1968 Washington Senators season

March 2026 November 2013 Washington Senators 1968 Washington Senators Cap Logo (1968 to 1971).svg American League D.C. Stadium Washington, D.C. 65 96 y 10th James H. Lemon George Selkirk Jim Lemon WTOP WTOP(Dan Daniels, John MacLean) List of Texas Rangers seasons The 1968 Washington Senators season was the eighth in the expansion team's history, and it saw the Senators finish tenth and last in the ten-team American League with a record of 65 wins and 96 losses. The club also finished 20th and last in MLB attendance, with a total of 564,661 fans,https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/1968-misc.shtml 1968 Major League Baseball Attendance baseball-reference.com Baseball Reference February 14, 2024 a decrease of about 206,000 from 1967. Civil unrest in Washington, D.C., resulting from the April 4 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., caused a two-day postponement of the traditional Presidential opener, which had been scheduled for D.C. Stadium on April 8.https://baseballhall.org/discover/martin-luther-king-jrs-assassination-brought-baseball-to-a-halt-in-1968 National Tragedy Brought Baseball to a Halt for Two Days in 1968 Francis Bill baseballhall.org National Baseball Hall of Fame February 14, 2024 The Senators' struggles on the field and at the turnstiles helped drive owner James H. Lemon to put the team on the market. On December 3, 1968, it was announced that Minneapolis businessman and politician Bob Short had outbid entertainer Bob Hope to purchase the Washington franchise. Short had earlier owned a professional sports team when he purchased the Minneapolis Lakers of the NBA in 1957, moved them to Los Angeles in 1960, and sold the reborn Los Angeles Lakers to Jack Kent Cooke in 1964.https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/22/obituaries/robert-e-short-businessman-dies.html Robert E. Short, Businessman, Dies Saxon Wolfgang November 22, 1982 nytimes.com The New York Times February 22, 2024 In a front-office housecleaning, Short ousted general manager George Selkirk and took responsibility for the club's baseball operations himself. He then made headlines by replacing 1968's first-year manager Jim Lemon (no relation to the former owner) with Baseball Hall of Fame hitter Ted Williams, whom he lured back into uniform to become the club's new pilot.https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bob-short/ Bob Short Whelan Bob West Steve Society for American Baseball Research Biography Project sabr.org February 14, 2024 Williams' signing was announced just prior to spring training on February 21, 1969.https://baseballhall.org/discover/inside-pitch/Huge-contract-lures-Williams-to-job-as-Senators-manager Huge Contract Lures Williams to Job as Senators' Manager Muder Craig baseballhall.org National Baseball Hall of Fame February 14, 2024 Offseason February 13, 1968: Tim Cullen, Buster Narum and Bob Priddy were traded by the Senators to the Chicago White Sox for Dennis Higgins, Steve Jones, and Ron Hansen.Tim Cullen page at Baseball reference Regular season July 30, 1968, Ron Hansen of the Senators turned an unassisted triple play. He caught a line drive, touched second base and tagged the runner coming from first base.http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats8.shtml Unassisted Triple Plays | Baseball Almanac Opening Day starters Paul Casanova Frank Coggins Mike Epstein Ron Hansen Frank Howard Ken McMullen Camilo Pascual Del Unser Fred Valentine Season standings Washington Senators Record vs. opponents WAS Notable transactions June 7, 1968: 1968 Major League Baseball draft Don Castle was drafted by the Senators in the 1st round.Don Castle page at Baseball Reference Jim Mason was drafted by the Senators in the 2nd round.Jim Mason page at Baseball Reference Mike Cubbage was drafted by the Senators in the 6th round, but did not sign.Mike Cubbage page at Baseball Reference August 2, 1968: Ron Hansen was traded by the Senators to the Chicago White Sox for Tim Cullen. Roster 1968 Washington Senators Roster Pitchers 37 Dave Baldwin 24 Frank Bertaina 27 Dick Bosman 20 Joe Coleman 29 Casey Cox 22 Bill Denehy 16 Jim Hannan 21 Bill Haywood 28 Dennis Higgins 18 Bruce Howard 23 Bob Humphreys 34 Steve Jones 32 Darold Knowles 31 Jim Miles 25 Barry Moore 26 Phil Ortega 17 Camilo Pascual 19 Gerry Schoen Catchers 14 Billy Bryan  8 Paul Casanova 10 Jim French Infielders  7 Bernie Allen 11 Ed Brinkman 1,32 Frank Coggins  1 Tim Cullen 12 Mike Epstein  6 Ron Hansen  5 Gary Holman  2 Ken McMullen Outfielders 5,35 Hank Allen  3 Brant Alyea  6 Dick Billings 35 Sam Bowens  9 Frank Howard 22 Gene Martin  4 Cap Peterson 36 Ed Stroud 30 Del Unser 34 Fred Valentine Manager 40 Jim Lemon Coaches 44 Doug Camilli 42 Nellie Fox 43 Bobby Hofman 41 Sid Hudson Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader Batting Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C Paul Casanova 96 322 63 .196 4 25 1B Mike Epstein 123 385 90 .234 13 33 2B Bernie Allen 120 373 90 .241 6 40 SS Ron Hansen Ron Hansen (baseball) 86 275 51 .185 8 28 3B Ken McMullen 151 557 138 .248 20 62 LF Frank Howard Frank Howard (baseball) 158 598 164 .274 44 106 CF Del Unser 156 635 146 .230 1 30 RF Ed Stroud 105 306 73 .239 4 23 Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI Cap Peterson 94 226 46 .204 3 18 Ed Brinkman 77 193 36 .187 0 6 Frank Coggins 62 171 30 .175 0 7 Jim French Jim French (baseball) 59 165 32 .194 1 10 Brant Alyea 53 150 40 .267 6 23 Hank Allen 68 128 28 .219 1 9 Sam Bowens 57 115 22 .191 4 7 Tim Cullen 47 114 31 .272 1 16 Billy Bryan 40 108 22 .204 3 8 Fred Valentine Fred Valentine (baseball) 37 101 24 .238 3 7 Gary Holman 75 85 25 .294 0 7 Dick Billings 12 33 6 .182 1 3 Gene Martin 9 11 4 .364 1 1 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 Joe Coleman Joe Coleman (1970s pitcher) 33 223.0 12 16 3.27 139 Camilo Pascual 31 201.0 13 12 2.69 111 Jim Hannan 25 140.1 10 6 3.01 75 Frank Bertaina 27 127.1 7 13 4.66 81 Gerry Schoen 1 3.2 0 1 7.36 1 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 Dick Bosman 46 139.0 2 9 3.69 63 Barry Moore 32 117.2 4 6 3.37 56 Phil Ortega 31 115.2 5 12 4.98 57 Bruce Howard 13 48.2 1 4 5.86 23 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 Dennis Higgins 59 4 4 13 3.25 66 Bob Humphreys 56 5 7 2 3.69 56 Dave Baldwin Dave Baldwin (baseball) 40 0 2 5 4.07 30 Darold Knowles 32 1 1 4 2.18 37 Bill Haywood 14 0 0 0 4.70 10 Steve Jones Steve Jones (baseball) 7 1 2 0 5.91 11 Casey Cox 4 0 1 0 2.35 4 Jim Miles 3 0 0 0 12.46 5 Bill Denehy Bill Denehy (baseball) 3 0 0 0 9.00 1 Awards and honors League leaders Frank Howard, American League leader, Home runs All-Stars All-Star Game Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Buffalo Bisons International League Wayne Terwilliger AA Savannah Senators Southern League Buddy Hicks A Burlington Senators Carolina League Len Johnston A Salisbury Senators Western Carolinas League Billy Klaus A-Short Season Geneva Senators New York–Penn League Joe Marchese Notes 2 References 1968 Washington Senators team page at Baseball Reference 1968 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 3rd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 2007 978-1-932391-17-6 Category:Washington Senators (1961–1971) seasons Washington Senators season Washing