1969 Seattle Pilots season

1969 Seattle Pilots
Only season in Seattle
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Dewey Soriano
General manager(s) Marvin Milkes
Manager(s) Joe Schultz
Local television None
Local radio KVI
(Jimmy Dudley, Bill Schonely)
     Next season

The 1969 Seattle Pilots season was the only season of the Seattle Pilots, a Major League Baseball team. As an expansion team in the American League, along with the Kansas City Royals, the Pilots were placed in the newly established West division. They finished last among the six teams with a record of 64–98 (.395), 33 games behind the division champion Minnesota Twins.

Fewer than 678,000 fans came to see the Pilots, which ranked 20th of the 24 major league teams[1] — a major reason why the team was forced into bankruptcy after only one season.[2] Despite the poor conditions at aging Sicks Stadium, the ticket prices were among the highest in the major leagues.[3] The bankruptcy sale of the team was approved by a federal court in Seattle on March 31,[4] and the team moved to Milwaukee at the end of spring training for the 1970 season and became the Milwaukee Brewers. Milwaukee had lost the Braves to Atlanta after the 1965 season.

A book about the season exists called The 1969 Seattle Pilots: Major League Baseball's One-Year Team. Part of the Pilots' season was also documented in the book Ball Four by Jim Bouton. After the Pilots, there would not be another MLB team in Seattle until the birth of the Mariners in 1977.

Offseason

Expansion draft

The MLB expansion draft for the Pilots and the Kansas City Royals was held on October 15, 1968.

Player Former team Pick
Don Mincher California Angels 2nd
Tommy Harper Cleveland Indians 3rd
Ray Oyler Detroit Tigers 5th
Jerry McNertney[9] Chicago White Sox 7th
Buzz Stephen Minnesota Twins 9th
Chico Salmon[8] Cleveland Indians 11th
Diego Seguí [10] Oakland Athletics 14th
Tommy Davis Chicago White Sox 16th
Marty Pattin California Angels 18th
Gerry Schoen Washington Senators 20th
Gary Bell Boston Red Sox 21st
Jack Aker Oakland Athletics 24th
Rich Rollins Minnesota Twins 26th
Lou Piniella[11] Cleveland Indians 28th
Dick Bates Washington Senators 30th
Larry Haney Baltimore Orioles 32nd
Dick Baney Boston Red Sox 33rd
Steve Hovley[12] California Angels 35th
Steve Barber[13] New York Yankees 37th
John Miklos Washington Senators 39th
Wayne Comer Detroit TIgers 41st
Bucky Brandon Boston Red Sox 44th
Skip Lockwood Oakland Athletics 46th
Gary Timberlake New York Yankees 48th
Bob Richmond Washington Senators 50th
John Morris Baltimore Orioles 52nd
Mike Marshall[14] Detroit Tigers 53rd
Jim Gosger Oakland Athletics 55th
Mike Ferraro New York Yankees 57th
Paul Click California Angels 59th

Regular season

Pilots' logo.

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

The first game

April 8, Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Seattle 400 000 000 460
California 010 010 100 3101
W: Marty Pattin (1–0)  L: Jim McGlothlin (0–1)  SV: Jack Aker (1)   
HRs: SEA: Mike Hegan (1), CAL: Jim Fregosi (1)

[16]

Opening Day starters

[17]

Notable transactions

Roster

1969 Seattle Pilots
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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 McNertney, JerryJerry McNertney 128 410 99 .241 8 55
1B Mincher, DonDon Mincher 140 427 105 .246 25 78
2B Donaldson, JohnJohn Donaldson 95 338 79 .234 1 19
3B Harper, TommyTommy Harper 148 537 126 .235 9 41
SS Oyler, RayRay Oyler 106 255 42 .165 7 22
LF Davis, TommyTommy Davis 123 454 123 .271 6 80
CF Comer, WayneWayne Comer 147 481 118 .245 15 54
RF Hegan, MikeMike Hegan 95 267 78 .292 8 37

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
Hovley, SteveSteve Hovley 91 329 91 .277 3 20
Gil, GusGus Gil 92 221 49 .222 0 17
Whitaker, SteveSteve Whitaker 69 116 29 .250 6 13
Rollins, RichRich Rollins 58 187 42 .225 4 21
Clark, RonRon Clark 57 163 32 .196 0 12
Goossen, GregGreg Goossen 52 139 43 .309 10 24
Kennedy, JohnJohn Kennedy 61 128 30 .234 4 14
Pagliaroni, JimJim Pagliaroni 40 110 29 .264 5 14
Walton, DannyDanny Walton 23 92 20 .217 3 10
Ranew, MerrittMerritt Ranew 54 81 20 .247 0 4
Gosger, JimJim Gosger 39 55 6 .109 1 7
Simpson, DickDick Simpson 26 51 9 .176 2 5
Haney, LarryLarry Haney 22 59 15 .254 2 7
Stanley, FredFred Stanley 17 43 12 .279 0 4
Lund, GordyGordy Lund 20 38 10 .263 0 1
Valdespino, SandySandy Valdespino 20 38 8 .211 0 0
Vidal, JoséJosé Vidal 18 26 5 .192 1 2
Velázquez, FreddieFreddie Velázquez 6 16 2 .125 0 2
Williams, BillyBilly Williams 4 10 0 .000 0 0
Ferraro, MikeMike Ferraro 5 4 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
Brabender, GeneGene Brabender 40 202.1 13 14 4.36 139
Pattin, MartyMarty Pattin 34 158.2 7 12 5.62 126
Marshall, MikeMike Marshall 20 87.2 3 10 5.13 47
Brunet, GeorgeGeorge Brunet 12 63.2 2 5 5.37 37
Bell, GaryGary Bell 13 61.1 2 6 4.70 30
Meyer, BobBob Meyer 6 32.2 0 3 3.31 17
Timberlake, GaryGary Timberlake 2 6 0 0 7.50 4

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA SO
Talbot, FredFred Talbot 25 114.2 5 8 0 4.16 67
Gelnar, JohnJohn Gelnar 39 108.2 3 10 3 3.31 69
Barber, SteveSteve Barber 25 86.1 4 7 0 4.80 69
Fuentes, MiguelMiguel Fuentes 8 26 1 3 0 5.19 14
Roggenburk, GarryGarry Roggenburk 7 24.1 2 2 0 4.44 11
Lockwood, SkipSkip Lockwood 6 23 0 1 0 3.52 10

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA SO
Seguí, DiegoDiego Seguí 66 142.1 12 6 12 3.35 113
Bouton, JimJim Bouton 57 92 2 1 1 3.91 68
O'Donoghue, JohnJohn O'Donoghue 55 70 2 2 6 2.96 48
Locker, BobBob Locker 51 78.1 3 3 6 2.18 46
Aker, JackJack Aker 15 16.2 0 2 3 7.56 7
Baney, DickDick Baney 9 18.2 1 0 0 3.86 9
Womack, DooleyDooley Womack 9 14.1 2 1 0 2.51 8
Brandon, BuckyBucky Brandon 8 15 0 1 0 8.40 10
Morris, JohnJohn Morris 6 12.2 0 0 0 6.39 8
Edgerton, BillBill Edgerton 4 4 0 1 0 13.50 2
Stephenson, JerryJerry Stephenson 2 2.2 0 0 0 10.12 1
Bates, DickDick Bates 1 1.2 0 0 0 26.99 3

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Vancouver Mounties Pacific Coast League Bob Lemon
A Clinton Pilots Midwest League Sibby Sisti, Karl Kuehl and Tommy Giordano
A-Short Season Newark Co-Pilots New York–Penn League Earl Torgeson
Rookie Billings Mustangs Pioneer League Bob Mavis and Roland LeBlanc

Vancouver affiliation shared with Montreal Expos

Notes

  1. "1969 Major League Baseball Attendance & Miscellaneous". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  2. "Financially stricken Seattle owners still courting move". Toledp Blade. Associated Press. March 1970. p. 29.
  3. "Seattle Story: Downhill Run". Milwaukee Journal. April 1, 1970. p. 15.
  4. "We're Big League Again! Court OKs sale of Pilots". Milwaukee Journal. April 1, 1970. p. 1.
  5. 1 2 Marv Staehle at Baseball-Reference
  6. Wilbur Howard at Baseball-Reference
  7. 1 2 Jim Bouton at Baseball-Reference
  8. 1 2 Chico Salmon at Baseball-Reference
  9. Jerry McNertney at Baseball-Reference
  10. Diego Seguí at Baseball-Reference
  11. 1 2 Lou Piniella at Baseball-Reference
  12. Steve Hovley at Baseball-Reference
  13. Steve Barber at Baseball-Reference
  14. Mike Marshall page on Baseball Reference
  15. 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
  16. Box Score of Game played on Tuesday, April 8, 1969 at Anaheim Stadium
  17. 1969 Seattle Pilots Roster by Baseball Almanac
  18. Jim Pagliaroni at Baseball-Reference
  19. Gorman Thomas at Baseball-Reference
  20. Bob Coluccio at Baseball-Reference
  21. John Donaldson at Baseball-Reference

References

Further reading

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