1968 Washington Senators season

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, 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.

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 team. 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.

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. Williams' signing was announced just prior to spring training on February 21, 1969.

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.

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.

Opening Day starters

 * Paul Casanova
 * Frank Coggins
 * Mike Epstein
 * Ron Hansen
 * Frank Howard
 * Ken McMullen
 * Camilo Pascual
 * Del Unser
 * Fred Valentine

Notable transactions

 * June 7, 1968: 1968 Major League Baseball Draft
 * Don Castle was drafted by the Senators in the 1st round.
 * Jim Mason was drafted by the Senators in the 2nd round.
 * Mike Cubbage was drafted by the Senators in the 6th round, but did not sign.
 * August 2, 1968: Ron Hansen was traded by the Senators to the Chicago White Sox for Tim Cullen.

Starters by position
''Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Other batters
''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

League leaders

 * Frank Howard, American League leader, Home runs

All-Stars
All-Star Game