1969 Oakland Athletics season

1969 Oakland Athletics
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (since 1968)
Oakland, California (since 1968)
Results
Record	88–74 (.543)
Other information
Owner(s)	Charles O. Finley
Manager(s)	Hank Bauer, John McNamara
Local television	KBHK
Local radio	KNBR (Monte Moore, Al Helfer)
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The 1969 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's compiling a record of 88 wins and 74 losses. With its expansion to 12 teams in 1969, the American League had been divided into two 6-team divisions. In their first year in the newly established American League West, the Athletics finished second, nine games behind the Minnesota Twins. It was the first time they had finished in the first division since 1952. Paid attendance for the season was 778,232.^[1]

Offseason

• October 15, 1968: Joe Keough was drafted from the Athletics by the Kansas City Royals as the 8th pick in the 1968 MLB expansion draft.^[2]
• December 2, 1968: Darrell Evans was drafted from the Athletics by the Atlanta Braves in the 1968 rule 5 draft.^[3]

Regular season

• Reggie Jackson hit 47 home runs in 1969, and was briefly ahead of the pace that Roger Maris set when he broke the single-season record for home runs with 61 in 1961, and that of Babe Ruth when he set the previous record of 60 in 1927.
• The club ranked second in the American League Western division. With 13 games left in the season, Hank Bauer was replaced as Field Manager by John McNamara. McNamara compiled a won loss record of 8–5 to help the A's finish with 88 wins and 74 losses. An improved of six wins compared to the past season.

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Minnesota Twins	97	65	0.599	—	57–24	40–41
Oakland Athletics	88	74	0.543	9	49–32	39–42
California Angels	71	91	0.438	26	43–38	28–53
Kansas City Royals	69	93	0.426	28	36–45	33–48
Chicago White Sox	68	94	0.420	29	41–40	27–54
Seattle Pilots	64	98	0.395	33	34–47	30–51

Record vs. opponents

1969 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	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

• Sal Bando
• Bert Campaneris
• Danny Cater
• Dave Duncan
• Dick Green
• Mike Hershberger
• Reggie Jackson
• Rick Monday
• Blue Moon Odom ^[4]

Notable transactions

• June 5, 1969: 1969 Major League Baseball Draft (June Draft) notable picks:^[5]

Round 1: Don Stanhouse (9th pick).^[6]

Round 2: Tommy Sandt

Round 3: Steve Lawson

Round 6: Jim Sundberg (did not sign)^[7]

Round 8: Glenn Abbott

Round 13: John Stearns (did not sign)

Round 19: Charlie Chant

• June 14, 1969: John Donaldson was traded by the Athletics to the Seattle Pilots for Larry Haney.^[8]

Reggie Jackson

In the offseason, Jackson demanded a salary increase from $10,000 to $25,000. Jackson would settle at $20,000. Reggie Jackson hit two home runs versus the Washington Senators, with President Richard Nixon in the crowd.^[9] By July 1, the A's had played in 71 games and Jackson had hit 30 home runs, 62 RBI, .287 batting average and a 1.145 OPS.^[10] On July 2, Reggie Jackson would hit three home runs versus the Seattle Pilots to raise his season total to 34 home runs. He was on pace to break the home run record set by Roger Maris eight years earlier. By the end of July, Jackson had 40 home runs but he only hit 5 home runs in August. In September, Jackson was hospitalized with a skin rash and was only able to hit 2 home runs.^[11] Jackson still managed to lead the American League with 123 runs scored.^[12]

Roster

1969 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 21 Vida Blue 29 Chuck Dobson 34 Rollie Fingers 27 Catfish Hunter 20 Lew Krausse 16,24 Marcel Lachemann 28 George Lauzerique 25 Paul Lindblad 30 Jim Nash 13 Blue Moon Odom 42 Juan Pizarro 33 Jim Roland 22 Ed Sprague 17 Fred Talbot 11 John Wyatt		Catchers 10 Dave Duncan 12 Larry Haney 17 Jim Pagliaroni  4 Phil Roof 24 Gene Tenace Infielders  6 Sal Bando 19 Bert Campaneris  2 Danny Cater 12 John Donaldson 36 Tito Francona  1 Dick Green 32 Bob Johnson 14 Ted Kubiak 23,31 Ray Webster		Outfielders 15 Bobby Brooks  3 Mike Hershberger  9 Reggie Jackson 37 Bill McNulty  7 Rick Monday 24 Joe Nossek 35 Tommie Reynolds 26 Joe Rudi 31 José Tartabull Other batters 11 Tony La Russa 8,36 Allan Lewis		Manager 42 Hank Bauer 11 John McNamara Coaches  5 Joe DiMaggio 43 Bobby Hofman 44 Vern Hoscheit 41 John McNamara 40 Bill Posedel

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	Roof, PhilPhil Roof	106	247	58	.235	2	19
1B	Cater, DannyDanny Cater	152	584	153	.262	10	76
2B	Green, DickDick Green	136	483	133	.275	12	64
3B	Bando, SalSal Bando	162	609	171	.281	31	113
SS	Campaneris, BertBert Campaneris	135	547	142	.260	2	25
LF	Reynolds, TommieTommie Reynolds	107	315	81	.257	2	20
CF	Monday, RickRick Monday	122	399	108	.271	12	54
RF	Jackson, ReggieReggie Jackson	152	549	151	.275	47	118

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
Kubiak, TedTed Kubiak	92	305	76	.249	2	27
Tartabull, JoséJosé Tartabull	75	266	71	.267	0	11
Hershberger, MikeMike Hershberger	51	129	26	.202	1	10
Duncan, DaveDave Duncan	58	127	16	.126	3	22
Rudi, JoeJoe Rudi	35	122	23	.189	2	6
Haney, LarryLarry Haney	53	86	13	.151	2	12
Francona, TitoTito Francona	32	85	29	.341	3	20
Brooks, BobbyBobby Brooks	29	79	19	.241	3	10
Webster, RayRay Webster	64	77	20	.260	1	13
Johnson, BobBob Johnson	51	67	23	.343	1	9
Tenace, GeneGene Tenace	16	38	6	.158	1	2
Pagliaroni, JimJim Pagliaroni	14	27	4	.148	1	2
McNulty, BillBill McNulty	5	17	0	.000	0	0
Donaldson, JohnJohn Donaldson	12	13	1	.077	0	0
La Russa, TonyTony La Russa	8	8	0	.000	0	0
Nossek, JoeJoe Nossek	13	6	0	.000	0	0
Lewis, AllanAllan Lewis	12	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
Hunter, CatfishCatfish Hunter	38	247	12	15	3.35	150
Dobson, ChuckChuck Dobson	35	235.1	15	13	3.86	137
Odom, Blue MoonBlue Moon Odom	32	231.1	15	6	2.92	150
Nash, JimJim Nash	26	115.1	8	8	3.67	75

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
Krausse, LewLew Krausse	43	140	7	7	4.44	85
Lauzerique, GeorgeGeorge Lauzerique	19	61.1	3	4	4.70	39
Blue, VidaVida Blue	12	42	1	1	6.64	24
Talbot, FredFred Talbot	12	19	1	2	5.21	9

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
Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers	60	6	7	12	3.71	61
Lindblad, PaulPaul Lindblad	60	9	6	9	4.14	64
Roland, JimJim Roland	39	5	1	1	2.19	48
Lachemann, MarcelMarcel Lachemann	28	4	1	2	3.95	16
Sprague, EdEd Sprague	27	1	1	2	4.47	20
Wyatt, JohnJohn Wyatt	4	0	1	0	5.40	5
Pizarro, JuanJuan Pizarro	3	1	1	1	2.35	4

^[13]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Iowa Oaks	American Association	Jimmy Williams
AA	Birmingham A's	Southern League	Gus Niarhos
A	Lodi Crushers	California League	Billy Klaus and Eli Grba
A	Burlington Bees	Midwest League	Roy Sievers
A-Short Season	Tri-City A's	Northwest League	Billy Herman

References

1. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.126, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
2. Joe Keough page at Baseball Reference
3. Darrell Evans page at Baseball Reference
4. http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1969&t=OAK
5. 1969 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
6. Don Stanhouse page at Baseball Reference
7. Jim Sundberg page at Baseball Reference
8. John Donaldson page at Baseball Reference
9. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.129, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
10. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.129, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
11. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.130, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
12. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.131, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
13. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/OAK/1969.shtml

External links

• 1969 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 1969 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com