1969 Atlanta Braves season

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.

1969 Atlanta Braves
National League West Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record93–69 (.574)
Divisional place1st
Other information
OwnersWilliam Bartholomay
General managersPaul Richards
ManagersLum Harris
Local televisionWSB-TV
(Ernie Johnson, Milo Hamilton, Bob Uecker)
Local radioWSB
(Ernie Johnson, Milo Hamilton)
< Previous season     Next season >

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

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
NL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 9369 0.574 — 50–31 43–38
San Francisco Giants 9072 0.556 3 52–29 38–43
Cincinnati Reds 8973 0.549 4 50–31 39–42
Los Angeles Dodgers 8577 0.525 8 50–31 35–46
Houston Astros 8181 0.500 12 52–29 29–52
San Diego Padres 52110 0.321 41 28–53 24–57

Record vs. opponents
1969 National League record

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta —3–912–615–39–98–44–86–68–413–59–96–6
Chicago 9–3—6–6–18–46–610–88–1012–67–1111–16–69–9
Cincinnati 6–126–6–1—9–910–88–46–610–25–711–710–88–4
Houston 3–154–89–9—6–1211–110–28–43–910–810–87–5
Los Angeles 9–96–68–1012–6—10–24–88–48–412–65–133–9
Montreal 4–88–104–81–112–10—5–1311–75–134–81–117–11
New York 8–410–86–62–108–413–5—12–610–811–18–412–6
Philadelphia 6-66–122–104–84–87–116–12—10–88–43–97–11
Pittsburgh 4–811–77–59–34–813–58–108–10—10–25–79–9
San Diego 5–131–117–118–106–128–41–114–82–10—6–124–8
San Francisco 9–96–68–108–1013–511–14–89–37–512–6—3–9
St. Louis 6–69–94–85–79–311–76–1211–79–98–49–3—

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster
1969 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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
CBob Didier11435290.256032
1BOrlando Cepeda154573147.2572288
2BFélix Millán162652174.267657
3BClete Boyer144496124.2501457
SSSonny Jackson9831876.239127
LFRico Carty104304104.3421658
CFFelipe Alou123476134.282532
RFHank Aaron147547164.3004497

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 González8932094.2941050
Gil Garrido8222750.220010
Bob Aspromonte8219850.253324
Bob Tillman6919037.1951229
Mike Lum12116845.268122
Tito Francona518826.295222
Tommie Aaron496015.25015
Ralph Garr22276.22202
Darrell Evans12266.23101
Walt Hriniak771.14300
Dusty Baker370.00000
Oscar Brown741.25000
Jim Breazeale210.00000

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 Niekro40284.123132.56193
Ron Reed36241.118103.47160
Pat Jarvis37217.113114.43123
Milt Pappas26144.06103.6272
Mike McQueen13.0003.003
Garry Hill12.10115.432

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 Stone36165.113103.65102
Jim Britton2488.0753.7860
Ken Johnson929.0014.9720

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 Upshaw6264272.9157
Paul Doyle362042.0825
Claude Raymond332215.2515
Gary Neibauer291203.9042
Hoyt Wilhelm82040.7314
Larry Maxie20003.001
Bob Priddy10000.001
Rick Kester100013.502
Charlie Vaughan100018.001

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

All-Stars

1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

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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