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1966 Major League Baseball season

The 1966 major league baseball season began on April 11, 1966. The regular season ended on October 2, with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 63rd World Series on October 5 and ended with Game 4 on October 9. The Orioles swept the Dodgers in four games, capturing their first championship in franchise history. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the Los Angeles Dodgers from the 1965 season.

Schedule
The 1966 schedule consisted of 162 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had ten teams. Each team was scheduled to play 18 games against the other nine teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place by the American League since the season and by the National League since the season, and would be used until . American League Opening Day took place on April 11, featuring a game between the Cleveland Indians and Washington Senators, while National League Opening Day took place the following day, featuring six teams. The final day of the regular season was on October 2, which saw all 20 teams play, continuing the trend from the previous season. The World Series took place between October 5 and October 9. ==Rule change==
Rule change
The 1966 season would see the following rule change: • The 15-day disabled list (now called injured list) was introduced, reducing the minimum time a player remained on the list from 30 to 15 days. ==Teams==
Teams
An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at ==Standings==
Standings
American League National League Tie games 2 tie games (1 in AL, 1 in NL), which are not factored into winning percentage or games behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season. American League The Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees had one tie each. • May 28, New York Yankees vs. Chicago White Sox, tied at 2 after a shortened five innings due to rain, following a 53 minute rain delay. National League The Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros had one tie each. • July 16, Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros, tied at 1 after a shortened six innings on account of rain. Game called in the middle of the sixth inning. ==Postseason==
Postseason
The postseason began on October 5 and ended on October 9 with the Baltimore Orioles sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1966 World Series in four games. Bracket ==Managerial changes==
Managerial changes
Off-season In-season ==League leaders==
League leaders
American League 1 American League Triple Crown batting winner National League 2 National League Triple Crown pitching winner ==Milestones==
Milestones
Batters CyclesBilly Williams (CHC): • Williams hit for his first cycle, seventh in franchise history, and ninth natural cycle in major league history, in game two of a doubleheader on July 17 against the St. Louis Cardinals. • Randy Hundley (CHC): • Hundley hit for his first cycle and eighth in franchise history, in game one of a doubleheader on August 11 against the Houston Astros. Other batting accomplishmentsHank Aaron (ATL): • Became the 12th player in Major League history to hit 400 home runs in the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 20. • Willie Mays (SF): • Breaks the previous National League home run record held by Mel Ott when he hits his 512th home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers. • Rich Rollins / Zoilo Versalles / Tony Oliva / Don Mincher / Harmon Killebrew (MIN): • Become the fourth group of players in Major League history to hit five home runs in one inning in the seventh inning against the Kansas City Athletics on June 9. • Tony Cloninger (ATL): • Became the fifth player to hit two grand slams in a single game, in a 17–3 win over the SF on July 3. • Set a modern Major League record and tied an all-time record by a pitcher when he hits for nine RBIs in a single game on July 3. Pitchers No-hittersSonny Siebert (CLE): • Siebert threw his first career no-hitter and the 11th no-hitter in franchise history, defeating the Washington Senators 2–0 on June 10. He walked one and struck out seven. Other pitching accomplishmentsJim Merritt (MIN): • Set an American League record for most consecutive strikeouts when he threw seven against the Washington Senators on July 21. ==Awards and honors==
Awards and honors
Regular season Other awardsHutch Award: Sandy Koufax (LAD) • Sport Magazine's World Series Most Valuable Player Award: Frank Robinson (BAL) Monthly awards Player of the Month Baseball Hall of FameTed WilliamsCasey Stengel (manager) ==Home field attendance==
Venues
The 1966 season saw three teams move to three new venues. • With the relocation of the Milwaukee Braves from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Braves, they leave Milwaukee County Stadium (where they played 13 seasons) and move into Atlanta Stadium. They would go on to play there for 31 seasons through . • The California Angels leave Chavez Ravine Stadium (Dodger Stadium) and Los Angeles, California (where they played four seasons), and opened Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California, where they remain to this day. • The St. Louis Cardinals would play their last game at Busch Stadium on May 8, having played 58 seasons there going back to (with a gap between and part of ), and opened Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium (with the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals) on May 12, where they would go on to play for 40 seasons through . ==Media==
Media
Television For the first time, NBC became exclusive national TV broadcaster of MLB. The network replaced ABC as the holder of the Games of the Week package. The New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, which had instead sold their TV rights to CBS in prior seasons, also joined NBC's package. The new package under NBC called for 28 games, as compared to the 123 combined among three networks during the 1960s. NBC also continued to air the All-Star Game and World Series. ==See also==
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