Our Blog: 1967 AL Pennant Race
1967 AL Pennant Race - First day of blog. July 13th. 5 teams in contention for pennant.
Posted by Ken Revis at 10:15 AM on June 14, 2011
This is first of a series on the 1967 American League Pennant Race.
July 13, 1967. The #1 song of the day, according to Billboard, was "Windy" by The Association. Just a few weeks earlier, The Monterey Pop Festival, with the first major American performances of Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, and The Who, represented the beginnings of The Summer of Love. We were mired in Vietnam. Race riots broke out in Newark. In many ways, it was an unsettling time. However, we could still turn to baseball for escape. Although baseball was fundamentally the same game it is today, there were differences. Baseball had no Divisions. If you didn't come in first in either league, your season was over. There was no talk of steroids. The reserve clause was still in effect, although nearing the end. Pitch counts were still far in the future. Doubleheaders were still common.
The 1967 American League Pennant race was perhaps the greatest ever. It reignited interest in baseball, and in one city, culminated into an "Impossible Dream" season. Four teams were to stay alive until the final week of the season, separated by only 1 1/2 games. Of those four teams, none finished the prior year closer than 9 games out of first, and one ended out next to last, 26 games out (one-half game ahead of the believe-it-or-not last place New York Yankees). The eventual outcome wasn't settled until the final game of the year. We will journey through this pennant race, beginning with the action on July 13th, the first full day of games after the All Star Game and continue, day by day, until the final climactic day of the season. Also that year, Carl Yastrzemski won the Triple Crown, the last time that feat has been achieved.
On the morning of July 13th, the top five teams were separated by 5 1/2 games:
The following summarizes games affecting the top 5 teams:
The Red Sox vs. the Orioles in a doubleheader.
Game 1: The Red Sox win, 4 to 2. Lee Stange wins his 4th game of the year. Tom Phoebus loses his 4th game of the year. John Wyatt gets his 12th save of the year. By the way, Hank Bauer is the manager for the Orioles, Dick Williams for the Red Sox. Rico Petrocelli has 2 RBI's for the Red Sox, and Joe Foy contributes to their cause, going 2 for 4, with a solo home run, his 13th of the year. Brooks Robinson homers, his 9th of the year, for the Orioles. See Game
Game 2: The Orioles demolish the Red Sox, 10 to 0. Dave McNally wins his 6th of the year. Gary Bell loses his 9th game of the year. Brooks Robinson homers (his 10th of the year) and triples in the game. Paul Blair and Curt Motton also homer for the Orioles, their 7th and 1st of the year, respectively. See Game
The White Sox vs. the Angels
The White Sox beat the Angels, 1 to 0. Gary Peters gets the win, his 11th of the year. George Brunet loses, his 12th. Hoyt Wilhelm gets the save, his 8th. Eddie Stanky is managing the White Sox and Bill Rigney the Angels. Ken Berry doubles in the winning run in the bottom of the 6th. See Game
The Tigers vs. the Senators in a doubleheader.
Game 1: Senators win, 8 to 3. Camilo Pascual gets the win, his 8th. Joe Sparma gets the loss, his 2nd of the year. Gil Hodges is managing the Senators, Mayo Smith the Tigers. Mike Epstein hits 2 home runs (his 5th and 6th of the year) and a triple, knocking in 4 runs for the Senators. Tim Cullen also homers (his 1st) and knocks in 3 runs for the Senators. Norm Cash hits his 11th home run of the year for the Tigers. The Senators pull off 3 double plays in the game. See Game
Game 2: Senators win, 6 to 1. Joe Coleman gets the win, his 5th. Denny McLain gets the loss, his 10th. Mike Epstein knocks in 2 runs. The Tigers also have 2 errors in the game. See Game
The Twins vs. the A's
Twins 3, A's 2. Al Worthington gets his 4th win of the year, Jim Nash his 9th loss. The Twins are losing by 2 in the 6th and score a run in each of the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings to win the game. Harmon Killebrew hits his 23rd and 24th home runs to power the win. Ken Harrelson hits his 4th home run of the year for the A's. See Game
Next: July 14th. The Red Sox begin a 10 game win streak on Jim Lonborg's 12th win of the season.
July 13, 1967. The #1 song of the day, according to Billboard, was "Windy" by The Association. Just a few weeks earlier, The Monterey Pop Festival, with the first major American performances of Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, and The Who, represented the beginnings of The Summer of Love. We were mired in Vietnam. Race riots broke out in Newark. In many ways, it was an unsettling time. However, we could still turn to baseball for escape. Although baseball was fundamentally the same game it is today, there were differences. Baseball had no Divisions. If you didn't come in first in either league, your season was over. There was no talk of steroids. The reserve clause was still in effect, although nearing the end. Pitch counts were still far in the future. Doubleheaders were still common.
The 1967 American League Pennant race was perhaps the greatest ever. It reignited interest in baseball, and in one city, culminated into an "Impossible Dream" season. Four teams were to stay alive until the final week of the season, separated by only 1 1/2 games. Of those four teams, none finished the prior year closer than 9 games out of first, and one ended out next to last, 26 games out (one-half game ahead of the believe-it-or-not last place New York Yankees). The eventual outcome wasn't settled until the final game of the year. We will journey through this pennant race, beginning with the action on July 13th, the first full day of games after the All Star Game and continue, day by day, until the final climactic day of the season. Also that year, Carl Yastrzemski won the Triple Crown, the last time that feat has been achieved.
On the morning of July 13th, the top five teams were separated by 5 1/2 games:
| Team | W | L | W-L% | GB |
| White Sox | 47 | 34 | .580 | -- |
| Tigers | 45 | 35 | .563 | 1.5 |
| Twins | 45 | 36 | .556 | 2.0 |
| Angels | 45 | 40 | .529 | 4.0 |
| Red Sox | 41 | 39 | .513 | 5.5 |
| Indians | 41 | 42 | .494 | 7.0 |
| Orioles | 39 | 43 | .476 | 8.5 |
| Yankees | 36 | 45 | .444 | 11.0 |
| Senators | 36 | 47 | .434 | 12.0 |
| Athletics | 35 | 49 | .417 | 13.5 |
The following summarizes games affecting the top 5 teams:
The Red Sox vs. the Orioles in a doubleheader.
Game 1: The Red Sox win, 4 to 2. Lee Stange wins his 4th game of the year. Tom Phoebus loses his 4th game of the year. John Wyatt gets his 12th save of the year. By the way, Hank Bauer is the manager for the Orioles, Dick Williams for the Red Sox. Rico Petrocelli has 2 RBI's for the Red Sox, and Joe Foy contributes to their cause, going 2 for 4, with a solo home run, his 13th of the year. Brooks Robinson homers, his 9th of the year, for the Orioles. See Game
Game 2: The Orioles demolish the Red Sox, 10 to 0. Dave McNally wins his 6th of the year. Gary Bell loses his 9th game of the year. Brooks Robinson homers (his 10th of the year) and triples in the game. Paul Blair and Curt Motton also homer for the Orioles, their 7th and 1st of the year, respectively. See Game
The White Sox vs. the Angels
The White Sox beat the Angels, 1 to 0. Gary Peters gets the win, his 11th of the year. George Brunet loses, his 12th. Hoyt Wilhelm gets the save, his 8th. Eddie Stanky is managing the White Sox and Bill Rigney the Angels. Ken Berry doubles in the winning run in the bottom of the 6th. See Game
The Tigers vs. the Senators in a doubleheader.
Game 1: Senators win, 8 to 3. Camilo Pascual gets the win, his 8th. Joe Sparma gets the loss, his 2nd of the year. Gil Hodges is managing the Senators, Mayo Smith the Tigers. Mike Epstein hits 2 home runs (his 5th and 6th of the year) and a triple, knocking in 4 runs for the Senators. Tim Cullen also homers (his 1st) and knocks in 3 runs for the Senators. Norm Cash hits his 11th home run of the year for the Tigers. The Senators pull off 3 double plays in the game. See Game
Game 2: Senators win, 6 to 1. Joe Coleman gets the win, his 5th. Denny McLain gets the loss, his 10th. Mike Epstein knocks in 2 runs. The Tigers also have 2 errors in the game. See Game
The Twins vs. the A's
Twins 3, A's 2. Al Worthington gets his 4th win of the year, Jim Nash his 9th loss. The Twins are losing by 2 in the 6th and score a run in each of the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings to win the game. Harmon Killebrew hits his 23rd and 24th home runs to power the win. Ken Harrelson hits his 4th home run of the year for the A's. See Game
Next: July 14th. The Red Sox begin a 10 game win streak on Jim Lonborg's 12th win of the season.
Categories: 1967 AL Pennant Race
Teams: Angels, Athletics, Indians, Orioles, Red Sox, Senators, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Yankees
Players: Unknown, Unknown, Hank Bauer, Gary Bell, Ken Berry, Paul Blair, George Brunet, Norm Cash, Joe Coleman, Joe Coleman, Tim Cullen, Mike Epstein, Joe Foy, Ken Harrelson, Gil Hodges, Harmon Killebrew, Jim Lonborg, Denny McLain, Dave McNally, Curt Motton, Jim Nash, Unknown, Camilo Pascual, Gary Peters, Rico Petrocelli, Unknown, Bill Rigney, Brooks Robinson, Unknown, Mayo Smith, Smith, Joe Sparma, Eddie Stanky, Lee Stange, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Hoyt Wilhelm, Dick Williams, Al Worthington, John Wyatt, Carl Yastrzemski
Games: ALS196707110, BOS196707131, BOS196707132, CHA196707130, MIN196707130, WS2196707131, WS2196707132
