This morning, I was watching “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner,” the Academy Award winning film which stars Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn and Sidney Poitier. I was looking at the fashions, the decor, the hairstyles and I was thinking about what it would be like to live back then. The film was released in 1967 so I wondered, “Hmm, how did the Yankees do in 1967?”

I knew the answer wasn’t going to be a positive one. By the time the mid 1960′s rolled around, the once dominant New York Yankees were a shell of their former self. They changed ownership in 1964 when CBS purchased the franchise for $11.2M. You’re not seeing things, the whole franchise was worth $11.2M which is crazy to think about now.

In 1965, the Yankees finished in the Second Division for the first time in 40 years. Back then, the word “division” had more to do with rankings within the leagues. Teams who were ranked in the top 50% of a league – American or National – were said to have finished in the first division, while the rest were in the second division. The Yankees finished in the first division from 1926-1964, a record setting 39 years. Another team who had a long string of good finishes were the Chicago Cubs who finished in the first division 20 years in a row (1947-1966).

Do you remember how in 2008 flabbergasted people were when the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs for the first time in 14 years? Now imagine how Yankees fans in the 1960′s felt. Their teams were always on top or at least near it for almost four full decades. That’s an incredible run and unfortunately for Yankees fans, they still hadn’t seen the worst of it.

So back to my initial question: How did the Yankees do in 1967? Well, the answer is, they were pretty dreadful.

The summer of love was no picnic for our New York Yankees who finished ninth in the American League with a 72-90 record. In those days, ninth place was second to last and they ended the season nine and half games ahead of the last place Kansas City Athletics. And if you could believe it, that was still better than where they finished in 1966, when they were dead last in the league.

If I ever mention the CBS years to my dad, who is the reason why I became such a huge Yankee fan, he’ll usually react with a sour look on his face, a wave of his hand in disapproval and say, “Oh they were terrible.” (The emphasis on terrible is his, not mine)

The Yankees were actually in first place for a time during the 1967 season but that time ended on April 29 and the longest lead they had while they were in first place was a paltry half game.

Some more facts about the 1967 New York Yankees:

• They were shutout by their opponents 18 times
• Their longest winning streak was four games and happened twice – once in June and at the end of September into October (they won their final four games of the season)
• Their longest losing streak was six games and those streaks also happened twice – once in July and once in September
• They were a season high four games over .500 on April 30 (which happened to be the day after they fell out of first place)
• They were a season high 22 games under .500 on September 22.

That last fact is unfathomable. Could you imagine the current New York Yankees team as many as 22 games under .500? I think the only way it could be possible is if every member of the starting lineup was injured.

Here’s the Yankees’ Opening Day lineup on April 10, 1967:

Tom Tresh LF
Bill Robinson RF
Mickey Mantle 1B
Joe Pepitone CF
Elston Howard C
Charley Smith 3B
Horace Clarke 2B
John Kennedy SS
Mel Stottlemyre P

The Yankees beat the Washington Senators that day 8-0 with Stottlemyre pitching a complete game shutout. He gave up two hits, walked three and struck out six.

On the last day of the long, awful 1967 season, October 1, the starting lineup looked a lot different than the one on Opening Day.

Horace Clarke 2B
Jerry Kenney SS
Tom Shopay LF
Joe Pepitone CF
Roy White RF
Frank Fernandez C
Mike Hegan 1B
John Kennedy 3B
Mel Stottlemyre P

The Yankees defeated the last place Kansas City Athletics 4-3. The losing pitcher was none other than future Yankees’ star Jim ‘Catfish’ Hunter. And my favorite nugget of information from that final game of the 1967 season was the duration. The game lasted one hour and fifty minutes otherwise known as the first two innings of a present day Yankees-Red Sox game.

Things would remain unfavorable for the New York Yankees during the duration of the CBS ownership which ended in 1973 when Mr. George M. Steinbrenner III bought the franchise and changed it for the better.

Thanks to Baseball Reference for the facts, lineups and other information.