1969 New York Yankees season

1969 New York Yankees
Mickey Mantle's # 7 retired
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Yankee Stadium (since 1923)
New York City (since 1903)
Other information
Owner(s)	CBS
General manager(s)	Lee MacPhail
Manager(s)	Ralph Houk
Local television	WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Jerry Coleman, Frank Messer, Whitey Ford)
Local radio	WHN (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Jerry Coleman)
< Previous season     Next season  >

The 1969 New York Yankees season was the 67th season for the team in New York, and its 69th season overall. The team finished in fifth-place in the newly established American League East with a record of 80–81, 28½ games behind the Baltimore Orioles. New York was managed by Ralph Houk. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

Offseason

• October 15, 1968: Steve Barber was drafted from the Yankees by the Seattle Pilots as the 37th pick in the 1968 MLB expansion draft.^[1]
• October 21, 1968: Jim Bouton was purchased from the Yankees by the Seattle Pilots.^[2]
• December 2, 1968: Billy Cowan was drafted by the Yankees from the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1968 rule 5 draft.^[3]
• December 4, 1968: Andy Kosco was traded by the Yankees to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Mike Kekich.^[4]
• December 6, 1968: Charley Smith was traded by the Yankees to the San Francisco Giants for Nate Oliver.^[5]
• January 8, 1969: John Orsino was purchased by the Yankees from the Washington Senators.^[6]
• Prior to 1969 season: Merritt Ranew was acquired from the Yankees by the Seattle Pilots.^[7]

Regular season

• August 8, 1969: Thurman Munson made his major league debut for the Yankees.

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	109	53	0.673	—	60–21	49–32
Detroit Tigers	90	72	0.556	19	46–35	44–37
Boston Red Sox	87	75	0.537	22	46–35	41–40
Washington Senators	86	76	0.531	23	47–34	39–42
New York Yankees	80	81	0.497	28½	48–32	32–49
Cleveland Indians	62	99	0.385	46½	33–48	29–51

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	—

Notable transactions

• June 5, 1969: 1969 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Ken Crosby was drafted by the Yankees in the 10th round. Player signed June 17, 1969.^[8]
  • John Tamargo was drafted by the Yankees in the 15th round, but did not sign.^[9]
• June 12, 1969: John Orsino was traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Rob Gardner.^[6]
• June 14, 1969: Tom Tresh was traded by the Yankees to the Detroit Tigers for Ron Woods.^[10]
• July 26, 1969: Billy Cowan was purchased by the California Angels from the New York Yankees.^[3]

Mickey Mantle's retired number

Mickey Mantle's number 7 was retired by the New York Yankees in 1969.

On Mickey Mantle Day, June 8, 1969, in addition to the retirement of his uniform number 7, Mantle was given a plaque that would hang on the center field wall at Yankee Stadium, near the monuments to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Miller Huggins. The plaque was given to him by Joe DiMaggio, and Mantle then gave DiMaggio a similar plaque, telling the crowd, "His should be just a little bit higher than mine."

Roster

1969 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 22 Jack Aker 45 Stan Bahnsen 50 Bill Burbach 56 John Cumberland 24 Al Downing 39 Steve Hamilton 54 Ken Johnson 18 Mike Kekich 51 Ron Klimkowski 40 Lindy McDaniel 23 Don Nottebart 19 Fritz Peterson 30 Mel Stottlemyre 22 Fred Talbot		Catchers 23 John Ellis 10 Frank Fernández 41 Jake Gibbs 15 Thurman Munson Infielders 38 Len Boehmer 20 Horace Clarke 14 Bobby Cox  2 Jerry Kenney 55 Dave McDonald 17 Gene Michael 25 Joe Pepitone 15 Tom Tresh		Outfielders 12 Ron Blomberg 12 Billy Cowan 26 Jimmie Hall 21 Jim Lyttle  1 Bobby Murcer 11 Bill Robinson 27 Tom Shopay  9 Dick Simpson 21 Frank Tepedino  6 Roy White  9 Ron Woods Other batters 21 Nate Oliver		Manager 35 Ralph Houk Coaches 44 Jim Hegan 32 Elston Howard 34 Dick Howser 55 Spud Murray 31 Jim Turner

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Gibbs, JakeJake Gibbs	71	219	18	49	.224	0	18	3
1B	Pepitone, JoeJoe Pepitone	135	513	49	124	.242	27	70	8
2B	Clarke, HoraceHorace Clarke	156	641	82	183	.285	4	48	33
3B	Kenney, JerryJerry Kenney	130	447	49	115	.257	2	34	25
SS	Michael, GeneGene Michael	119	412	41	112	.272	2	31	7
LF	White, RoyRoy White	130	448	55	130	.290	7	74	18
CF	Woods, RonRon Woods	72	171	18	30	.175	1	7	2
RF	Murcer, BobbyBobby Murcer	152	564	82	146	.259	26	82	7

^[11]

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
Fernández, FrankFrank Fernández	89	229	34	51	.223	12	29	1
Cox, BobbyBobby Cox	85	191	17	41	.215	2	17	0
Tresh, TomTom Tresh	45	143	13	26	.182	1	9	2
Boehmer, LenLen Boehmer	45	108	5	19	.176	0	7	0
Munson, ThurmanThurman Munson	26	86	6	22	.256	1	9	0
Cowan, BillyBilly Cowan	32	48	5	8	.167	1	3	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	BB	SO
Stottlemyre, MelMel Stottlemyre	39	303	20	14	2.82	97	113
Peterson, FritzFritz Peterson	37	272	17	16	2.55	43	150
Bahnsen, StanStan Bahnsen	40	220.2	9	16	3.83	90	130
Burbach, BillBill Burbach	31	140.2	6	8	3.65	102	82

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
Kekich, MikeMike Kekich	28	105	4	6	4.54	66

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
McDaniel, LindyLindy McDaniel	51	5	6	5	3.55	60
Aker, JackJack Aker	38	8	4	11	2.06	40
Cumberland, JohnJohn Cumberland	2	0	0	0	4.50	0

Awards and honors

• Mel Stottlemyre, All-Star Game
• Roy White, All-Star Game ^[12]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Syracuse Chiefs	International League	Frank Verdi
AA	Manchester Yankees	Eastern League	Jerry Walker
A	Kinston Eagles	Carolina League	Gene Hassell
A	Fort Lauderdale Yankees	Florida State League	Billy Shantz
A-Short Season	Oneonta Yankees	New York–Penn League	George Case
Rookie	Johnson City Yankees	Appalachian League	Bill Monbouquette

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Syracuse, Oneonta^[13]

Notes

1. Steve Barber page at Baseball Reference
2. Jim Bouton page at Baseball Reference
3. Billy Cowan page at Baseball-Reference
4. Andy Kosco page at Baseball Reference
5. Charley Smith page at Baseball Reference
6. John Orsino page at Baseball Reference
7. Merritt Ranew page at Baseball Reference
8. Ken Crosby page at Baseball Reference
9. John Tamargo page at Baseball Reference
10. Tom Tresh page at Baseball Reference
11. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/1969.shtml
12. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1969as.shtml
13. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

• 1969 New York Yankees
• 1969 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com