1969 Detroit Tigers season
Major League Baseball season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1969 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 69th season and the 58th season at Tiger Stadium. The team finished a distant second in the newly established American League East with a record of 90–72, 19 games behind the Baltimore Orioles.
| 1969 Detroit Tigers | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Division | East |
| Ballpark | Tiger Stadium |
| City | Detroit, Michigan |
| Owners | John Fetzer |
| General managers | Jim Campbell |
| Managers | Mayo Smith |
| Television | WJBK (George Kell, Larry Osterman) |
| Radio | WJR (Ernie Harwell, Ray Lane) |
Offseason
- October 15, 1968: Dick Drago was drafted from the Tigers by the Kansas City Royals as the 31st pick in the 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft.[1]
- December 15, 1968: Dennis Ribant was purchased from the Tigers by the Kansas City Royals.[2]
- February 1, 1969: John Young was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (16th pick) of the 1969 Major League Baseball draft (secondary phase).[3]
Regular season
Season standings
| 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 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | WAS | |
| 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 | — | |
Notable transactions
- June 14, 1969: Ron Woods was traded by the Tigers to the New York Yankees for Tom Tresh.[4]
- August 8, 1969: Don McMahon was traded by the Tigers to the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named later. The Giants completed the deal by sending César Gutiérrez to the Tigers on September 2.[5]
Roster
| 1969 Detroit Tigers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
Batting
| = Indicates team leader |
Starters by position
Note: 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 | Bill Freehan | 143 | 489 | 128 | .262 | 16 | 49 |
| 1B | Norm Cash | 143 | 483 | 135 | .280 | 22 | 74 |
| 2B | Dick McAuliffe | 74 | 262 | 71 | .262 | 11 | 33 |
| SS | Tom Tresh | 94 | 331 | 74 | .224 | 13 | 37 |
| 3B | Don Wert | 132 | 423 | 95 | .225 | 14 | 50 |
| LF | Willie Horton | 141 | 508 | 133 | .262 | 28 | 91 |
| CF | Jim Northrup | 148 | 543 | 160 | .295 | 25 | 66 |
| RF | Al Kaline | 131 | 456 | 124 | .272 | 21 | 69 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mickey Stanley | 149 | 592 | 139 | .235 | 16 | 70 |
| Tom Matchick | 94 | 298 | 72 | .242 | 0 | 32 |
| Jim Price | 72 | 192 | 45 | .234 | 9 | 28 |
| Ike Brown | 70 | 170 | 39 | .229 | 5 | 12 |
| Gates Brown | 60 | 93 | 19 | .204 | 1 | 6 |
| Dick Tracewski | 66 | 79 | 11 | .139 | 0 | 4 |
| César Gutiérrez | 17 | 49 | 12 | .245 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Campbell | 32 | 39 | 4 | .103 | 0 | 2 |
| Ron Woods | 17 | 15 | 4 | .267 | 1 | 3 |
| Wayne Redmond | 5 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
| = Indicates league leader |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denny McLain | 42 | 325.0 | 24 | 9 | 2.80 | 181 |
| Mickey Lolich | 37 | 280.2 | 19 | 11 | 3.14 | 271 |
| Earl Wilson | 35 | 214.2 | 12 | 10 | 3.31 | 150 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Kilkenny | 39 | 128.1 | 8 | 6 | 3.37 | 97 |
| Pat Dobson | 49 | 105.0 | 5 | 10 | 3.60 | 64 |
| John Hiller | 40 | 99.1 | 4 | 4 | 3.99 | 74 |
| Joe Sparma | 23 | 92.2 | 6 | 8 | 4.76 | 41 |
| Bob Reed | 8 | 14.2 | 0 | 0 | 1.84 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don McMahon | 34 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 3.89 | 38 |
| Fred Lasher | 32 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.07 | 26 |
| Tom Timmermann | 31 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2.75 | 42 |
| Daryl Patterson | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.82 | 12 |
| Dick Radatz | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3.38 | 18 |
| Gary Taylor | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.23 | 3 |
| Fred Scherman | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 3 |
| Norm McRae | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 3 |
