1969 Seattle Pilots season

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1969 Seattle Pilots
Only season in Seattle
Major league affiliations
Location
1969 Information
Owner(s) Dewey Soriano
Manager(s) Joe Schultz
Local television none
Local radio KVI
(Bill Schonely, Jimmy Dudley)
Stats ESPN.com

BB-reference

The Seattle Pilots' 1969 season involved the Pilots' finishing 6th in the American League West with a record of 64 wins and 98 losses, 33 games behind the Minnesota Twins. The team would spend only one season in Seattle, as the franchise would move to Milwaukee the following season. A book about the season exists called The 1969 Seattle Pilots: Major League Baseball's One-Year Team by Kenneth Hogan. 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.

Contents

[edit] Offseason

  • April 1, 1968: Marv Staehle was purchased by the Seattle Pilots from the Cleveland Indians.
  • October 21, 1968: Jim Bouton was purchased by the Seattle Pilots from the New York Yankees.

[edit] 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 Minchner California Angels 2nd
Jerry McNertney [1] Chicago White Sox 7th
Diego Segui [2] Oakland Athletics 14th
Lou Piniella Cleveland Indians 28th
Mike Marshall[3] Detroit Tigers 53rd

[edit] Regular season

Pilots' logo.
Pilots' logo.

[edit] Notable Transactions

  • April 1, 1969: Lou Piniella was traded by the Seattle Pilots to the Kansas City Royals for Steve Whitaker and John Gelnar.
  • May 27, 1969: Jim Pagliaroni was purchased by the Seattle Pilots from the Oakland Athletics. [4]
  • June 14, 1969: John Donaldson was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Seattle Pilots for Larry Haney.
  • August 24, 1969: Jim Bouton was traded by the Seattle Pilots to the Houston Astros for Dooley Womack and Roric Harrison. [5]
  • September 13, 1969: Marv Staehle was purchased by the Montreal Expos from the Seattle Pilots.

[edit] The First Game

April 8, Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Seattle 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 6 0
California 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 3 10 1
W: Pattin (1-0)  L: McGlothlin (0-1)  SV: Aker (1)   
HRs: Hegan (1), Fregosi (1)

[6]

[edit] Opening Day Roster

[7]

[edit] Season standings

Team Wins Losses Win % GB
Minnesota Twins 97 65 .599 0
Oakland Athletics 88 74 .543 9.0
California Angels 71 91 .438 26.0
Kansas City Royals 69 93 .426 28.0
Chicago White Sox 68 94 .420 29.0
Seattle Pilots 64 98 .395 33.0

[edit] Game log

Game Log
April
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
1 April 8 @ Angels 4-3 Pattin (1-0) McGlothlin (0-1) Aker (1) 11,930 1-0
2 April 9 1-1
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
May
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
June
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
July
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
August
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
September
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
October
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
162

[edit] Roster

Seattle Pilots roster
view • talk • edit
Partial, based on games played with Seattle (in parentheses)
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Coaches

[edit] Player stats

[edit] Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Player Number Position G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Jerry McNertney 15 C 128 410 99 .241 8 55
Don Mincher 5 1B 140 427 105 .246 25 78
Tommy Harper 21 2B 148 537 126 .235 9 41
John Donaldson 10 2B 95 338 79 .234 1 19
Gus Gil 18 3B 92 221 49 .222 0 17
Ray Oyler 1 SS 106 255 42 .165 7 22
Tommy Davis 12 LF 123 454 123 .271 6 80
Mike Hegan 8 CF 95 267 78 .292 8 37
Wayne Comer 20 RF 147 481 118 .245 15 54
Steve Hovley 36 OF 91 329 91 .277 3 20

[edit] Other batters

Player Number Position G AB H Avg. HR RBI
John Donaldson 10 2B 95 338 79 .234 1 19
Steve Whitaker 19 OF 69 116 29 .250 6 13
John Kennedy 11 IF 61 128 30 .234 4 14
Rich Rollins 9 3B 58 187 42 .225 4 21
Ron Clark 30 IF 57 163 32 .196 0 12
Merritt Ranew 26/57 C 54 81 20 .247 0 4
Greg Goossen 34/54 1B 52 139 43 .309 10 24
Jim Pagliaroni 17 C 40 110 29 .264 5 14
Jim Gosger 14 OF 39 55 6 .109 1 7
Dick Simpson 16 OF 26 51 9 .176 2 5
Danny Walton 12 OF 23 92 20 .217 3 10
Larry Haney 10 C 22 59 15 .254 2 7
Gordy Lund 14 SS 20 38 10 .263 0 1
Sandy Valdespino 28 LF 20 38 8 .211 0 0
Jose Vidal 25 OF 18 26 5 .192 1 2
Fred Stanley 22 SS 17 43 12 .279 0 4
Freddie Velazquez 30 C 6 16 2 .125 0 2
Mike Ferraro 26 PH 5 4 0 .000 0 0
Billy Williams 51 RF 4 10 0 .000 0 0

[edit] Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games played; IP = Innings Pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO = Strikeouts

Player Number G IP W L ERA SO
Gene Brabender 32 40 202.1 13 14 4.36 139
Marty Pattin 33 34 158.2 7 12 5.62 126
Fred Talbot 23 25 114.2 5 8 4.16 67
Steve Barber 13 25 86.1 4 7 4.80 69
Mike Marshall 28 20 87.2 3 10 5.13 47
George Brunet 39 12 63.2 2 5 5.37 37
Gary Bell 39 13 61.1 2 6 4.70 30

[edit] Other pitchers

Player Number G IP W L SV ERA SO
Jack Aker 23 15 16.2 0 2 3 7.56 7
Dick Baney 32/45 9 18.2 1 0 0 3.86 9
Dick Bates 46 1 1.2 0 0 0 26.99 3
Bucky Brandon 27 8 15.0 0 1 0 8.40 10
Bill Edgerton 38/55 4 4.0 0 1 0 13.50 2
Miguel Fuentes 14 8 26.0 1 3 0 5.19 14
Skip Lockwood 42 6 23.0 0 1 0 3.52 10
Bob Meyer 38 6 32.2 0 3 0 3.31 17
John Morris 35 6 12.2 0 0 0 6.39 8
Garry Roggenburk 39 7 24.1 2 2 0 4.44 11
Jerry Stephenson 40 2 2.2 0 0 0 10.12 1
Gary Timberlake 45/50 2 6.0 0 0 0 7.50 4
Dooley Womack 41 9 14.1 2 1 0 2.51 8

[edit] Relief pitchers
Player Number G IP W L SV ERA SO
Jim Bouton 56 57 92.0 2 1 1 3.91 68
John Gelnar 25 39 108.2 3 10 3 3.31 69
Bob Locker 27 51 78.1 3 3 6 2.18 46
John O'Donoghue 43 55 70.0 2 2 6 2.96 48
Diego Segui 24 66 142.1 12 6 12 3.35 113

[edit] Relocation to Milwaukee

During the offseason, Soriano crossed paths with Selig. They met in secret for over a month after the end of the season, and during Game 1 of the World Series, Soriano agreed to sell the Pilots to Selig for $10 million to $13 million (depending on the source). Selig would then move the team to Milwaukee and rename it the Brewers. However, the owners turned it down in the face of pressure from Washington's two senators, Warren Magnuson and Henry (Scoop) Jackson, as well as state attorney general Slade Gorton. MLB asked Soriano and Daley to find a local buyer. Local theater chain owner Fred Danz came forward in October 1969 with a $10 million deal, but it fizzled when the Bank of California called in a $4 million loan it had made to Soriano and Daley for startup costs. In January 1970, Westin Hotels owner Eddie Carlson put together a nonprofit group to buy the team. However, the owners rejected the idea almost out of hand since it would have devalued the other clubs' worth. A more traditional deal came one vote short of approval.

After a winter and spring full of court action, the Pilots reported for spring training under new manager Dave Bristol unsure of where they would play. The owners had given tentative approval to the Milwaukee group, but the state of Washington got an injunction on March 17 to stop the deal. Soriano immediately filed for bankruptcy—a move intended to forestall any post-sale legal action. At the bankruptcy hearing a week later, Milkes testified there was not enough money to pay the coaches, players and office staff. Had Milkes been more than 10 days late in paying the players, they would have all become free agents and left Seattle without a team for the 1970 season. With this in mind, Federal Bankruptcy Referee Sidney Volinn declared the Pilots bankrupt on April 1—six days before Opening Day—clearing the way for them to move to Milwaukee. The team's equipment had been sitting in Provo, Utah with the drivers awaiting word on whether to drive toward Seattle or Milwaukee.

[edit] References

 This article relating to a baseball season is a stub. You can help by expanding it.
v • d • e
1969 MLB season by team
   

AL East: Baltimore • Boston • Cleveland • Detroit • New York • Washington
AL West: California • Chicago • Kansas City • Minnesota • Oakland • Seattle

           
1969 All-Star Game • 1969 World Series
v • d • e
Milwaukee Brewers
Formerly the Seattle Pilots • Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The Franchise
Ballparks
Culture
Important Figures
Retired Numbers
4 • 19 • 34 • 42 • 44
Key Personnel
Owner: Mark Attanasio • General Manager: Doug Melvin • Manager: Ned Yost
Minors
League Pennants
American League: 1982 • National League: none
Division Titles
AL East: 1981 (second half) • 1982 • NL Central: none • Wild Card: none
v • d • e
Sports teams based in and around Seattle
Baseball
Basketball
Football
Hockey
Soccer
Rugby
College athletics
(NCAA Div. I)
Main Article: Sports in Seattle