1969 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1969 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Forbes Field (since 1909)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (since 1907)
Other information
Owner(s)	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas Johnson (minority shareholders)
General manager(s)	Joe L. Brown
Manager(s)	Larry Shepard, Alex Grammas
Local television	KDKA-TV Bob Prince, Jim Woods, Nellie King
Local radio	KDKA Bob Prince, Jim Woods, Nellie King
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The 1969 Pittsburgh Pirates season was a season in American baseball. It consisted of the Pirates finishing in third place in the newly established National League East, twelve games behind the eventual World Series champion New York Mets. The Pirates were managed by Larry Shepard, and played their home games at Forbes Field, which was in its final full season of operation, before moving into their new facility in the middle of the following season.

Offseason

• October 14, 1968: Maury Wills was drafted from the Pirates by the Montreal Expos as the 21st pick in the 1968 MLB expansion draft.
• January 15, 1969: Manny Jiménez was traded by the Pirates to the Chicago Cubs for Joe Campbell and Chuck Hartenstein.

Regular season

• August 6, 1969: Willie Stargell hit a home run out of Dodger Stadium.

Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Mets	100	62	0.617	—	52–30	48–32
Chicago Cubs	92	70	0.568	8	49–32	43–38
Pittsburgh Pirates	88	74	0.543	12	47–34	41–40
St. Louis Cardinals	87	75	0.537	13	42–38	45–37
Philadelphia Phillies	63	99	0.389	37	30–51	33–48
Montreal Expos	52	110	0.321	48	24–57	28–53

Record vs. opponents

1969 National League Records 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

• June 5, 1969: Pedro Ramos was released by the Pirates.
• July 30, 1969: Bo Belinsky was purchased by the Pirates from the California Angels.

Roster

1969 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers 25 Bo Belinsky 28 Steve Blass 45 Frank Brosseau 14 Jim Bunning 43 Bruce Dal Canton 40 Dock Ellis 24 Gene Garber 19 Joe Gibbon 42 Chuck Hartenstein 27 Ron Kline 29 Lou Marone 38 Bob Moose 19,29 Pedro Ramos 19 Jim Shellenback 39 Bob Veale 23 Luke Walker		Catchers 10 Gary Kolb 12 Jerry May 35 Manny Sanguillén Infielders 22 Gene Alley 30 Dave Cash 20 Richie Hebner 15 José Martínez  9 Bill Mazeroski 16 Al Oliver 11 José Pagán  2 Freddie Patek 25,27 Bob Robertson		Outfielders 18 Matty Alou 21 Roberto Clemente  3 Ron Davis 14 Johnny Jeter 31 Ángel Mangual  8 Willie Stargell 44 Carl Taylor		Manager  5 Alex Grammas  7 Larry Shepard Coaches  5 Alex Grammas 32 Vern Law  6 Don Leppert  4 Bill Virdon

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	Manny Sanguillén	129	459	139	.303	5	57
1B	Al Oliver	129	463	132	.285	17	70
2B	Bill Mazeroski	67	227	52	.229	3	25
3B
SS

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
José Martínez	77	168	45	.268	1	16

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
Steve Blass	38	210	16	10	4.46	147

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
Bo Belinsky	8	17.2	0	3	4.58	15

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
Chuck Hartenstein	56	5	4	10	3.95	44
Frank Brosseau	2	0	0	0	10.80	2

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Jets	International League	Don Hoak
AA	York Pirates	Eastern League	Joe Morgan
A	Salem Rebels	Carolina League	Chuck Hiller
A	Gastonia Pirates	Western Carolinas League	Frank Oceak
Short-Season A	Geneva Pirates	New York-Penn League	Bob Clear
Rookie	GCL Pirates	Gulf Coast League	Buddy Pritchard

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: York

References

• 1969 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
• 1969 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac