Wikipedia

1969 Los Angeles Dodgers season

The 1969 Los Angeles Dodgers finished in fourth place in the new National League West, eight games behind the Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers' record for 1969 was 85–77, which was nine wins better than 1968.

1969 Los Angeles Dodgers
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkDodger Stadium
CityLos Angeles
OwnersWalter O'Malley, James Mulvey
PresidentWalter O'Malley
General managersAl Campanis
ManagersWalter Alston
TelevisionKTTV (11)
RadioKFI
Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett
KWKW
Jose Garcia, Jaime Jarrín
← 1968 Seasons 1970 →

Offseason

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Regular season

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After finishing 8th in 1967 and 7th in 1968, the Dodgers looked to improve in 1969 with the addition of youngsters Ted Sizemore, Bill Sudakis, and by obtaining Tom Haller in a trade. The Dodgers started fast and on June 10, they were in 2nd place at 31–22, 1 game back in a wild 5 team N.L. West race. On June 11, they reacquired Maury Wills in a trade, and obtained Manny Mota in the same deal for Ron Fairly and Paul Popovich. By July 16, they were in 1st place, and after beating the Mets on September 3, they were in second place, 1 game back. Centerfielder Willie Davis had just extended his club record 31 game hitting streak. They headed to San Diego to face the expansion Padres in a 4-game series and disaster struck. They scored 4 runs in 4 games, lost 4 in a row, and Davis had his hitting streak stopped in the first game. They left San Diego in 4th place, still only 2+1⁄2 games out. They rebounded somewhat, and when they beat the Atlanta Braves on September 18, they were one-half game behind co-leaders Atlanta and the San Francisco Giants as they headed to San Francisco. The pressure of the season long five team pennant race got to this young team, as they lost 10 of their next 11 games, ultimately finishing 85–77, 8 games behind division winning Atlanta.

Impact

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While they did not win the division, the 1969 Dodgers marked the start of a turnaround for the franchise. After finishing 8th and 7th in 1967 and 1968 respectively, they would not finish in the bottom half of the standings again until 1984. Ted Sizemore won the rookie of the year award, and other youngsters like Steve Garvey, Bill Russell, Von Joshua, Bobby Valentine, and Bill Buckner contributed in back up roles. Waiting in the wings in the minors were Ron Cey, Davey Lopes, Tom Paciorek, and manager Tommy Lasorda.

Season standings

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NL West
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

Record vs. opponents

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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 —


Opening Day lineup

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Opening Day starters
Name Position
Willie Crawford Center fielder
Len Gabrielson Right fielder
Bill Sudakis Third baseman
Ron Fairly First baseman
Andy Kosco Left fielder
Tom Haller Catcher
Jim Lefebvre Second baseman
Ted Sizemore Shortstop
Don Drysdale Starting pitcher

Notable transactions

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Roster

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1969 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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 Tom Haller 134 445 117 .263 6 39
1B Wes Parker 132 471 131 .278 13 68
2B Ted Sizemore 159 590 160 .271 4 46
3B Bill Sudakis 132 462 108 .234 14 53
SS Maury Wills 104 434 129 .297 4 39
LF Manny Mota 85 294 95 .323 3 30
CF Willie Davis 129 498 155 .311 11 59
RF Andy Kosco 120 424 105 .248 19 74

Other batters

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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
Willie Crawford 129 389 96 .247 11 41
Jim Lefebvre 95 275 65 .236 4 44
Bill Russell 98 212 48 .226 5 15
Len Gabrielson 83 178 48 .270 1 18
Jeff Torborg 51 124 23 .185 0 7
Billy Grabarkewitz 34 65 6 .092 0 5
Ron Fairly 30 64 14 .219 0 8
Paul Popovich 28 50 10 .200 0 4
Tommy Hutton 16 48 13 .271 0 4
John Miller 26 38 8 .211 1 1
Ken Boyer 25 34 7 .206 0 4
Bob Stinson 4 8 3 .375 0 2
Von Joshua 14 8 2 .250 0 0
Steve Garvey 3 3 1 .333 0 0
Bill Buckner 1 1 0 .000 0 0
Bobby Valentine 5 0 0 ---- 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Claude Osteen 41 321.0 20 15 2.66 183
Bill Singer 41 315.2 20 12 2.34 247
Don Sutton 41 293.1 17 18 3.47 217
Don Drysdale 12 62.2 5 4 4.45 24
Jim Bunning 9 56.1 3 1 3.36 33

Other pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Alan Foster 24 102.2 3 9 4.38 59
Joe Moeller 23 51.1 1 0 3.33 25

Relief pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Jim Brewer 59 7 6 20 2.55 92
Pete Mikkelsen 48 7 5 4 2.77 51
Al McBean 31 2 6 4 3.91 26
Ray Lamb 10 0 1 1 1.80 11
John Purdin 9 0 0 0 6.06 6
Bobby Darwin 3 0 0 0 9.82 0
Jack Jenkins 1 0 0 0 0.00 1

Awards and honors

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All-Stars

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Farm system

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See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Spokane Indians Pacific Coast League Tommy Lasorda
AA Albuquerque Dodgers Texas League Del Crandall
A Bakersfield Dodgers California League Don LeJohn
A Daytona Beach Dodgers Florida State League Bob Shaw
A Rogue Valley Dodgers Northwest League Bill Berrier
Rookie Ogden Dodgers Pioneer League Ray Malgradi

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rogue Valley, Ogden

1969 Major League Baseball Draft

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Main article: 1969 Major League Baseball Draft

This was the fifth year of a Major League Baseball Draft. The Dodgers drafted 47 players in the June draft and 11 in the January draft.

The Dodgers first round selection in the June draft, High School Catcher Terry McDermott did make it to the Majors, in 1972, but played only 9 games.

The only player from this draft class who made any impact in the Majors was Lee Lacy, who was drafted twice this year... as a third baseman in the January draft and as a pitcher in the June draft. He was primarily an outfielder in the Majors, and played through 1987 with the Dodgers, Braves, Pirates and Orioles.

Notes

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  1. ^ Bob Bailey page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Pete Mikkelsen page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Mike Kekich page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Jim Campanis page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Ted Savage page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Tommy Dean page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Dodgers finally bring Wills back home
  8. ^ Chuck Goggin page at Baseball Reference
  9. ^ Jack Jenkins page at Baseball Reference
  10. ^ 1969 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Regular Phase
  11. ^ 1969 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase
  12. ^ 1969 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
  13. ^ 1969 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase

References

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