1969 Atlanta Braves season

The 1969 Atlanta Braves season was a season in American baseball. The National League had been split into two divisions before the season, with the Braves somewhat incongruously being assigned to the National League West. The Braves finished with a record of 93-69, winning the first ever NL West division title by three games over the San Francisco Giants.

After the season, the Braves played in the first-ever inter-divisional National League Championship Series. They went on to lose the NLCS to the eventual World Champion New York Mets, three games to none.

Offseason

The new National League

The 1969 season marked the first year of divisional play in Major League Baseball. The Braves (along with the Cincinnati Reds) were placed in the NL West division, despite being located further east than the 2 westernmost teams in the new National League East, the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. This was because the New York Mets wanted to be in the same division as the reigning power in the NL, which were the Cardinals at the time (to compensate for playing against the Dodgers and Giants fewer times each season). The Cubs consequently demanded to be in the NL East as well in order to continue playing in the same division as the Cardinals, one of the Cubs' biggest rivals.

Notable transactions

October 14, 1968: 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft
- Al Santorini was drafted from the Braves by the San Diego Padres with the 7th pick.^[1]
- Skip Guinn was drafted from the Braves by the Montreal Expos with the 17th pick.^[2]
- Carl Morton was drafted from the Braves by the Expos with the 45th pick.^[3]
- Cito Gaston was drafted from the Braves by the Padres with the 59th pick.^[4]
December 2, 1968: Darrell Evans was drafted by the Braves from the Oakland Athletics in the 1968 rule 5 draft.^[5]
March 17, 1969: Joe Torre was traded by the Braves to the St. Louis Cardinals for Orlando Cepeda.^[6]

Regular season

Second baseman Félix Millán started the All-Star Game, along with right fielder Hank Aaron, and won his first Gold Glove.

Season standings

NL West	W	L	GB	Pct.
Atlanta Braves	93	69	--	.574
San Francisco Giants	90	72	3	.556
Cincinnati Reds	89	73	4	.549
Los Angeles Dodgers	85	77	8	.525
Houston Astros	81	81	12	.500
San Diego Padres	52	110	41	.321

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

June 5, 1969: Larvell Blanks was drafted by the Braves in the 3rd round of the 1969 Major League Baseball Draft.^[7]
June 13, 1969: Van Kelly, Walt Hriniak and Andy Finlay (minors) were traded by the Braves to the San Diego Padres for Tony González.^[8]
August 19, 1969: Claude Raymond was purchased from the Braves by the Montreal Expos.^[9]
September 8, 1969: Mickey Rivers and Clint Compton were traded by the Braves to the California Angels for Hoyt Wilhelm and Bob Priddy.^[10]
September 11, 1969: Chico Ruiz was signed as an amateur free agent by the Braves.^[11]

Roster

1969 Atlanta Braves

Roster

Pitchers

42 Jim Britton
45 Paul Doyle
22 Garry Hill
33 Pat Jarvis
30 Ken Johnson
37 Rick Kester
23 Larry Maxie
22 Mike McQueen
31 Gary Neibauer
35 Phil Niekro
32 Milt Pappas
37 Bob Priddy
36 Claude Raymond
38 Ron Reed
40 George Stone
34 Cecil Upshaw
43 Charlie Vaughan
39 Hoyt Wilhelm

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

26 Lum Harris

Coaches

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	Didier, BobBob Didier	114	352	90	.256	0	32
1B	Cepeda, OrlandoOrlando Cepeda	154	573	147	.257	22	88
2B	Millán, FélixFélix Millán	162	652	174	.267	6	57
3B	Boyer, CleteClete Boyer	144	496	124	.250	14	57
SS	Jackson, SonnySonny Jackson	98	318	76	.239	1	27
LF	Carty, RicoRico Carty	104	304	104	.342	16	58
CF	Alou, FelipeFelipe Alou	123	476	134	.282	5	32
RF	Aaron, HankHank Aaron	147	547	164	.300	44	97

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
González, TonyTony González	89	320	94	.294	10	50
Garrido, GilGil Garrido	82	227	50	.220	0	10
Tillman, BobBob Tillman	69	190	37	.195	12	29
Aspromonte, BobBob Aspromonte	82	198	50	.253	3	24
Lum, MikeMike Lum	121	168	45	.268	1	22
Francona, TitoTito Francona	51	88	26	.295	2	22
Aaron, TommieTommie Aaron	49	60	15	.250	1	5
Garr, RalphRalph Garr	22	27	6	.222	0	2
Evans, DarrellDarrell Evans	12	26	6	.231	0	1
Hriniak, WaltWalt Hriniak	7	7	1	.143	0	0
Baker, DustyDusty Baker	3	7	0	.000	0	0
Brown, OscarOscar Brown	7	4	1	.250	0	0
Breazeale, JimJim Breazeale	2	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
Niekro, PhilPhil Niekro	40	284.1	23	13	2.56	193
Reed, RonRon Reed	36	241.1	18	10	3.47	160
Jarvis, PatPat Jarvis	37	217.1	13	11	4.43	123
Pappas, MiltMilt Pappas	26	144	6	10	3.62	72
McQueen, MikeMike McQueen	1	3	0	0	3.00	3
Hill, GarryGarry Hill	1	2.1	0	1	15.43	2

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
Stone, GeorgeGeorge Stone	36	165.1	13	10	3.65	102
Britton, JimJim Britton	24	88	7	5	3.78	60
Johnson, KenKen Johnson	9	29	0	1	4.97	20

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
Upshaw, CecilCecil Upshaw	62	6	4	27	2.91	57
Doyle, PaulPaul Doyle	36	2	0	4	2.08	25
Raymond, ClaudeClaude Raymond	33	2	2	1	5.25	15
Neibauer, GaryGary Neibauer	29	1	2	0	3.90	42
Wilhelm, HoytHoyt Wilhelm	8	2	0	4	0.73	14
Maxie, LarryLarry Maxie	2	0	0	0	3.00	1
Priddy, BobBob Priddy	1	0	0	0	0.00	1
Kester, RickRick Kester	1	0	0	0	13.50	2
Vaughn, CharlieCharlie Vaughn	1	0	0	0	18.00	1

Postseason

National League Championship Series

Main article: 1969 National League Championship Series

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Score	Record (NYM-ATL)	Attendance
1	October 4	New York	9	Atlanta	5	1-0	50,122
2	October 5	New York	11	Atlanta	6	2-0	50,270
3	October 6	Atlanta	4	New York	7	3-0	53,195
NYM won 3, ATL won 0. New York wins the National League Championship and advances to the World Series

Awards and honors

Rawlings Gold Glove Award
- Félix Millán, second base
- Clete Boyer, third base

All-Stars

1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Hank Aaron, OF, starter
Félix Millán, 2B, starter
Phil Niekro, reserve

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Richmond Braves	International League	Mickey Vernon
AA	Shreveport Braves	Texas League	Lou Fitzgerald
A	Greenwood Braves	Western Carolinas League	Eddie Haas
Rookie	Magic Valley Cowboys	Pioneer League	Connie Ryan

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenwood

Notes

References

1969 Atlanta Braves team page at Baseball Reference
Atlanta Braves on Baseball Almanac

v t e 1969 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit New York Washington

AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle

NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft 1969 Major League Baseball Draft 1969 All-Star Game 1969 World Series

Preceded by First Season	NL West Championship Season 1969	Succeeded by Cincinnati Reds 1970

Atlanta Braves

Formerly the
Based in Atlanta, Georgia

Franchise

History
- Boston
Braves Museum & Hall of Fame
Award winners & league leaders
Records
No-hitters
Seasons
Owners and executives
Managers
Opening Day Starters
- Atlanta
- Boston and Milwaukee
First-round draft picks
Broadcasters
Atlanta Braves Radio Network

Ballparks

Spring training: St. Petersburg Athletic Park; McKechnie Field; Municipal Stadium; Champion Stadium

Culture

Rivalries

New York Mets

Retired numbers

Key personnel

Owner: John C. Malone (Liberty Media)
General Manager: Frank Wren
Club President: John Schuerholz
Manager: Fredi González

World Series
Championships (3)

National League
Championships (17)

National Association
Championships (4)

Other Titles

National League East (12): 1995; 1996; 1997; 1998; 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2004; 2005; 2013
National League West (5): 1969; 1982; 1991; 1992; 1993
Wild card berths (2): 2010; 2012

Minor league
affiliates

AAA: Gwinnett Braves
AA: Mississippi Braves
A: Lynchburg Hillcats; Rome Braves
Rookie: Danville Braves; Gulf Coast League Braves; DSL Braves

Other assets

Seasons (142)

1870s	1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879

1880s	1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889

1890s	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899

1900s	1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909

1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

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1969 Atlanta Braves season