| 1969 Cleveland Indians | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | East | |||
| Ballpark | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | |||
| City | Cleveland,Ohio | |||
| Owners | Vernon Stouffer | |||
| General managers | Gabe Paul,Alvin Dark | |||
| Managers | Alvin Dark | |||
| Television | WJW-TV | |||
| Radio | WERE (1300) | |||
| ||||
The1969Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The club finished in last place in the newly establishedAmerican League East with a record of 62 wins and 99 losses. The 1969 season seemed hopeful before the season started, based on the Indians' modest 86–75 record the previous season, along with their solid pitching. However, a 1–15 start shattered any illusions of a successful season. Not helping, was that the Indians strong pitching the previous season fell apart. Luis Tiant fell to 9–20 in 1969 and didn't look like the same pitcher from 1968, when he went 21–9, with a 1.60 ERA. Sam McDowell stayed solid at the very least, going 18–14, with a 2.94 ERA.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Orioles | 109 | 53 | .673 | — | 60–21 | 49–32 |
| Detroit Tigers | 90 | 72 | .556 | 19 | 46–35 | 44–37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 87 | 75 | .537 | 22 | 46–35 | 41–40 |
| Washington Senators | 86 | 76 | .531 | 23 | 47–34 | 39–42 |
| New York Yankees | 80 | 81 | .497 | 28½ | 48–32 | 32–49 |
| Cleveland Indians | 62 | 99 | .385 | 46½ | 33–48 | 29–51 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEP | WSH | |
| Baltimore | — | 10–8 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 13–5 | 11–7 | 11–1 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 13–5 | |
| Boston | 8–10 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 10–2 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–12 | |
| California | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 9–9 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 6–12 | 9–9–1 | 5–7 | |
| Chicago | 3–9 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 8–4 | 3–9 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 3–9 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 4–8 | |
| Cleveland | 5–13 | 6–12 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 7–11 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 3–15 | |
| Detroit | 7–11 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 7–11 | |
| Kansas City | 1–11 | 2–10 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 5–7–1 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 7–5 | |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 10–8 | — | 10–2 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 6–6 | |
| New York | 7–11 | 7–11 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 8–9 | 8–10 | 7–5–1 | 2–10 | — | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–8 | |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 5–13 | 6–6 | — | 13–5 | 8–4 | |
| Seattle | 3–9 | 6–6 | 9–9–1 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 5–13 | — | 7–5 | |
| Washington | 5–13 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 15–3 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | |
| Opening Day Starters | ||
|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Position |
| 1 | José Cardenal | CF |
| 16 | Larry Brown | SS |
| 28 | Richie Scheinblum | RF |
| 11 | Tony Horton | 1B |
| 20 | Jimmie Hall | LF |
| 7 | Joe Azcue | C |
| 17 | Zoilo Versalles | 3B |
| 13 | Vern Fuller | 2B |
| 33 | Luis Tiant | P |
| 1969 Cleveland Indians | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Duke Sims | 114 | 326 | 77 | .236 | 18 | 45 |
| 1B | Tony Horton | 159 | 625 | 174 | .278 | 27 | 93 |
| 2B | Vern Fuller | 108 | 254 | 60 | .236 | 4 | 22 |
| SS | Larry Brown | 132 | 469 | 112 | .239 | 4 | 24 |
| 3B | Max Alvis | 66 | 191 | 43 | .225 | 1 | 15 |
| LF | Frank Baker | 52 | 172 | 44 | .256 | 3 | 15 |
| CF | José Cardenal | 146 | 557 | 143 | .257 | 11 | 45 |
| RF | Ken Harrelson | 149 | 519 | 115 | .222 | 27 | 84 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russ Snyder | 122 | 266 | 66 | .248 | 2 | 24 |
| Lou Klimchock | 90 | 258 | 74 | .287 | 6 | 26 |
| Zoilo Versalles | 72 | 217 | 49 | .226 | 1 | 13 |
| Eddie Leon | 64 | 213 | 51 | .239 | 3 | 19 |
| Richie Scheinblum | 102 | 199 | 37 | .186 | 1 | 13 |
| Dave Nelson | 52 | 123 | 25 | .203 | 0 | 6 |
| Chuck Hinton | 94 | 121 | 31 | .256 | 3 | 19 |
| Ray Fosse | 37 | 116 | 20 | .172 | 2 | 9 |
| Cap Peterson | 76 | 110 | 25 | .227 | 1 | 14 |
| Lee Maye | 43 | 108 | 27 | .250 | 1 | 15 |
| Ken Suarez | 36 | 85 | 25 | .294 | 1 | 9 |
| Joe Azcue | 7 | 24 | 7 | .292 | 1 | 1 |
| Russ Nagelson | 12 | 17 | 6 | .353 | 0 | 0 |
| Lou Camilli | 13 | 14 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jimmie Hall | 4 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Heidemann | 3 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| = Indicates league leader |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam McDowell | 39 | 285.0 | 18 | 14 | 2.94 | 279 |
| Luis Tiant | 38 | 249.2 | 9 | 20 | 3.71 | 156 |
| Sonny Siebert | 2 | 14.0 | 0 | 1 | 3.21 | 6 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stan Williams | 61 | 178.1 | 6 | 14 | 3.94 | 139 |
| Steve Hargan | 32 | 143.2 | 5 | 14 | 5.70 | 76 |
| Dick Ellsworth | 34 | 135.0 | 6 | 9 | 4.13 | 48 |
| Mike Paul | 47 | 117.1 | 5 | 10 | 3.61 | 98 |
| Gary Boyd | 8 | 11.0 | 0 | 2 | 9.00 | 9 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juan Pizarro | 48 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3.16 | 44 |
| Ron Law | 35 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4.99 | 29 |
| Horacio Piña | 31 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5.21 | 32 |
| Larry Burchart | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4.25 | 26 |
| Jack Hamilton | 20 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4.40 | 13 |
| Gary Kroll | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.13 | 28 |
| Phil Hennigan | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.31 | 10 |
| Vicente Romo | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.25 | 7 |
Statesville franchise moved to Monroe, June 20, 1969[9]