The Year of the Pitcher
In Major League Baseball, the trend throughout the 1960s was of increased pitching dominance. After the record home run year by Roger Maris in 1961, the major leagues increased the size of the strike zone from the top of the batter's shoulders to the bottom of his knees. A significant "power shortage" culminated in 1968, with far fewer runs scored than in the early 1960s.
Pitchers including Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals and Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers dominated hitters, producing 339 shutouts in 1968, almost double the number of shutouts thrown in 1962. Individually, Gibson set a modern earned run average record of 1.12, the lowest in 54 years, and set a World Series record of 17 strikeouts in Game 1. McLain won 31 regular season games, the only player to reach the 30 win milestone since Dizzy Dean in 1934. Mickey Lolich won three complete games in the World Series, the last player as of 2015 to do so. Luis Tiant of the Cleveland Indians had the American League's lowest ERA at 1.60 and allowed a batting average of only .168, a major league record. Don Drysdale of the Los Angeles Dodgers threw a record 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, and Catfish Hunter of the Oakland Athletics was the first American League pitcher to record a perfect game since Don Larsen in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.
Hitting was anemic as Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox would be the only American League hitter to finish the season with a batting average higher than .300. Yastrzemski's batting average of .301 was the lowest batting average of any league batting champion. The American League's collective slugging average of .340 remains the lowest since 1915 (when the game was still in the so-called dead-ball era), while the collective batting average of .231 is the all-time lowest. As a result of the dropping offensive statistics, Major League Baseball Rules Committee took steps to reduce the advantage held by pitchers by lowering the height of the pitchers mound from 15 inches to 10 inches, and by reducing the size of the strike zone for the 1969 season. 1969 batting averages climbed back to their historical averages and never again would pitching have as large a statistical average over batting in the major leagues.
1968 was the final year when baseball had no divisions within the two leagues, with the only post-season competition being the World Series itself. Four expansion teams would join baseball for the season following in 1969. This was also the first season that the Athletics franchise played in Oakland, California, after their departure from Kansas City, Missouri.
Champions
Major League Baseball
World Series: Detroit Tigers over St. Louis Cardinals (4–3); Mickey Lolich, MVP
All-Star Game, July 9 at the Astrodome: National League, 1–0; Willie Mays, MVP
Other champions
Big League World Series: Charleston, West Virginia
College World Series: USC
Japan Series: Yomiuri Giants over Hankyu Braves (4–2) Little League World Series: Wakayama, Osaka, Japan Senior League World Series: New Hyde Park, New York
Awards and honors
Baseball Hall of Fame
Kiki Cuyler
Goose Goslin
Joe Medwick
Most Valuable Player
Denny McLain, Detroit Tigers, P (AL) Bob Gibson, St. Louis Cardinals, P (NL) Cy Young Award Denny McLain, Detroit Tigers (AL) Bob Gibson, St. Louis Cardinals (NL) Rookie of the Year Stan Bahnsen, New York Yankees, P (AL) Johnny Bench, Cincinnati Reds, C (NL) Gold Glove Award George Scott (1B) (AL) Bobby Knoop (2B) (AL) Brooks Robinson (3B) (AL) Luis Aparicio (SS) (AL) Reggie Smith (OF) (AL) Mickey Stanley (OF) (AL) Carl Yastrzemski (OF) (AL) Bill Freehan (C) (AL) Jim Kaat (P) (AL)
MLB statistical leaders
Major league baseball final standings
American League final standings
National League final standings
Events
January
January 23 – Joe Medwick is voted into the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. January 28 – Goose Goslin and Kiki Cuyler are admitted into the Hall of Fame by unanimous vote of the Special Veterans Committee.