# 1969 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1969 Cincinnati Reds season was the 100th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball. The Reds finished in third place in the newly established National League West, four games behind the National League West champion Atlanta Braves. The Reds were managed by Dave Bristol, and played their home games at Crosley Field, which was in its final full season of operation, before moving into their new facility in the middle of the following season. The Reds led the major leagues this year with 798 runs scored.

## Offseason

* October 14, 1968: Jimy Williams was drafted from the Reds by the Montreal Expos as the 32nd pick in the 1968 MLB expansion draft.
* December 5, 1968: Don Pavletich and Don Secrist were traded by the Reds to the Chicago White Sox for Jack Fisher.
* March 18, 1969: Bill Kelso was purchased from the Reds by the Boston Red Sox.
* March 29, 1969: Bill Kelso was returned to the Reds by the Boston Red Sox.

### Divisional alignment

1969 not only marked the 100th anniversary of the original Cincinnati Red Stockings being the first fully professional baseball team, but it also marked the first year of divisional play in Major League Baseball. The Reds (along with the Atlanta Braves) were placed in the National League West division, despite being located further east than the two westernmost teams in the NL East division, the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. This was because the New York Mets wanted to be in the same division as the reigning power in the NL, which were the Cardinals at the time (to compensate for playing against the Dodgers and Giants fewer times each season). The Cubs consequently demanded to be in the NL East as well in order to continue playing in the same division as the Cardinals, one of the Cubs' biggest rivals. A side effect of this alignment is that it set the stage for what is considered one of the greatest pennant races – and comebacks in such a race – in MLB history (see 1969 New York Mets season for more info).

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Atlanta Braves | 93 | 69 | .574 | — | 50‍–‍31 | 43‍–‍38 |
| San Francisco Giants | 90 | 72 | .556 | 3 | 52‍–‍29 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 89 | 73 | .549 | 4 | 50‍–‍31 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 85 | 77 | .525 | 8 | 50‍–‍31 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Houston Astros | 81 | 81 | .500 | 12 | 52‍–‍29 | 29‍–‍52 |
| San Diego Padres | 52 | 110 | .321 | 41 | 28‍–‍53 | 24‍–‍57 |

### Record vs. opponents

1969 National League recordvte 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 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 5, 1969: 1969 Major League Baseball Draft
** Nardi Contreras was drafted by the Reds in the 12th round.
** Ken Griffey, Sr. was drafted by the Reds in the 29th round.
* June 13, 1969: Al Jackson was purchased by the Reds from the New York Mets.
* June 14, 1969: Aurelio Monteagudo was traded by the Reds to the St. Louis Cardinals for Dennis Ribant.

### Roster
## 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 |
| C | Johnny Bench | 148 | 532 | 156 | .293 | 26 | 90 |
| 1B | Lee May | 158 | 607 | 169 | .278 | 38 | 110 |
| 2B | Tommy Helms | 126 | 480 | 129 | .269 | 1 | 40 |
| SS | Woody Woodward | 97 | 241 | 63 | .261 | 0 | 15 |
| 3B | Tony Pérez | 160 | 629 | 185 | .294 | 37 | 122 |
| LF | Alex Johnson | 139 | 523 | 165 | .315 | 17 | 88 |
| CF | Bobby Tolan | 152 | 637 | 194 | .305 | 21 | 93 |
| RF | Pete Rose | 156 | 627 | 218 | .348 | 16 | 82 |

#### 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 |
| Jimmy Stewart | 119 | 221 | 56 | .253 | 4 | 24 |
| Darrel Chaney | 93 | 209 | 40 | .191 | 0 | 15 |
| Chico Ruiz | 88 | 196 | 48 | .245 | 0 | 13 |
| Ted Savage | 68 | 110 | 25 | .227 | 2 | 11 |
| Fred Whitfield | 74 | 74 | 11 | .149 | 1 | 8 |
| Pat Corrales | 29 | 72 | 19 | .264 | 1 | 5 |
| Jim Beauchamp | 43 | 60 | 15 | .250 | 1 | 8 |
| Danny Breeden | 3 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 1 |
| Bernie Carbo | 4 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike de la Hoz | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Clyde Mashore | 2 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Jim Merritt | 42 | 251.0 | 17 | 9 | 4.37 | 144 |
| Tony Cloninger | 35 | 189.2 | 11 | 17 | 5.03 | 103 |
| Jim Maloney | 30 | 178.2 | 12 | 5 | 2.77 | 102 |
| Gary Nolan | 16 | 108.2 | 8 | 8 | 3.56 | 83 |
| Gerry Arrigo | 20 | 91.0 | 4 | 7 | 4.15 | 35 |
| Mel Queen | 2 | 12.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.25 | 7 |

#### 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 |
| Jack Fisher | 34 | 113.0 | 4 | 4 | 5.50 | 55 |
| George Culver | 32 | 101.1 | 5 | 7 | 4.26 | 58 |
| Camilo Pascual | 5 | 7.1 | 0 | 0 | 8.59 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Wayne Granger | 90 | 9 | 6 | 27 | 2.80 | 68 |
| Clay Carroll | 77 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 3.52 | 90 |
| Pedro Ramos | 38 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5.16 | 40 |
| Al Jackson | 33 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5.27 | 16 |
| Dennis Ribant | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.08 | 7 |
| José Peña | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 18.00 | 3 |
| John Noriega | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.87 | 4 |
| Bill Short | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.43 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Pete Rose, National League batting champion
* Pete Rose, Lou Gehrig Award
* Johnny Bench, Marathon Oil Cincinnati Reds Player of the Year

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Vern Rapp |
| AA | Asheville Tourists | Southern League | Alex Cosmidis |
| A | Tampa Tarpons | Florida State League | Bunky Warren |
| A-Short Season | Sioux Falls Packers | Northern League | Jim Snyder |
| Rookie | GCL Reds | Gulf Coast League | George Scherger |