-Baseball: 1967 map w/ jersey-logos & attendances (billsportsmaps.com).

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1968 MLB Location-map with jersey-logos with 1968 attendances, featuring the ’68 World Series champions the Detroit Tigers & AL and NL stats leaders.
The map shows the locations of the 20 Major League Baseball teams of 1968. On the map, next to each MLB team’s location-dot there are 3 things: their cap-logo, one of their jersey-logos (either home or away jersey), and a rectangular box (listing: ballpark, win total in 1968, and home average attendance in ’68). Any other logos on the team’s uniforms in 1968 are also shown (specifically, shoulder-patch-logos, of which there were 5 of such in 1968: for the Astros, the Braves, the Cubs, the Mets, and the Twins).

The jersey-logos are either from a photo of the old jerseys (see 16 photo credits at the foot of this post) or illustrations of such (mainly from sportslogos.net). The jersey-logo for each team is sized to reflect that team’s 1968 average attendance: the larger the jersey-logo, the higher the attendance that year.

There was one new Major League team in 1968: the relocated Kansas City Athletics, who moved from Missouri to Oakland, California, as the Oakland Athletics (four years later in 1972, the Oakland A’s would be champions). I included both the Kansas City A’s and the Oakland A’s locations on the map. Here is the logo history of the Oakland Athletics.

The best drawing MLB team in 1968 were the eventual champions, the Detroit Tigers, at 25,085 per game. Second-best drawing ball club in 1968 were the NL pennant-winning St. Louis Cardinals, who drew 24,8291 per game. The Cardinals had been the top-drawing ball club the year before in 1967, when they had won the title. Worst-drawing ball club in 1968 were the eventually-relocated Washington Senators, who drew an abysmal 6,749 per game, and in three years’ time would be leaving Washington, DC. (The Washington Senators (II) franchise, est. 1961, moved to Arlington, Greater Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX in 1972, as the Texas Rangers.)

The whole list of 1968 attendance-figures – by-team – is found at the far right-hand side of the map-page. Also listed there are each team’s Win total for that year, as well as their Numerical Change-in-average-attendance from the previous season (of 1967).

At the top-left of the map-page are the 1968 AL and NL final standings. Then there is a section which shows the 1968 World Series result (Tigers defeated Cardinals in 7 games), and features shots of Tiger Stadium, and some photos from the ’68 Series, including shots of ’68 World Series MVP Mickey Lolich. Below that are listed the 1968 major award-winners (the MVP award winners, the Cy Young award winners, and the Rookie of the Year award winners).

At the foot of the map-page are 1968 MLB Statistical Leaders (in both the American League and the National League), in the following categories: Wins, ERA, WAR for Pitchers; Batting Average, Home Runs, RBIs, WAR for Position Players. A photo of each player is shown, with stats; photo credits are at the foot of this post. There are 14 photos there, featuring 10 players: Luis Tiant (CLE), Bob Gibson (STL), Denny McLain (DET), Juan Marichal (SF), Carl Yastrzemski (BOS), Pete Rose (CIN), Frank Howard (WAS), Ken Harrelson (BOS) Willie McCovey (SF), Roberto Clemente (PIT).

And at the top of the map-page is a section for the 1968 MLB champions, the Detroit Tigers. I featured photos of the 12 players on the ’68 Tigers with the highest WAR [Wins Above Replacement], plus World Series MVP Mickey Lolich and the Tigers’ manager, Mayo Smith. Photo credits are at the foot of this post. The players are: Denny McLain (RHP/ ’68 AL MVP & ’68 AL Cy Young winner), Bill Freehan (C), Jim Northrup (RF), Dick McAuliffe (2B), Willie Horton (LF), Mickey Stanley (CF/SS), Norm Cash (1B), Earl Wilson (RHP), Al Kaline (CF/1B), Gates Brown (OF/PH), Pat Dobson (RHP), John Hiller (LHP), Mickey Lolich (LHP/ ’68 WS MVP).

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The 1968 Detroit Tigers

Photo and Image credits above – -Denny McClain 1968 Tigers home jersey, photo from sports.ha.com. -Al Kaline 1968 Tigers road jersey, photo from amazon.com. -Denny McLain [1968 Sports Illustrated cover], from sicovers.com. -Mickey Lolich [photo from 1968 WS], unattributed at vintagedetroit.com. -Mayo Smith (manager) [photo fom 1968 WS], photo by Walter Iooss, Jr./Getty Images (unattributed) at pinterest.com. -Bill Freehan [photo circa 1966], unattributed at notinhalloffame.com. -Jim Northrup [photo circa 1967], unattributed at ebay.com. -Dick McAuliffe [1967 Dexter Press card], from tcdb.com. -Willie Horton [photo circa 1968], unattributed at vintagesportsimages.com. -Mickey Stanley [1968 Topps card], from amazon.com. -Norm Cash [photo circa 1968], unattributed at bestsportsphotos.com. -Al Kaline [1967 Sports Illustrated cover], from sicovers.com. -Earl Wilson [photo from 1968 WS], photo by Focus on Sports/Getty Images via gettyimages.com. -Gates Brown [photo circa 1969], unattributed at detroitcitysports.com. -Pat Dobson [photo circa 1968], unattributed at sportscollectibles.com. -John Hiller [1969 Topps card], from kronozio.com.

Detroit Tigers – 1968 World Series champions.
1968 was known as “the Year of the Pitcher”. Pitching was absolutely dominant, to the point where only one batter in the entire American League hit over .300, and the overall batting average in the AL was an all-time low .230. Meanwhile in the National League, Bob Gibson had the lowest ERA (1.12) since 1915 (which was during the dead-ball era). The pitching dominance stemmed from the enforcing of a larger strike zone (top of armpit to bottom of knee), that had begun in 1963. In both leagues, the Cy Young winner was also the MVP (Denny McLain & Bob Gibson). Major League Baseball responded to this offensive drought by introducing two measures to be implemented the following season of 1969: the pitching mound was lowered from 15 to 10 inches, and the strike zone was shrunk (to the area over home plate between the armpits and the top of the knees).

So in 1968, the year of the pitcher, it was appropriate that the Tigers won the title on the strength of two exemplary pitching performances. In the regular season, righthander Denny McLain became MLB’s last 30-game winner (and the first since Dizzy Dean in 1934), and the Tigers won the AL pennant by 12 games over the Orioles. And in October, lefthander Mickey Lolich won all three of his starts, gave up just 5 runs in 27 innings (1.67 ERA), and became the last pitcher to have 3 complete game victories in a World Series.

The 1968 Detroit Tigers season was the team’s 75th season in Detroit, Michigan, and its 68th season in the American League. In the season before (1967), the Tigers had narrowly missed out on the pennant, finishing one game behind the Red Sox. Then in 1968, the Tigers started out at 9-1, and on the 10th of May, they moved into first place and never lost the lead.

In this year of the pitcher, the Tigers had the offensive clout to stand out. The Tigers had the most home runs in 1968 (185 HR), and led that category by a considerable margin of over 50 HR. Home run leaders for the Tigers were OF Willie Horton (35 HR), 1B Norm Cash (25 HR), and C Bill Freehan (25 HR). And the Tigers had the knack for comeback wins, winning 40 games from the 7th inning on. The ’68 Tigers won 30 games with their final at bat, with many of those game-winning RBIs by their clutch pinch hitter Gates Brown (who went 34 for 92, with a .685 SlPct).

The 1968 Tigers were a tight crew: the starting lineup had been mostly intact since 1965, and several of those starters had grown up in Michigan, as Tigers fans. Willie Horton was from inner city Detroit; Bill Freehan grew up in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak; Jim Northrup was from the small town of Holly, 54 miles (87 km) NW of Detroit, and Mickey Stanley was from the city of Grand Rapids (140 mi/225 km west of Detroit).

Below: 1968 World Series: Detroit Tigers beat St. Louis Cardinals in 7 games.
Down 3 games to 1, the Tigers win the last 3 games. Mickey Lolich pitches 3 complete games, wins game 7 on two-days-rest, and is the MVP.

Photos and image credits above –1968 WS program (Tigers), from baseball-almanac.com/[1968 WS]. -Exterior view of Tiger Stadium prior to 1968 WS game 3, screenshot from video uploaded by Sports History Channel at youtube.com. -Freehan tags out Brock, unattributed at hourdetroit.com. -Mickey Lolich, photo from USA Today Sports via baseballprospectus.com. -Lolich and Freehan celebrating right after final out, photo by Focus On Sport/Getty Images via gettyimages.com/[1968 Detroit Tigers]. -Tigers players and coaches run out of dugout to congratulate players on field, photo unattributed at hourdetroit.com.
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Photos of jersey logos used on the map-page…
-Denny McLain 1968 Tigers home jersey, photo from sports.ha.com.
-Al Kaline 1968 Tigers road jersey, photo from amazon.com.
-1968 Atlanta Braves home jersey-logo, photo from customthrowbackjerseys.com.
-1968 Baltimore Orioles road jersey-logo, photo from robertedwardauctions.com.
-1967 Boston Red Sox home jersey-logo, photo from sports.ha.com.
-1967-68 Chicago White Sox road jersey-logo, photo from sports.ha.com.
-1968 Chicago Cubs road jersey-logo, photo from robertedwardauctions.com.
-1968-69 Cleveland Indians road jersey-logo, from lelands.com.
-1968 Houston Astros road jersey-logo, photo from greyflannelauctions.com.
-1968 Minnesota Twins home jersey-logo, from lelands.com.
-ca. 1967 NY Yankees road jersey-logo, photo from customthrowbackjerseys.com.
-1968 NY Mets road jersey-logo, photo from sports.ha.com.
-1968 Oakland A’s road jersey-logo, photo from robertedwardauctions.com.
-1968 Philadelphia Phillies home jersey-logo, photo from sports.ha.com.
-1967-68 Pittsburgh Pirates road jersey-logo, photo from lelands.com.
-1968 St. Louis Cardinals jersey-logo, photo from scpauctions.com.
-1967-68 SF Giants road jersey-logo, photo from sports.ha.com.
-1968 Washington Senators home jersey-logo, photo from mearsonlineauctions.com.
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Photos of Tigers players on map page…
-Al Kaline ’68 road jersey, photo from amazon.com.
-Denny McLain [photo circa 1969], unattributed from amazon.com.
-Bill Freehan [photo circa 1966], unattributed at notinhalloffame.com.
-Jim Northrup [photo circa 1967], unattributed at ebay.com.
-Dick McAuliffe [1967 Dexter Press card], from tcdb.com.
-Willie Horton [photo circa 1968], unattributed at vintagesportsimages.com.
-Mickey Stanley [1968 Topps card], from amazon.com.
-Norm Cash [photo circa 1968], unattributed at bestsportsphotos.com.
-Earl Wilson [photo from 1968 WS], photo by Focus on Sports/Getty Images via gettyimages.com.
-Al Kaline [1967 Sports Illustrated cover], from sicovers.com.
-Gates Brown [photo circa 1969], unattributed at detroitcitysports.com.
-Pat Dobson [photo circa 1968], unattributed at sportscollectibles.com.
-John Hiller [1969 Topps card], from kronozio.com.
-Mickey Lolich [photo from 1968 WS], unattributed at vintagedetroit.com.
-Mayo Smith (manager) [photo fom 1968 WS], photo by Walter Iooss, Jr./Getty Images (unattributed) at pinterest.com.
-1968 Detroit Tigers uniforms: illustrations by Marc Okkonen at exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/[1968 Detroit].

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Photos of 1968 MLB leaders on map page…
-Luis Tiant [photo circa 1968], unattributed at lavidabaseball.com.
-Bob Gibson [photo circa 1968], unattributed at msblnational.com.
-Denny McLain [1968 Sports Illustrated cover], from sicovers.com.
-Juan Marichal [photo circa 1968], unattributed at pinterest.com.
-Bob Gibson [photo circa 1968], from Major League Baseball via upi.com/Sports_News.
-Carl Yastrzemski [photo circa 1967], unattributed at theathletic.com.
-Pete Rose [photo circa 1968], unattributed at redlegnation.com.
-Frank Howard [photo circa 1968], photo by Focus on Sports/Getty Images via gettyimages.com.
-Willie McCovey [photo circa 1969], unattributed at baseballhistorycomesalive.com.
-Ken Harrelson [photo circa 1968], unattributed at royals.mlblogs.com.
-Willie McCovey [photo circa 1966], AP file photo via denverpost.com.
-Carl Yastrzemski [photo (Sports Illustrated poster) from 1968], from worthpoint.com.
-Roberto Clemente [photo circa 1967], unattributed at apkfunkyb.com.
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Thanks to all at the following links…
-Base map, by US federal government employee at commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StatesU.svg.
-Baseball-Reference.com.
-1968 Major League Baseball season (en.wikipedia.org).