1969 Washington Senators
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkRFK Stadium
CityWashington, D.C.
OwnersBob Short
ManagersTed Williams
TelevisionWTOP
RadioWWDC (FM)
(Ron Menchine, Shelby Whitfield, Warner Wolf)
Seasons

The 1969 Washington Senators season involved the Senators finishing fourth in the newly established American League East with a record of 86 wins and 76 losses.

Offseason

Regular season

The year 1969 was a turning point in Washington sports history. The Senators named Ted Williams as manager. The Washington Redskins hired Vince Lombardi as Head Coach and he had brought a winning attitude to the nation's capital. In the same year, the nearby University of Maryland had hired Lefty Driesell to coach basketball. It marked a renaissance in sports interest in America's most transient of cities.

The hiring of Ted Williams sparked at least increased curiosity in the team. Williams' fanatical approach to hitting helped improve the Senators offense considerably, and inspired the team to its one and only winning season during its 11-year stay in Washington. The Senators won 86 games, 21 more than in 1968, and improved from last place in the ten-team 1968 American League to one game out of third in the new AL East division. For this remarkable turnaround, Williams was voted American League Manager of the Year. As a result, attendance at RFK Stadium improved to over 900,000, the highest attendance for the "new" Senators and, at the time, the highest in Washington's baseball history.

Season standings

AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Baltimore Orioles 10953 0.673 — 60–21 49–32
Detroit Tigers 9072 0.556 19 46–35 44–37
Boston Red Sox 8775 0.537 22 46–35 41–40
Washington Senators 8676 0.531 23 47–34 39–42
New York Yankees 8081 0.497 28½ 48–32 32–49
Cleveland Indians 6299 0.385 46½ 33–48 29–51

Record vs. opponents

1969 American League records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIN NYY OAK SEP WSH
Baltimore —10–86–69–313–511–711–18–411–78–49–313–5
Boston 8–10—8–45–712–610–810–27–511–74–86–66–12
California 6–64–8—9–98–45–79–97–113–96–129–9–15–7
Chicago 3–97–59–9—8–43–98–105–133–98–1010–84–8
Cleveland 5–136–124–84–8—7–117–55–79–85–77–53–15
Detroit 7–118–107–59–311–7—8–46–610–87–510–27–11
Kansas City 1–112–109–910–85–74–8—8–105–7–18–1010–87–5
Minnesota 4–85–711–713–57–56–610–8—10–213–512–66–6
New York 7–117–119–39–38–98–107–5–12–10—6–67–510–8
Oakland 4–88–412–610–87–55–710–85–136–6—13–58–4
Seattle 3–96–69–9–18–105–72–108–106–125–75–13—7–5
Washington 5–1312–67–58–415–311–75–76–68–104–85–7—

Opening Day starters

President Richard Nixon throwing out the first pitch of the Senators' season in April 1969; manager Ted Williams is at left; owner Bob Short at right.

[2]

Notable transactions

Roster

1969 Washington Senators
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Game log

Regular season

1969 regular season game log: 86–76 (Home: 47–34; Away: 39–42)
April: 12–11 (Home: 5–5; Away: 7–6)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
1April 71:30 p.m. ESTYankeesL 4–8Stottlemyre (1–0)Pascual (0–1)–2:4745,1130–1L1
2April 98:05 p.m. ESTYankeesW 6–4Coleman (1–0)Bahnsen (0–1)–2:0015,1621–1W1
3April 101:30 p.m. ESTYankeesW 9–6Hannan (1–0)Peterson (0–1)Higgins (1)2:333,9712–1W2
4April 118:00 p.m. EST@ OriolesW 4–0Moore (1–0)Hardin (0–1)Higgins (2)2:158,4153–1W3
5April 122:15 p.m. EST@ OriolesL 0–9McNally (1–0)Pascual (0–2)–2:166,3793–2L1
6April 132:00 p.m. EST@ OriolesL 0–2Palmer (1–0)Coleman (1–1)–2:03–3–3L2
7April 134:38 p.m. EST@ OriolesL 0–9Phoebus (1–0)Bosman (0–1)–2:0720,4833–4L3
8April 152:00 p.m. EST@ YankeesL 2–8Peterson (1–1)Bertaina (0–1)–2:3213,8893–5L4
–April 16@ YankeesPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: April 17)
9April 171:00 p.m. EST@ YankeesL 3–7 (10)Stottlemyre (3–0)Higgins (0–1)–2:28–3–6L5
10April 174:03 p.m. EST@ YankeesW 5–2Moore (2–0)Bahnsen (0–3)Higgins (3)2:176,8834–6W1
11April 188:05 p.m. ESTOriolesL 0–6Phoebus (2–0)Coleman (1–2)–2:274,4574–7L1
12April 192:15 p.m. ESTOriolesW 7–5Bosman (1–1)Cuellar (0–2)Higgins (4)2:205,4955–7W1
13April 201:00 p.m. ESTOriolesL 1–2McNally (2–0)Hannan (1–1)Watt (2)2:52–5–8L1
14April 204:27 p.m. ESTOriolesW 5–2Bertaina (1–1)Hardin (0–2)Humphreys (1)2:1918,0556–8W1
15April 218:05 p.m. ESTTigersL 0–2Sparma (2–0)Moore (2–1)–2:153,8136–9L1
16April 228:05 p.m. ESTTigersL 2–4Hiller (1–0)Pascual (0–3)McMahon (3)2:484,9226–10L2
–April 24@ Red SoxPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: July 5)
21April 288:00 p.m. EDT@ TigersW 6–1Pascual (1–3)Wilson (1–3)Bosman (1)2:397,35311–10W5
22April 298:00 p.m. EDT@ TigersL 4–5Radatz (1–0)Bertaina (1–2)–2:246,98611–11L1
May: 12–16 (Home: 9–7; Away: 3–9)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
June: 14–12 (Home: 6–7; Away: 8–5)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
–June 15AngelsPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: September 2)
64June 178:05 p.m. EDTOriolesL 1–5Cuellar (0–2)Shellenback (1–2)–2:2622,13431–33L2
65June 188:05 p.m. EDTOriolesL 1–3Hardin (3–3)Moore (5–2)Hall (2)2:1110,42031–34L3
66June 198:05 p.m. EDTOriolesL 0–2McNally (10–0)Higgins (4–7)–2:0413,37631–35L4
67June 208:00 p.m. EDT@ TigersW 7–2 (10)Knowles (3–0)McMahon (1–4)–3:0727,72532–35W1
68June 211:15 p.m. EDT@ TigersL 5–9Lolich (8–1)Humphreys (1–2)–2:3125,34032–36L1
69June 221:30 p.m. EDT@ TigersW 9–4Higgins (5–7)Dobson (2–5)–2:51–33–36W1
70June 224:56 p.m. EDT@ TigersW 9–5 (6)Moore (6–2)Sparma (4–3)–1:5152,72134–36W2
71June 238:00 p.m. EDT@ OriolesL 3–5Palmer (9–2)Knowles (3–1)Richert (6)1:577,83034–37L1
72June 248:00 p.m. EDT@ OriolesL 3–6 (11)Hall (4–2)Shellenback (1–3)–3:0614,76334–38L2
73June 258:00 p.m. EDT@ OriolesW 11–8Humphreys (2–2)Hardin (3–4)Knowles (2)2:4111,13035–38W1
–June 30@ IndiansPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: July 1)
July: 16–15 (Home: 4–3; Away: 12–12)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
90July 118:05 p.m. EDTYankeesL 3–4Stottlemyre (13–6)Moore (7–4)–2:1322,25446–44L1
91July 122:15 p.m. EDTYankeesL 1–3Burbach (6–7)Bosman (6–3)Aker (7)2:3917,81846–45L2
92July 131:00 p.m. EDTYankeesW 5–4Cox (7–1)Peterson (9–11)–2:19–47–45W1
93July 133:54 p.m. EDTYankeesW 10–1Shellenback (2–4)Downing (1–3)–2:2231,70048–45W2
94July 148:05 p.m. EDTTigersW 3–0Coleman (6–7)Sparma (5–7)–2:5023,83149–45W3
95July 158:05 p.m. EDTTigersW 7–3Moore (8–4)Hiller (2–3)Baldwin (3)2:2816,12250–45W4
96July 168:05 p.m. EDTTigersL 0–3Lolich (8–1)Bosman (6–4)–2:2721,56850–46L1
97July 178:05 p.m. EDTTigersL 3–4Wilson (8–7)Cox (7–2)McMahon (8)2:3124,70150–47L2
98July 188:00 p.m. EDT@ YankeesL 0–5Peterson (10–11)Shellenback (2–5)–2:1311,00250–48L3
99July 195:00 p.m. EDT@ YankeesL 0–9Stottlemyre (14–7)Moore (8–5)–2:12–50–49L4
100July 197:47 p.m. EDT@ YankeesW 4–0Coleman (7–7)Bahnsen (5–11)–2:3716,54751–49W1
101July 202:00 p.m. EDT@ YankeesL 2–3 (11)Aker (5–2)Cox (7–3)–3:1732,93351–50L1
40th All-Star Game in Washington, DC
August: 14–11 (Home: 8–6; Away: 6–5)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
September: 17–11 (Home: 12–4; Away: 5–7)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
–September 8@ OriolesPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: September 9)
141September 98:00 p.m. EDT@ OriolesL 1–6Cuellar (21–10)Carlos (5–4)–2:25–72–69L1
142September 98:00 p.m. EDT@ OriolesL 2–3Phoebus (13–6)Coleman (10–13)Watt (14)2:3910,74772–70L2
143September 108:05 p.m. EDTYankeesW 6–1Bosman (12–5)Stottlemyre (18–13)–2:106,01673–70W1
144September 118:05 p.m. EDTYankeesW 7–3Hannan (6–5)Bahnsen (9–14)Knowles (12)2:105,38974–70W2
145September 128:05 p.m. EDTTigersW 4–3Cox (12–5)Wilson (12–10)–2:179,39875–70W3
146September 132:15 p.m. EDTTigersW 11–6Knowles (1–2)Timmermann (3–3)–2:569,92176–70W4
147September 141:30 p.m. EDTTigersL 4–7 (12)Dobson (5–10)Dukes (0–1)Hiller (4)3:5812,11476–71L1
148September 158:05 p.m. EDTOriolesW 3–2Humphreys (3–3)Palmer (14–3)–1:515,37677–71W1
149September 168:05 p.m. EDTOriolesL 0–1McNally (19–6)Hannan (6–6)Watt (16)2:418,16577–72L1
150September 178:00 p.m. EDT@ YankeesL 1–2 (5)Peterson (16–15)Cox (12–6)–1:175,02577–73L2
151September 188:00 p.m. EDT@ YankeesL 3–4Stottlemyre (19–13)Moore (8–8)–2:136,02077–74L3
–September 23@ TigersPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: September 24)
154September 245:30 p.m. EDT@ TigersW 8–4Hannan (7–6)McLain (23–9)Shellenback (1)2:38–79–75W1
155September 248:43 p.m. EDT@ TigersW 7–4Higgins (10–9)Lolich (18–10)Knowles (13)2:4414,03280–75

W2

156September 251:30 p.m. EDT@ TigersW 7–2Bosman (13–5)Kilkenny (7–6)–2:184,58981–75

W3

October: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Away: 0–0)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement
Bold = Senators team member

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

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

Pos Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI SB
CPaul Casanova1243792682.2164370
1BMike Epstein13140373112.27830852
2BBernie Allen1223653390.2479455
3BKen McMullen15856283153.27219874
SSEd Brinkman15157671153.2662432
LFFrank Howard161592111175.296481111
CFDel Unser15358169166.2867578
RFLee Maye712384169.2909261

[6]

Other batters

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

Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI SB
Hank Allen1092714275.27711712
Tim Cullen1192492252.2091151
Brant Alyea1042372959.24911401
Ed Stroud1232063552.25242912
Jim French631581429.1842131
Zoilo Versalles3175920.267061
Sam Bowens3357611.193041
Dick Billings273735.135000
Gary Holman413115.161020
Dick Smith212823.107000
Doug Camilli1301.333000
Toby Harrah8140.000000

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
Joe Coleman40247.212133.27182
Dick Bosman31193.01452.1999
Jim Hannan35158.1763.6472
Barry Moore31134.0984.3051
Camilo Pascual1455.1256.8334

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
Casey Cox52171.21272.7873
Jim Shellenback3084.2474.0450
Frank Bertaina1435.2136.5625
Cisco Carlos617.2114.585

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
Dennis Higgins55109163.4871
Darold Knowles5392132.2459
Bob Humphreys473353.0543
Dave Baldwin432444.0551
Jim Miles100106.2015
Jan Dukes80202.453
Frank Kreutzer40004.502

Awards and honors

  • Del Unser, American League Leader, Triples (8)[7]
  • Del Unser, American League Record, Fewest Triples in One Season by an American League Leader (8)[7]
  • Ted Williams, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Buffalo Bisons International League Héctor López
AA Savannah Senators Southern League Hub Kittle
A Burlington Senators Carolina League Buddy Hicks and Bill Haywood
A Shelby Senators Western Carolinas League Joe Klein
Rookie Wytheville Senators Appalachian League Dick Gernert

Savannah affiliation shared with Houston Astros

Notes

  1. ↑ John Orsino at Baseball-Reference
  2. ↑ "New York Yankees at Washington Senators Box Score, April 7, 1969".
  3. ↑ Dave Moates at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ Dave Criscione at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ Lee Maye at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ "1969 Washington Senators Statistics".
  7. 1 2 Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.96, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0

References

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