| 1969 Atlanta Braves | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National League West champions | ||||
| League | National League | |||
| Division | West | |||
| Ballpark | Atlanta Stadium | |||
| City | Atlanta | |||
| Record | 93–69 (.574) | |||
| Divisional place | 1st | |||
| Owners | William Bartholomay | |||
| General managers | Paul Richards | |||
| Managers | Lum Harris | |||
| Television | WSB-TV (Ernie Johnson,Milo Hamilton,Bob Uecker) | |||
| Radio | WSB (Ernie Johnson,Milo Hamilton) | |||
| ||||
The1969 Atlanta Braves season was the fourth inAtlanta and the 99th overall season of the franchise. TheNational League had been split into two divisions before the season, with the Braves somewhat incongruously being assigned to theNational League West. The Braves finished with a record of 93–69, winning the first ever NL West title by three games over theSan Francisco Giants.
After the season, the Braves played in the first inter-divisionalNational League Championship Series. They went on to lose theNLCS to the eventual World ChampionNew York Mets, three games to none.
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(October 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The 1969 season marked the first year of divisional play inMajor League Baseball. The Braves (along with theCincinnati Reds) were placed in the National League West division, despite being located further east than the two westernmost teams in the newNational League East, theChicago Cubs andSt. Louis Cardinals. This was because theNew 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 theDodgers andGiants 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.
Second basemanFélix Millán started the All-Star Game, along withright fielderHank Aaron, and won his firstGold Glove.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Braves | 93 | 69 | .574 | — | 50–31 | 43–38 |
| San Francisco Giants | 90 | 72 | .556 | 3 | 52–29 | 38–43 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 89 | 73 | .549 | 4 | 50–31 | 39–42 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 85 | 77 | .525 | 8 | 50–31 | 35–46 |
| Houston Astros | 81 | 81 | .500 | 12 | 52–29 | 29–52 |
| San Diego Padres | 52 | 110 | .321 | 41 | 28–53 | 24–57 |
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 | — | |||||
| 1969 Atlanta Braves | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders | Manager Coaches | ||||||
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 |
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 Aspromonte | 82 | 198 | 50 | .253 | 3 | 24 |
| Bob Tillman | 69 | 190 | 37 | .195 | 12 | 29 |
| 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 |
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 | 144.0 | 6 | 10 | 3.62 | 72 |
| Mike McQueen | 1 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 3 |
| Garry Hill | 1 | 2.1 | 0 | 1 | 15.43 | 2 |
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 | 88.0 | 7 | 5 | 3.78 | 60 |
| Ken Johnson | 9 | 29.0 | 0 | 1 | 4.97 | 20 |
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 |
| 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 | |||||||
1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenwood
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Franchise | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ballparks |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Culture | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lore |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rivalries | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Key personnel |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Series Championships (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National League Championships (18) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World's Championship Series Championships (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National Association Championships (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Division titles (23) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wild card berths (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minor league affiliates |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
