# 1969 Washington Senators season

The 1969 Washington Senators season involved the Senators finishing fourth in the newly established American League East with a record of 86 wins and 76 losses.

## Offseason

* January 8, 1969: John Orsino was purchased from the Senators by the New York Yankees.

## Regular season

The year 1969 was a turning point in Washington sports history. The Senators named Ted Williams as manager. The Washington Redskins hired Vince Lombardi as Head Coach and he had brought a winning attitude to the nation's capital. In the same year, the nearby University of Maryland had hired Lefty Driesell to coach basketball. It marked a renaissance in sports interest in America's most transient of cities.
The hiring of Ted Williams sparked at least increased curiosity in the team. Williams' fanatical approach to hitting helped improve the Senators offense considerably, and inspired the team to its one and only winning season during its 11-year stay in Washington. The Senators won 86 games, 21 more than in 1968, and improved from last place in the ten-team 1968 American League to one game out of third in the new AL East division. For this remarkable turnaround, Williams was voted American League Manager of the Year. As a result, attendance at RFK Stadium improved to over 900,000, the highest attendance for the "new" Senators and, at the time, the highest in Washington's baseball history.

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Orioles | 109 | 53 | .673 | — | 60‍–‍21 | 49‍–‍32 |
| Detroit Tigers | 90 | 72 | .556 | 19 | 46‍–‍35 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 87 | 75 | .537 | 22 | 46‍–‍35 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Washington Senators | 86 | 76 | .531 | 23 | 47‍–‍34 | 39‍–‍42 |
| New York Yankees | 80 | 81 | .497 | 28½ | 48‍–‍32 | 32‍–‍49 |
| Cleveland Indians | 62 | 99 | .385 | 46½ | 33‍–‍48 | 29‍–‍51 |

### Record vs. opponents

1969 American League recordsvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEP | 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 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* CF Del Unser
* RF Ed Stroud
* LF Frank Howard
* 1B Mike Epstein
* 3B Ken McMullen
* SS Ed Brinkman
* 2B Tim Cullen
* C Paul Casanova
* P Camilo Pascual

### Notable transactions

* June 5, 1969: 1969 Major League Baseball draft
** Dave Moates was drafted by the Senators in the 4th round.
** Dave Criscione was drafted by the Senators in the 5th round.
* June 20, 1969: Bill Denehy and cash was traded by the Senators to the Cleveland Indians for Lee Maye.

### Roster
## Game log
### Regular season

1969 regular season game log: 86–76 (Home: 47–34; Away: 39–42) :
April: 12–11 (Home: 5–5; Away: 7–6)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
1April 71:30 p.m. ESTYankeesL 4–8Stottlemyre (1–0)Pascual (0–1)–2:4745,1130–1L1
2April 98:05 p.m. ESTYankeesW 6–4Coleman (1–0)Bahnsen (0–1)–2:0015,1621–1W1
3April 101:30 p.m. ESTYankeesW 9–6Hannan (1–0)Peterson (0–1)Higgins (1)2:333,9712–1W2
4April 118:00 p.m. EST@ OriolesW 4–0Moore (1–0)Hardin (0–1)Higgins (2)2:158,4153–1W3
5April 122:15 p.m. EST@ OriolesL 0–9McNally (1–0)Pascual (0–2)–2:166,3793–2L1
6April 132:00 p.m. EST@ OriolesL 0–2Palmer (1–0)Coleman (1–1)–2:03–3–3L2
7April 134:38 p.m. EST@ OriolesL 0–9Phoebus (1–0)Bosman (0–1)–2:0720,4833–4L3
8April 152:00 p.m. EST@ YankeesL 2–8Peterson (1–1)Bertaina (0–1)–2:3213,8893–5L4
–April 16@ YankeesPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: April 17)
9April 171:00 p.m. EST@ YankeesL 3–7 (10)Stottlemyre (3–0)Higgins (0–1)–2:28–3–6L5
10April 174:03 p.m. EST@ YankeesW 5–2Moore (2–0)Bahnsen (0–3)Higgins (3)2:176,8834–6W1
11April 188:05 p.m. ESTOriolesL 0–6Phoebus (2–0)Coleman (1–2)–2:274,4574–7L1
12April 192:15 p.m. ESTOriolesW 7–5Bosman (1–1)Cuellar (0–2)Higgins (4)2:205,4955–7W1
13April 201:00 p.m. ESTOriolesL 1–2McNally (2–0)Hannan (1–1)Watt (2)2:52–5–8L1
14April 204:27 p.m. ESTOriolesW 5–2Bertaina (1–1)Hardin (0–2)Humphreys (1)2:1918,0556–8W1
15April 218:05 p.m. ESTTigersL 0–2Sparma (2–0)Moore (2–1)–2:153,8136–9L1
16April 228:05 p.m. ESTTigersL 2–4Hiller (1–0)Pascual (0–3)McMahon (3)2:484,9226–10L2
–April 24@ Red SoxPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: July 5)
21April 288:00 p.m. EDT@ TigersW 6–1Pascual (1–3)Wilson (1–3)Bosman (1)2:397,35311–10W5
22April 298:00 p.m. EDT@ TigersL 4–5Radatz (1–0)Bertaina (1–2)–2:246,98611–11L1 :
May: 12–16 (Home: 9–7; Away: 3–9)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
June: 14–12 (Home: 6–7; Away: 8–5)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
–June 15AngelsPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: September 2)
64June 178:05 p.m. EDTOriolesL 1–5Cuellar (0–2)Shellenback (1–2)–2:2622,13431–33L2
65June 188:05 p.m. EDTOriolesL 1–3Hardin (3–3)Moore (5–2)Hall (2)2:1110,42031–34L3
66June 198:05 p.m. EDTOriolesL 0–2McNally (10–0)Higgins (4–7)–2:0413,37631–35L4
67June 208:00 p.m. EDT@ TigersW 7–2 (10)Knowles (3–0)McMahon (1–4)–3:0727,72532–35W1
68June 211:15 p.m. EDT@ TigersL 5–9Lolich (8–1)Humphreys (1–2)–2:3125,34032–36L1
69June 221:30 p.m. EDT@ TigersW 9–4Higgins (5–7)Dobson (2–5)–2:51–33–36W1
70June 224:56 p.m. EDT@ TigersW 9–5 (6)Moore (6–2)Sparma (4–3)–1:5152,72134–36W2
71June 238:00 p.m. EDT@ OriolesL 3–5Palmer (9–2)Knowles (3–1)Richert (6)1:577,83034–37L1
72June 248:00 p.m. EDT@ OriolesL 3–6 (11)Hall (4–2)Shellenback (1–3)–3:0614,76334–38L2
73June 258:00 p.m. EDT@ OriolesW 11–8Humphreys (2–2)Hardin (3–4)Knowles (2)2:4111,13035–38W1
–June 30@ IndiansPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: July 1) :
July: 16–15 (Home: 4–3; Away: 12–12)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
90July 118:05 p.m. EDTYankeesL 3–4Stottlemyre (13–6)Moore (7–4)–2:1322,25446–44L1
91July 122:15 p.m. EDTYankeesL 1–3Burbach (6–7)Bosman (6–3)Aker (7)2:3917,81846–45L2
92July 131:00 p.m. EDTYankeesW 5–4Cox (7–1)Peterson (9–11)–2:19–47–45W1
93July 133:54 p.m. EDTYankeesW 10–1Shellenback (2–4)Downing (1–3)–2:2231,70048–45W2
94July 148:05 p.m. EDTTigersW 3–0Coleman (6–7)Sparma (5–7)–2:5023,83149–45W3
95July 158:05 p.m. EDTTigersW 7–3Moore (8–4)Hiller (2–3)Baldwin (3)2:2816,12250–45W4
96July 168:05 p.m. EDTTigersL 0–3Lolich (8–1)Bosman (6–4)–2:2721,56850–46L1
97July 178:05 p.m. EDTTigersL 3–4Wilson (8–7)Cox (7–2)McMahon (8)2:3124,70150–47L2
98July 188:00 p.m. EDT@ YankeesL 0–5Peterson (10–11)Shellenback (2–5)–2:1311,00250–48L3
99July 195:00 p.m. EDT@ YankeesL 0–9Stottlemyre (14–7)Moore (8–5)–2:12–50–49L4
100July 197:47 p.m. EDT@ YankeesW 4–0Coleman (7–7)Bahnsen (5–11)–2:3716,54751–49W1
101July 202:00 p.m. EDT@ YankeesL 2–3 (11)Aker (5–2)Cox (7–3)–3:1732,93351–50L1
40th All-Star Game in Washington, DC :
August: 14–11 (Home: 8–6; Away: 6–5)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
September: 17–11 (Home: 12–4; Away: 5–7)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
–September 8@ OriolesPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: September 9)
141September 98:00 p.m. EDT@ OriolesL 1–6Cuellar (21–10)Carlos (5–4)–2:25–72–69L1
142September 98:00 p.m. EDT@ OriolesL 2–3Phoebus (13–6)Coleman (10–13)Watt (14)2:3910,74772–70L2
143September 108:05 p.m. EDTYankeesW 6–1Bosman (12–5)Stottlemyre (18–13)–2:106,01673–70W1
144September 118:05 p.m. EDTYankeesW 7–3Hannan (6–5)Bahnsen (9–14)Knowles (12)2:105,38974–70W2
145September 128:05 p.m. EDTTigersW 4–3Cox (12–5)Wilson (12–10)–2:179,39875–70W3
146September 132:15 p.m. EDTTigersW 11–6Knowles (1–2)Timmermann (3–3)–2:569,92176–70W4
147September 141:30 p.m. EDTTigersL 4–7 (12)Dobson (5–10)Dukes (0–1)Hiller (4)3:5812,11476–71L1
148September 158:05 p.m. EDTOriolesW 3–2Humphreys (3–3)Palmer (14–3)–1:515,37677–71W1
149September 168:05 p.m. EDTOriolesL 0–1McNally (19–6)Hannan (6–6)Watt (16)2:418,16577–72L1
150September 178:00 p.m. EDT@ YankeesL 1–2 (5)Peterson (16–15)Cox (12–6)–1:175,02577–73L2
151September 188:00 p.m. EDT@ YankeesL 3–4Stottlemyre (19–13)Moore (8–8)–2:136,02077–74L3
–September 23@ TigersPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: September 24)
154September 245:30 p.m. EDT@ TigersW 8–4Hannan (7–6)McLain (23–9)Shellenback (1)2:38–79–75W1
155September 248:43 p.m. EDT@ TigersW 7–4Higgins (10–9)Lolich (18–10)Knowles (13)2:4414,03280–75
W2
156September 251:30 p.m. EDT@ TigersW 7–2Bosman (13–5)Kilkenny (7–6)–2:184,58981–75
W3 :
October: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Away: 0–0)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Senators team member :

## 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 | Paul Casanova | 124 | 379 | 26 | 82 | .216 | 4 | 37 | 0 |
| 1B | Mike Epstein | 131 | 403 | 73 | 112 | .278 | 30 | 85 | 2 |
| 2B | Bernie Allen | 122 | 365 | 33 | 90 | .247 | 9 | 45 | 5 |
| 3B | Ken McMullen | 158 | 562 | 83 | 153 | .272 | 19 | 87 | 4 |
| SS | Ed Brinkman | 151 | 576 | 71 | 153 | .266 | 2 | 43 | 2 |
| LF | Frank Howard | 161 | 592 | 111 | 175 | .296 | 48 | 111 | 1 |
| CF | Del Unser | 153 | 581 | 69 | 166 | .286 | 7 | 57 | 8 |
| RF | Lee Maye | 71 | 238 | 41 | 69 | .290 | 9 | 26 | 1 |

#### 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 |
| Hank Allen | 109 | 271 | 42 | 75 | .277 | 1 | 17 | 12 |
| Tim Cullen | 119 | 249 | 22 | 52 | .209 | 1 | 15 | 1 |
| Brant Alyea | 104 | 237 | 29 | 59 | .249 | 11 | 40 | 1 |
| Ed Stroud | 123 | 206 | 35 | 52 | .252 | 4 | 29 | 12 |
| Jim French | 63 | 158 | 14 | 29 | .184 | 2 | 13 | 1 |
| Zoilo Versalles | 31 | 75 | 9 | 20 | .267 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| Sam Bowens | 33 | 57 | 6 | 11 | .193 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Dick Billings | 27 | 37 | 3 | 5 | .135 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gary Holman | 41 | 31 | 1 | 5 | .161 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Dick Smith | 21 | 28 | 2 | 3 | .107 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Camilli | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Toby Harrah | 8 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 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 |
| Joe Coleman | 40 | 247.2 | 12 | 13 | 3.27 | 182 |
| Dick Bosman | 31 | 193.0 | 14 | 5 | 2.19 | 99 |
| Jim Hannan | 35 | 158.1 | 7 | 6 | 3.64 | 72 |
| Barry Moore | 31 | 134.0 | 9 | 8 | 4.30 | 51 |
| Camilo Pascual | 14 | 55.1 | 2 | 5 | 6.83 | 34 |

#### 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 |
| Casey Cox | 52 | 171.2 | 12 | 7 | 2.78 | 73 |
| Jim Shellenback | 30 | 84.2 | 4 | 7 | 4.04 | 50 |
| Frank Bertaina | 14 | 35.2 | 1 | 3 | 6.56 | 25 |
| Cisco Carlos | 6 | 17.2 | 1 | 1 | 4.58 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Dennis Higgins | 55 | 10 | 9 | 16 | 3.48 | 71 |
| Darold Knowles | 53 | 9 | 2 | 13 | 2.24 | 59 |
| Bob Humphreys | 47 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3.05 | 43 |
| Dave Baldwin | 43 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4.05 | 51 |
| Jim Miles | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.20 | 15 |
| Jan Dukes | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.45 | 3 |
| Frank Kreutzer | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* Del Unser, American League Leader, Triples (8)
* Del Unser, American League Record, Fewest Triples in One Season by an American League Leader (8)
* Ted Williams, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year
All-Star Game
* Frank Howard, starting LF
* Darold Knowles, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Buffalo Bisons | International League | Héctor López |
| AA | Savannah Senators | Southern League | Hub Kittle |
| A | Burlington Senators | Carolina League | Buddy Hicks and Bill Haywood |
| A | Shelby Senators | Western Carolinas League | Joe Klein |
| Rookie | Wytheville Senators | Appalachian League | Dick Gernert |
Savannah affiliation shared with Houston Astros