1969 St. Louis Cardinals season

1969 St. Louis Cardinals
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1892)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Busch Memorial Stadium (since 1966)
St. Louis, Missouri (since 1882)
Results
Record	87–75 (.537)
Divisional place	4th
Other information
Owner(s)	August "Gussie" Busch
General manager(s)	Bing Devine
Manager(s)	Red Schoendienst
Local television	KSD-TV
Local radio	KMOX (Harry Caray, Jack Buck)
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The 1969 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 88th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 78th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 87–75 during the season and finished fourth in the newly established National League East, 13 games behind the eventual NL pennant and World Series champion New York Mets.

The resurgent Chicago Cubs, featuring players such as Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, and Billy Williams and helmed by fiery manager Leo Durocher, led the newly formed NL East for much of the summer before faltering. The Cardinals put on a mid-season surge, as their famous announcer Harry Caray (in what would prove to be his final season of 25 doing Cardinals broadcasts) began singing, "The Cardinals are coming, tra-la, tra-la". However, to the surprise of both Chicago and St. Louis, the Miracle Mets would ultimately win the division, as well as the league championship and the World Series.

Offseason

• October 14, 1968: Coco Laboy was drafted from the Cardinals by the Montreal Expos as the 54th pick in the 1968 MLB expansion draft.^[1]
• December 2, 1968: 1968 rule 5 draft
  • Pedro Borbón was drafted from the Cardinals by the California Angels.^[2]
  • Bo Belinsky was drafted by the Cardinals from the Houston Astros.^[3]
• February 12, 1969: Byron Browne was purchased by the Cardinals from the Houston Astros.^[4]
• March 17, 1969: Orlando Cepeda was traded by the Cardinals to the Atlanta Braves for Joe Torre.^[5]
• March 29, 1969: Dennis Ribant was purchased by the Cardinals from the Kansas City Royals.^[6]
• Prior to 1969 season: Tommy Cruz was signed by the Cardinals as an amateur free agent.^[7]

Regular season

Pitcher Bob Gibson and outfielder Curt Flood won Gold Gloves this year.

1969 also marked the final season for the Busch Stadium grass before the installation of AstroTurf, which would be their home surface for the next 26 seasons.

After the season, long-time broadcaster Harry Caray was fired. Caray would be a broadcaster for the Oakland Athletics in 1970, before spending 27 seasons in Chicago with the White Sox (1971–1981) and the Cubs from 1982 until his death prior to the 1998 season.

Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Mets	100	62	0.617	—	52–30	48–32
Chicago Cubs	92	70	0.568	8	49–32	43–38
Pittsburgh Pirates	88	74	0.543	12	47–34	41–40
St. Louis Cardinals	87	75	0.537	13	42–38	45–37
Philadelphia Phillies	63	99	0.389	37	30–51	33–48
Montreal Expos	52	110	0.321	48	24–57	28–53

Record vs. opponents

1969 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	3–9	12–6	15–3	9–9	8–4	4–8	6–6	8–4	13–5	9–9	6–6
Chicago	9–3	—	6–6–1	8–4	6–6	10–8	8–10	12–6	7–11	11–1	6–6	9–9
Cincinnati	6–12	6–6–1	—	9–9	10–8	8–4	6–6	10–2	5–7	11–7	10–8	8–4
Houston	3–15	4–8	9–9	—	6–12	11–1	10–2	8–4	3–9	10–8	10–8	7–5
Los Angeles	9–9	6–6	8–10	12–6	—	10–2	4–8	8–4	8–4	12–6	5–13	3–9
Montreal	4–8	8–10	4–8	1–11	2–10	—	5–13	11–7	5–13	4–8	1–11	7–11
New York	8–4	10–8	6–6	2–10	8–4	13–5	—	12–6	10–8	11–1	8–4	12–6
Philadelphia	6-6	6–12	2–10	4–8	4–8	7–11	6–12	—	10–8	8–4	3–9	7–11
Pittsburgh	4–8	11–7	7–5	9–3	4–8	13–5	8–10	8–10	—	10–2	5–7	9–9
San Diego	5–13	1–11	7–11	8–10	6–12	8–4	1–11	4–8	2–10	—	6–12	4–8
San Francisco	9–9	6–6	8–10	8–10	13–5	11–1	4–8	9–3	7–5	12–6	—	3–9
St. Louis	6–6	9–9	4–8	5–7	9–3	11–7	6–12	11–7	9–9	8–4	9–3	—

Opening Day starters

• Lou Brock
• Curt Flood
• Bob Gibson
• Julián Javier
• Dal Maxvill
• Tim McCarver
• Vada Pinson
• Mike Shannon
• Joe Torre^[8]

Notable transactions

• April 3, 1969: Bo Belinsky was purchased from the Cardinals by the California Angels.^[3]
• May 22, 1969: John Sipin and Sonny Ruberto were traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres for Bill Davis and Jerry DaVanon.^[9]
• June 5, 1969: Bill Madlock was drafted by the Cardinals in the 11th round of the 1969 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.^[10]
• June 14, 1969: Dennis Ribant was traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Reds for Aurelio Monteagudo.^[6]

Roster

1969 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 34 Nelson Briles 30 Sal Campisi 32 Steve Carlton 22 Reggie Cleveland 33 Jim Ellis 45 Bob Gibson 39 Dave Giusti 22 Mudcat Grant 36 Santiago Guzmán 19 Tom Hilgendorf 43 Joe Hoerner 47 Mel Nelson 49 Jerry Reuss 47 Dennis Ribant 42 Chuck Taylor 47 Mike Torrez 44 Ray Washburn 19 Gary Waslewski 36 Ron Willis		Catchers 15 Tim McCarver 10 Dave Ricketts 23 Ted Simmons Infielders 35 Chip Coulter 26 Jerry DaVanon 16 Phil Gagliano 14 Steve Huntz 25 Julián Javier 29 Bob Johnson 27 Dal Maxvill 18 Mike Shannon  9 Joe Torre  7 Bill White		Outfielders 20 Lou Brock 29 Byron Browne 17 Vic Davalillo 11 Boots Day 21 Curt Flood 12 Joe Hague 24 Jim Hicks 37 Leron Lee 24 Joe Nossek 28 Vada Pinson		Manager  2 Red Schoendienst Coaches  3 George Kissell  8 Bob Milliken  4 Billy Muffett  5 Dick Sisler

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
CF	Flood, CurtCurt Flood	153	606	173	.285	4	57

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
Davalillo, VicVic Davalillo	63	98	26	.265	2	10
Browne, ByronByron Browne	22	53	12	.226	1	7
DaVanon, JerryJerry DaVanon	16	40	12	.300	1	7

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
Gibson, BobBob Gibson	35	314	20	13	2.18	269
Briles, NelsonNelson Briles	36	227.2	15	13	3.52	126

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

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
Campisi, SalSal Campisi	7	1	0	0	0.93	7
Davalillo, VicVic Davalillo	1	0	0	0	∞	0

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tulsa Oilers	American Association	Warren Spahn
AA	Arkansas Travelers	Texas League	Ray Hathaway
A	Modesto Reds	California League	Joe Cunningham
A	St. Petersburg Cardinals	Florida State League	Jack Krol
A	Cedar Rapids Cardinals	Midwest League	Roy Majtyka
A-Short Season	Lewis-Clark Broncs	Northwest League	Bobby Dews
Rookie	GCL Cardinals	Gulf Coast League	Tom Burgess

^[11]

References

1. Coco Laboy page at Baseball Reference
2. Pedro Borbón page at Baseball Reference
3. Bo Belinksy page at Baseball Reference
4. Byron Browne page at Baseball Reference
5. Orlando Cepeda page at Baseball Reference
6. Dennis Ribant page at Baseball Reference
7. Tommy Cruz page at Baseball-Reference
8. 1969 St. Louis Cardinals Roster by Baseball Almanac
9. Sonny Ruberto page at Baseball Reference
10. Bill Madlock page at Baseball Reference
11. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

• 1969 St. Louis Cardinals
• 1969 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com