stanley Detroit Tigers

Hall of Fame Game[edit]

The twenty-sixth annual Hall of Fame Game was played on July 22 at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY near the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In the game, the American League's Detroit Tigers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League by a score of 10 to 1.

Notable events[edit]

Umpires[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • William J. Ryczek: Baseball on the Brink: The Crisis of 1968, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2017. ISBN 978-1-4766-6848-2
  • Tim Wendel: Summer of '68: The Season That Changed Baseball, and America, Forever, Da Capo Press, Cambridge, MA, 2012.