# 1969 Boston Red Sox season

The 1969 Boston Red Sox season was the 69th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. With the American League (AL) now split into two divisions, the Red Sox finished third in the newly established American League East with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses, 22 games behind the Baltimore Orioles, who went on to win the AL championship.
Dick Williams, who had managed the team to the 1967 AL pennant, was fired on September 23; coach Eddie Popowski led the team for the final nine games of the season.

## Offseason

* October 15, 1968: Joe Foy was drafted by the Kansas City Royals from the Boston Red Sox as the 4th pick in the 1968 expansion draft.
* March 18, 1969: Bill Kelso was purchased by the Red Sox from the Cincinnati Reds.
* March 29, 1969: Bill Kelso was returned to the Reds by the Red Sox.

## Regular season

Record by month :
| Month | Record | Record | Cumulative | Cumulative | AL East | AL East | Ref. |
| Month | Won | Lost | Won | Lost | Position | GB | Ref. |
| April | 11 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 2nd | 3+1⁄2 | |
| May | 18 | 7 | 29 | 16 | 2nd | 3 | |
| June | 14 | 15 | 43 | 31 | 2nd | 11 | |
| July | 14 | 15 | 57 | 46 | 3rd | 15 | |
| August | 13 | 15 | 70 | 61 | 3rd | 19+1⁄2 | |
| September | 17 | 13 | 87 | 74 | 3rd | 21 | |
| October | 0 | 1 | 87 | 75 | 3rd | 22 | |

### 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 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 19, 1969: Dick Ellsworth, Ken Harrelson and Juan Pizarro were traded by the Red Sox to the Cleveland Indians for Joe Azcue, Vicente Romo and Sonny Siebert.
* June 15, 1969: Joe Azcue was traded by the Red Sox to the California Angels for Tom Satriano.

### Opening Day lineup

| 7 | Reggie Smith | CF |
| 2 | Mike Andrews | 2B |
| 8 | Carl Yastrzemski | LF |
| 40 | Ken Harrelson | 1B |
| 25 | Tony Conigliaro | RF |
| 5 | George Scott | 3B |
| 6 | Rico Petrocelli | SS |
| 35 | Russ Gibson | C |
| 16 | Jim Lonborg | P |
Source:

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | AVG | SLG |
| Carl Yastrzemski | 162 | 603 | 96 | 154 | 28 | 2 | 40 | 111 | 15 | 101 | .255 | .507 |
| George Scott | 152 | 549 | 63 | 139 | 14 | 5 | 16 | 52 | 4 | 61 | .253 | .384 |
| Reggie Smith | 143 | 543 | 87 | 168 | 29 | 7 | 25 | 93 | 7 | 54 | .309 | .527 |
| Rico Petrocelli | 154 | 535 | 92 | 159 | 32 | 2 | 40 | 97 | 3 | 98 | .297 | .589 |
| Tony Conigliaro | 141 | 506 | 57 | 129 | 21 | 3 | 20 | 82 | 2 | 48 | .255 | .427 |
| Mike Andrews | 121 | 464 | 79 | 136 | 26 | 2 | 15 | 59 | 1 | 71 | .293 | .455 |
| Dalton Jones | 111 | 336 | 50 | 74 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 33 | 1 | 39 | .220 | .318 |
| Russ Gibson | 85 | 287 | 21 | 72 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 27 | 1 | 15 | .251 | .321 |
| Syd O'Brien | 100 | 263 | 47 | 64 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 29 | 2 | 15 | .243 | .422 |
| Ducky Schofield | 94 | 226 | 30 | 58 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 29 | .257 | .350 |
| Joe Lahoud | 101 | 218 | 32 | 41 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 21 | 2 | 40 | .188 | .335 |
| Jerry Moses | 53 | 135 | 13 | 41 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 5 | .304 | .474 |
| Tom Satriano | 47 | 127 | 9 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 22 | .189 | .205 |
| Billy Conigliaro | 32 | 80 | 14 | 23 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 9 | .288 | .563 |
| Don Lock | 53 | 58 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11 | .224 | .293 |
| George Thomas | 29 | 51 | 9 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 3 | .353 | .451 |
| Joe Azcue | 19 | 51 | 7 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | .216 | .255 |
| Ken Harrelson | 10 | 46 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 4 | .217 | .435 |
| Tony Muser | 2 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .111 | .111 |
| Carlton Fisk | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 |
| Luis Alvarado | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 |
| Pitcher Totals | 162 | 397 | 23 | 46 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 2 | 28 | .116 | .161 |
| Team Totals | 162 | 5494 | 743 | 1381 | 234 | 37 | 197 | 701 | 41 | 658 | .251 | .415 |
Source:

### Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Ray Culp | 17 | 8 | 3.81 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 227.0 | 195 | 103 | 96 | 79 | 172 |
| Mike Nagy | 12 | 2 | 3.11 | 33 | 28 | 0 | 196.2 | 183 | 84 | 68 | 106 | 84 |
| Sonny Siebert | 14 | 10 | 3.80 | 43 | 22 | 5 | 163.1 | 151 | 93 | 69 | 68 | 127 |
| Jim Lonborg | 7 | 11 | 4.51 | 29 | 23 | 0 | 143.2 | 148 | 78 | 72 | 65 | 100 |
| Lee Stange | 6 | 9 | 3.68 | 41 | 15 | 3 | 137.0 | 137 | 70 | 56 | 56 | 59 |
| Vicente Romo | 7 | 9 | 3.18 | 52 | 11 | 11 | 127.1 | 116 | 51 | 45 | 50 | 89 |
| Sparky Lyle | 8 | 3 | 2.54 | 71 | 0 | 17 | 102.2 | 91 | 33 | 29 | 48 | 93 |
| Ray Jarvis | 5 | 6 | 4.75 | 29 | 12 | 1 | 100.1 | 105 | 59 | 53 | 43 | 36 |
| Bill Landis | 5 | 5 | 5.25 | 45 | 5 | 1 | 82.1 | 82 | 53 | 48 | 49 | 50 |
| Bill Lee | 1 | 3 | 4.50 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 52.0 | 56 | 27 | 26 | 28 | 45 |
| Ken Brett | 2 | 3 | 5.26 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 39.1 | 41 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 23 |
| Ron Kline | 0 | 1 | 4.76 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 17.0 | 24 | 11 | 9 | 17 | 7 |
| Gary Wagner | 1 | 3 | 6.06 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 16.1 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 15 | 9 |
| Mike Garman | 1 | 0 | 4.38 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 12.1 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 10 |
| Dick Ellsworth | 0 | 0 | 3.75 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 12.0 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Fred Wenz | 1 | 0 | 5.73 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 11 |
| Garry Roggenburk | 0 | 1 | 8.38 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 8 |
| Juan Pizarro | 0 | 1 | 6.00 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 9.0 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| José Santiago | 0 | 0 | 3.52 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 7.2 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Team Totals | 87 | 75 | 3.92 | 162 | 162 | 41 | 1466.2 | 1423 | 736 | 639 | 685 | 935 |
Source:

## Statistical leaders

| Category | Player | Statistic |
| Youngest player | Mike Garman | 19 |
| Oldest player | Ron Kline | 37 |
| Wins Above Replacement | Rico Petrocelli | 10.0 |
Source:

### Batting

| Abbr. | Category | Player | Statistic |
| G | Games played | Carl Yastrzemski | 162 |
| PA | Plate appearances | Carl Yastrzemski | 707 |
| AB | At bats | Carl Yastrzemski | 603 |
| R | Runs scored | Carl Yastrzemski | 96 |
| H | Hits | Reggie Smith | 168 |
| 2B | Doubles | Rico Petrocelli | 32 |
| 3B | Triples | Reggie Smith | 7 |
| HR | Home runs | Rico Petrocelli | 40 |
| HR | Home runs | Carl Yastrzemski | 40 |
| RBI | Runs batted in | Carl Yastrzemski | 111 |
| SB | Stolen bases | Carl Yastrzemski | 15 |
| CS | Caught stealing | Reggie Smith | 13 |
| BB | Base on balls | Carl Yastrzemski | 101 |
| SO | Strikeouts | Tony Conigliaro | 111 |
| BA | Batting average | Reggie Smith | .309 |
| OBP | On-base percentage | Rico Petrocelli | .403 |
| SLG | Slugging percentage | Rico Petrocelli | .589 |
| OPS | On-base plus slugging | Rico Petrocelli | .992 |
| OPS+ | Adjusted OPS | Rico Petrocelli | 168 |
| TB | Total bases | Rico Petrocelli | 315 |
| GIDP | Grounded into double play | George Scott | 15 |
| HBP | Hit by pitch | Mike Andrews | 5 |
| SH | Sacrifice hits | Mike Andrews | 10 |
| SF | Sacrifice flies | Reggie Smith | 8 |
| IBB | Intentional base on balls | Rico Petrocelli | 13 |
Source:

### Pitching

| Abbr. | Category | Player | Statistic |
| W | Wins | Ray Culp | 17 |
| L | Losses | Jim Lonborg | 11 |
| W-L % | Winning percentage | Mike Nagy | .857 (12–2) |
| ERA | Earned run average | Mike Nagy | 3.11 |
| G | Games pitched | Sparky Lyle | 71 |
| GS | Games started | Ray Culp | 32 |
| GF | Games finished | Sparky Lyle | 44 |
| CG | Complete games | Ray Culp | 9 |
| SHO | Shutouts | Ray Culp | 2 |
| SV | Saves | Sparky Lyle | 17 |
| IP | Innings pitched | Ray Culp | 227 |
| SO | Strikeouts | Ray Culp | 172 |
| WHIP | Walks plus hits per inning pitched | Ray Culp | 1.207 |
Source:

## Awards and honors

* Carl Yastrzemski, Gold Glove Award (OF)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Louisville Colonels | International League | Eddie Kasko |
| AA | Pittsfield Red Sox | Eastern League | Billy Gardner |
| A | Winston-Salem Red Sox | Carolina League | Matt Sczesny |
| A | Winter Haven Red Sox | Florida State League | Rac Slider |
| A | Greenville Red Sox | Western Carolinas League | Bill Slack |
| A-Short Season | Jamestown Falcons | New York–Penn League | Jackie Moore |
Source: