1969 Cincinnati Reds
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkCrosley Field
CityCincinnati
OwnersFrancis L. Dale
General managersBob Howsam
ManagersDave Bristol
TelevisionWLW
(Ed Kennedy, Pee Wee Reese)
RadioWLW
(Jim McIntyre, Joe Nuxhall)
← 1968 Seasons 1970 →

The 1969 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. It consisted of the Reds finishing in third place in the newly established National League West, four games behind the National League West champion Atlanta Braves. The Reds were managed by Dave Bristol, and played their home games at Crosley Field, which was in its final full season of operation, before moving into their new facility in the middle of the following season. The Reds led the major leagues this year with 798 runs scored.

Offseason

Crosley Field, pictured in August 1969

Divisional alignment

1969 not only marked the 100th anniversary of the original Cincinnati Red Stockings being the first fully professional baseball team, but it also marked the first year of divisional play in Major League Baseball. The Reds (along with the Atlanta Braves) were placed in the National League West division, despite being located further east than the two westernmost teams in the NL East division, 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. A side effect of this alignment is that it set the stage for what is considered one of the greatest pennant races – and comebacks in such a race – in MLB history (see 1969 New York Mets season for more info).

Regular season

Season standings

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 record

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 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1969 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

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 Johnny Bench 148 532 156 .293 26 90
1B Lee May 158 607 169 .278 38 110
2B Tommy Helms 126 480 129 .269 1 40
SS Woody Woodward 97 241 63 .261 0 15
3B Tony Pérez 160 629 185 .294 37 122
LF Alex Johnson 139 523 165 .315 17 88
CF Bobby Tolan 152 637 194 .305 21 93
RF Pete Rose 156 627 218 .348 16 82

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
Jimmy Stewart 119 221 56 .253 4 24
Darrel Chaney 93 209 40 .191 0 15
Chico Ruiz 88 196 48 .245 0 13
Ted Savage 68 110 25 .227 2 11
Fred Whitfield 74 74 11 .149 1 8
Pat Corrales 29 72 19 .264 1 5
Jim Beauchamp 43 60 15 .250 1 8
Danny Breeden 3 8 1 .125 0 1
Bernie Carbo 4 3 0 .000 0 0
Mike de la Hoz 1 1 0 .000 0 0
Clyde Mashore 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
Jim Merritt 42 251.0 17 9 4.37 144
Tony Cloninger 35 189.2 11 17 5.03 103
Jim Maloney 30 178.2 12 5 2.77 102
Gary Nolan 16 108.2 8 8 3.56 83
Gerry Arrigo 20 91.0 4 7 4.15 35
Mel Queen 2 12.0 1 0 2.25 7

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
Jack Fisher 34 113.0 4 4 5.50 55
George Culver 32 101.1 5 7 4.26 58
Camilo Pascual 5 7.1 0 0 8.59 3

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
Wayne Granger 90 9 6 27 2.80 68
Clay Carroll 77 12 6 7 3.52 90
Pedro Ramos 38 4 3 2 5.16 40
Al Jackson 33 1 0 3 5.27 16
Dennis Ribant 7 0 0 0 1.08 7
José Peña 6 1 1 0 18.00 3
John Noriega 5 0 0 0 5.87 4
Bill Short 4 0 0 0 15.43 0

Awards and honors

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Indianapolis Indians American Association Vern Rapp
AA Asheville Tourists Southern League Alex Cosmidis
A Tampa Tarpons Florida State League Bunky Warren
A-Short Season Sioux Falls Packers Northern League Jim Snyder
Rookie GCL Reds Gulf Coast League George Scherger

[8]

Notes

  1. ^ Jimy Williams page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Jack Fisher page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ a b Bill Kelso page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Nardi Contreras page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Ken Griffey page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Al Jackson page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Dennis Ribant page at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

Categories