Fred Hutchinson, who compiled a 443-372 (.544) record and won the 1961 National League pennant during his six seasons with the team, formally resigns as manager the Reds. The 44 year-old much-respected skipper, after a courageous battle against lung cancer, will die three weeks later in Bradenton, Florida.
Harry Walker becomes the skipper of the Pirates replacing Danny Murtaugh, who will return to the field as an interim manager during the 1967 season replacing his fired successor. During his two-plus years in the Pittsburgh dugout, ‘Harry the Hat’ compiles a respectable 224-184 (.549) record but is let go after his team plays .500 ball after competing for the National League flag the previous two seasons.
Johnny Keane, rumored in August to be replaced as the Cardinals’ manager by Leo Durocher before the Redbirds surged to win the World Series, surprises team owner Gussie Busch and GM Bob Howsam with a letter of resignation that he had written at the end of September during the height of the pennant race with Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Cincinnati. The former St. Louis skipper will take the Yankee job, which opens as the result of the firing of Yogi Berra, which also occurs today.
After deliberating for four hours, the Indians’ Board of Directors decide to keep the team in the Forest City after exploring options to possibly shift the franchise to Seattle, Oakland, or Dallas. The Tribe signs a ten-year lease to use Cleveland Stadium at a reduced rent, which includes an escape clause for the city and the club after any season.
Larry Jackson’s 9 – 2 victory over the Giants is his 24th win for the Cubs, the most ever for a pitcher on an eighth-place team. Jackson also sets a major league record for pitchers by fielding 109 chances during the season without committing an error. Walter Johnson fielded 103 chances without an error in 1913.
The Philadelphia Phillies bomb the Cincinnati Reds, 10 – 0, as both teams finish one game behind the St. Louis Cardinals. The Phillies and Reds then sit in the visitor’s clubhouse and hope that New York Mets pitcher Galen Cisco can stop the Cardinals. The Mets take a 3 – 2 lead into the 5th inning, but St. Louis scores three runs to regain the lead. New York scores once more but the Cardinals complete their scoring with three in the 8th to win, 11 – 5. Bob Gibson wins in relief. For St. Louis, it is their first pennant since 1946.
Thirty minutes after their 9-2 loss to Chicago on the last day of the season, the Giants fire manager Alvin Dark, and then name Herman Franks, a coach on the team, to be his successor. The former controversial skipper, rumored to be on the chopping block before the start of the season, is quoted complaining about the number of black and Hispanic players on his team in a Newsday article printed in August, telling Stan Issacs, “they are just not able to perform up to the white player when it comes to mental alertness”.
In a rarity at Fenway Park, the Indians shut out the Red Sox in a doubleheader winning 5 – 0 and 3 – 0. Rookie Luis Tiant and Sam McDowell go the distance in applying the whitewash.
A total of 36 strikeouts, 19 by Pittsburgh batters, ties the National League record for whiffs in the Pirates’ 1 – 0 squeaker against the Reds in 16 innings. Jerry May’s squeeze bunt scores the lone run. The loss drops the Reds out of 1st place with three games left.
As a pinch-hitter in the top of the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium, Bill Roman hits his only big league home run in his first major league at-bat. The 25 year-old Tiger rookie first baseman will accumulate only 37 career plate appearances during a brief two-year stint in Detroit.
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