# 1969 Carolina League season

The 1969 Carolina League was a Class A baseball season played between April 16 and September 1. Ten teams played a 144-game schedule, with the top four teams in each division qualifying for the post-season.
The Raleigh-Durham Phillies won the Carolina League championship, defeating the Burlington Senators in the final round of the playoffs.

## Team changes

* The Greensboro Patriots fold.
* The Tidewater Tides leave the league and join the International League.
* The Wilson Tobs relocate to Red Springs, North Carolina and are renamed the Red Springs Twins. The club remains affiliated with the Minnesota Twins.
* The High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms began a new affiliation with the Kansas City Royals. The club is renamed the High Point-Thomasville Royals.
* The Peninsula Grays ended their affiliation with the Oakland Athletics and began a new affiliation with the Houston Astros. The club was renamed the Peninsula Astros.
* The Raleigh-Durham Mets ended their affiliation with the New York Mets and began a new affiliation with the Philadelphia Phillies. The club was renamed the Raleigh-Durham Phillies.

## Teams

1969 Carolina League :
| Division | Team | City | MLB Affiliate | Stadium |
| East | Kinston Eagles | Kinston, North Carolina | New York Yankees | Grainger Stadium |
| East | Peninsula Astros | Hampton, Virginia | Houston Astros | War Memorial Stadium |
| East | Raleigh-Durham Phillies | Raleigh, North Carolina | Philadelphia Phillies | Devereaux Meadow |
| East | Red Springs Twins | Red Springs, North Carolina | Minnesota Twins | Robbins Park |
| East | Rocky Mount Leafs | Rocky Mount, North Carolina | Detroit Tigers | Municipal Stadium |
| West | Burlington Senators | Burlington, North Carolina | Washington Senators | Burlington Athletic Stadium |
| West | High Point-Thomasville Royals | Thomasville, North Carolina | Kansas City Royals | Finch Field |
| West | Lynchburg White Sox | Lynchburg, Virginia | Chicago White Sox | City Stadium |
| West | Salem Rebels | Salem, Virginia | Pittsburgh Pirates | Salem Municipal Field |
| West | Winston-Salem Red Sox | Winston-Salem, North Carolina | Boston Red Sox | Ernie Shore Field |

## Regular season
### Summary

* The Rocky Mount Leafs finished with the best record in the league for the first time in team history.

### Standings

East division :
| Team | Win | Loss | % | GB |
| Rocky Mount Leafs | 82 | 62 | .569 | – |
| Raleigh-Durham Phillies | 79 | 62 | .560 | 1.5 |
| Kinston Eagles | 74 | 68 | .521 | 7 |
| Peninsula Astros | 67 | 76 | .469 | 14.5 |
| Red Springs Twins | 57 | 84 | .404 | 23.5 |
| West division |||||
| Salem Rebels | 78 | 66 | .542 | – |
| Winston-Salem Red Sox | 77 | 67 | .535 | 1 |
| Burlington Senators | 71 | 71 | .500 | 6 |
| High Point-Thomasville Royals | 69 | 74 | .483 | 8.5 |
| Lynchburg White Sox | 60 | 84 | .417 | 18 |

## League Leaders
### Batting leaders

| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Sam Parrilla, Raleigh-Durham Phillies | .383 |
| H | Mel Civil, Salem Rebels | 166 |
| R | Rusty Torres, Kinston Eagles | 96 |
| 2B | César Cedeño, Peninsula Astros | 32 |
| 3B | Howard Wood, Lynchburg White Sox | 13 |
| HR | Greg Luzinski, Raleigh-Durham Phillies | 31 |
| RBI | Greg Luzinski, Raleigh-Durham Phillies | 92 |
| SB | Mel Civil, Salem Rebels | 36 |

### Pitching leaders

| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | John Penn, Raleigh-Durham Phillies | 15 |
| ERA | Buddy Harris, Peninsula Astros | 1.84 |
| CG | Jerry Lyscio, High Point-Thomasville Royals John Penn, Raleigh-Durham Phillies | 15 |
| SV | Phil Meeler, Rocky Mount Leafs | 28 |
| SO | Mike Garman, Winston-Salem Red Sox John Penn, Raleigh-Durham Phillies | 183 |
| IP | John Penn, Raleigh-Durham Phillies | 202.0 |

## Playoffs

* The Raleigh-Durham Phillies won their first Carolina League championship, defeating the Burlington Senators in three games.
* The quarter-finals were extended to a best-of-three series.

### Playoff bracket

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| E1 | Rocky Mount | 0 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Peninsula | 2 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Peninsula | 2 | E4 | Peninsula | 1 | | | |
| | | | E2 | Raleigh-Durham | 2 | | | |
| E2 | Raleigh-Durham | 2 | E2 | Raleigh-Durham | 2 | | | |
| E3 | Kinston | 0 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Kinston | 0 | | | | E2 | Raleigh-Durham | 2 |
| | | | | | | W3 | Burlington | 1 |
| W1 | Salem | 2 | | | | | | | W3 | Burlington | 1 |
| W4 | High Point-Thomasville | 0 | | | | | | |
| W4 | High Point-Thomasville | 0 | W1 | Salem | 0 | | | |
| | | | W3 | Burlington | 2 | | | |
| W2 | Winston-Salem | 1 | W3 | Burlington | 2 | | | |
| W3 | Burlington | 2 | | | | | | |

## Awards

Carolina League awards :
| Award name | Recipient |
| Most Valuable Player | Luther Quinn, Salem Rebels |
| Manager of the Year | Al Federoff, Rocky Mount Leafs |