1969 Atlanta Braves season

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1969 Atlanta Braves
National League West Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record93–69 (.574)
Divisional place1st
Other information
Owner(s)William Bartholomay
General manager(s)Paul Richards
Manager(s)Lum Harris
Local televisionWSB-TV
(Ernie Johnson, Milo Hamilton, Bob Uecker)
Local radioWSB
(Ernie Johnson, Milo Hamilton)
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The 1969 Atlanta Braves season was the fourth in Atlanta and the 99th overall season of the franchise. The National League had been split into two divisions before the season, with the Braves somewhat incongruously being assigned to the National League West. The Braves finished with a record of 93–69, winning the first ever NL West division title by three games over the San Francisco Giants.

After the season, the Braves played in the first-ever inter-divisional National League Championship Series. They went on to lose the NLCS to the eventual World Champion New York Mets, three games to none.

Offseason[]

The new National League[]

The 1969 season marked the first year of divisional play in Major League Baseball. The Braves (along with the Cincinnati Reds) were placed in the National League West division, despite being located further east than the two westernmost teams in the new National League East, the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. This was because the New York Mets wanted to be in the same division as the reigning power in the NL, which were the Cardinals at the time (to compensate for playing against the Dodgers and Giants fewer times each season). The Cubs consequently demanded to be in the NL East as well in order to continue playing in the same division as the Cardinals, one of the Cubs' biggest rivals. But the primary reason for this odd alignment was that the Cardinals, Giants, and Cubs finished 1-2-3 the previous two seasons and it was feared putting them all in the West would create too big of a disparity in strength between the West and East.

Notable transactions[]

  • October 14, 1968: 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft
    • Al Santorini was drafted from the Braves by the San Diego Padres with the 7th pick.[1]
    • Skip Guinn was drafted from the Braves by the Montreal Expos with the 17th pick.[2]
    • Carl Morton was drafted from the Braves by the Expos with the 45th pick.[3]
    • Cito Gaston was drafted from the Braves by the Padres with the 59th pick.[4]
  • December 2, 1968: Darrell Evans was drafted by the Braves from the Oakland Athletics in the 1968 rule 5 draft.[5]
  • March 17, 1969: Joe Torre was traded by the Braves to the St. Louis Cardinals for Orlando Cepeda.[6]

Regular season[]

Second baseman Félix Millán started the All-Star Game, along with right fielder Hank Aaron, and won his first Gold Glove.

Season standings[]

  • v
  • t
NL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 93 69 0.574 — 50–31 43–38
San Francisco Giants 90 72 0.556 3 52–29 38–43
Cincinnati Reds 89 73 0.549 4 50–31 39–42
Los Angeles Dodgers 85 77 0.525 8 50–31 35–46
Houston Astros 81 81 0.500 12 52–29 29–52
San Diego Padres 52 110 0.321 41 28–53 24–57

Record vs. opponents[]

1969 National League Records
  • v
  • t

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta — 3–9 12–6 15–3 9–9 8–4 4–8 6–6 8–4 13–5 9–9 6–6
Chicago 9–3 — 6–6–1 8–4 6–6 10–8 8–10 12–6 7–11 11–1 6–6 9–9
Cincinnati 6–12 6–6–1 — 9–9 10–8 8–4 6–6 10–2 5–7 11–7 10–8 8–4
Houston 3–15 4–8 9–9 — 6–12 11–1 10–2 8–4 3–9 10–8 10–8 7–5
Los Angeles 9–9 6–6 8–10 12–6 — 10–2 4–8 8–4 8–4 12–6 5–13 3–9
Montreal 4–8 8–10 4–8 1–11 2–10 — 5–13 11–7 5–13 4–8 1–11 7–11
New York 8–4 10–8 6–6 2–10 8–4 13–5 — 12–6 10–8 11–1 8–4 12–6
Philadelphia 6-6 6–12 2–10 4–8 4–8 7–11 6–12 — 10–8 8–4 3–9 7–11
Pittsburgh 4–8 11–7 7–5 9–3 4–8 13–5 8–10 8–10 — 10–2 5–7 9–9
San Diego 5–13 1–11 7–11 8–10 6–12 8–4 1–11 4–8 2–10 — 6–12 4–8
San Francisco 9–9 6–6 8–10 8–10 13–5 11–1 4–8 9–3 7–5 12–6 — 3–9
St. Louis 6–6 9–9 4–8 5–7 9–3 11–7 6–12 11–7 9–9 8–4 9–3 —


Opening Day starters[]

Notable transactions[]

  • June 5, 1969: Larvell Blanks was drafted by the Braves in the 3rd round of the 1969 Major League Baseball Draft.[7]
  • June 13, 1969: Van Kelly, Walt Hriniak and Andy Finlay (minors) were traded by the Braves to the San Diego Padres for Tony González.[8]
  • August 19, 1969: Claude Raymond was purchased from the Braves by the Montreal Expos.[9]
  • September 8, 1969: Mickey Rivers and Clint Compton were traded by the Braves to the California Angels for Hoyt Wilhelm and Bob Priddy.[10]
  • September 11, 1969: Chico Ruiz was signed as an amateur free agent by the Braves.[11]

Roster[]

1969 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders
  • 44 Hank Aaron
  • 29 Felipe Alou
  • 14 Bob Aspromonte
  • 12 Dusty Baker
  • 36 Oscar Brown
  • 25 Rico Carty
  • 19 Tito Francona
  • 11,48 Ralph Garr
  • 43 Tony González
  • 28 Mike Lum
 Manager

Coaches

Player stats[]

Batting[]

Starters by position[]

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

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Bob Didier 114 352 90 .256 0 32
1B Orlando Cepeda 154 573 147 .257 22 88
2B Félix Millán 162 652 174 .267 6 57
3B Clete Boyer 144 496 124 .250 14 57
SS Sonny Jackson 98 318 76 .239 1 27
LF Rico Carty 104 304 104 .342 16 58
CF Felipe Alou 123 476 134 .282 5 32
RF Hank Aaron 147 547 164 .300 44 97

Other batters[]

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

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Tony González 89 320 94 .294 10 50
Gil Garrido 82 227 50 .220 0 10
Bob Tillman 69 190 37 .195 12 29
Bob Aspromonte 82 198 50 .253 3 24
Mike Lum 121 168 45 .268 1 22
Tito Francona 51 88 26 .295 2 22
Tommie Aaron 49 60 15 .250 1 5
Ralph Garr 22 27 6 .222 0 2
Darrell Evans 12 26 6 .231 0 1
Walt Hriniak 7 7 1 .143 0 0
Dusty Baker 3 7 0 .000 0 0
Oscar Brown 7 4 1 .250 0 0
Jim Breazeale 2 1 0 .000 0 0

Pitching[]

Starting pitchers[]

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Phil Niekro 40 284.1 23 13 2.56 193
Ron Reed 36 241.1 18 10 3.47 160
Pat Jarvis 37 217.1 13 11 4.43 123
Milt Pappas 26 144 6 10 3.62 72
Mike McQueen 1 3 0 0 3.00 3
Garry Hill 1 2.1 0 1 15.43 2

Other pitchers[]

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
George Stone 36 165.1 13 10 3.65 102
Jim Britton 24 88 7 5 3.78 60
Ken Johnson 9 29 0 1 4.97 20

Relief pitchers[]

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

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Cecil Upshaw 62 6 4 27 2.91 57
Paul Doyle 36 2 0 4 2.08 25
Claude Raymond 33 2 2 1 5.25 15
Gary Neibauer 29 1 2 0 3.90 42
Hoyt Wilhelm 8 2 0 4 0.73 14
Larry Maxie 2 0 0 0 3.00 1
Bob Priddy 1 0 0 0 0.00 1
Rick Kester 1 0 0 0 13.50 2
Charlie Vaughan 1 0 0 0 18.00 1

Postseason[]

National League Championship Series[]

Main article: 1969 National League Championship Series
Game Date Visitor Score Home Score Record

(NYM-ATL)

Attendance
1 October 4 New York 9 Atlanta 5 1–0 50,122
2 October 5 New York 11 Atlanta 6 2–0 50,270
3 October 6 Atlanta 4 New York 7 3–0 53,195
NYM won 3, ATL won 0.

New York wins the National League Championship
and advances to the World Series

Awards and honors[]

  • Rawlings Gold Glove Award

All-Stars[]

1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

  • Hank Aaron, OF, starter
  • Félix Millán, 2B, starter
  • Phil Niekro, reserve

Farm system[]

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Richmond Braves International League Mickey Vernon
AA Shreveport Braves Texas League Lou Fitzgerald
A Greenwood Braves Western Carolinas League Eddie Haas
Rookie Magic Valley Cowboys Pioneer League Connie Ryan

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenwood

Notes[]

  1. ^ Al Santorini page at Baseball-Reference
  2. ^ Skip Guinn page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Carl Morton page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Cito Gaston page at Baseball-Reference
  5. ^ Darrell Evans page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Orlando Cepeda page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Larvell Blanks page at Baseball-Reference
  8. ^ Van Kelly page at Baseball Reference
  9. ^ Claude Raymond page at Baseball Reference
  10. ^ Hoyt Wilhelm page at Baseball Reference
  11. ^ Chico Ruiz page at Baseball Reference

References[]

  • Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
  • 1969 Atlanta Braves team page at Baseball Reference
  • Atlanta Braves on Baseball Almanac
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