# 1969 San Francisco Giants season

The 1969 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 87th season in Major League Baseball, their 12th season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their tenth at Candlestick Park. The team finished second in the newly established National League West with a record of 90–72, 3 games behind the Atlanta Braves, their fifth consecutive season of finishing second. The Giants set a Major League record which still stands for the most double plays grounded into by a team in a single game, with 7 against the Houston Astros on May 4.

## Offseason

* October 14, 1968: Jesús Alou was drafted from the Giants by the Montreal Expos as the 13th pick in the 1968 MLB expansion draft.
* December 6, 1968: Nate Oliver was traded by the Giants to the New York Yankees for Charley Smith.
* March 16, 1969, Giants pitching prospect Néstor Chávez was killed in a plane crash
* March 28, 1969: Charley Smith was purchased from the Giants by the Chicago Cubs.

## Regular season

* July 20, 1969: Pitcher Gaylord Perry hit the first home run of his career (he hit 6). It was in the third inning off pitcher Claude Osteen.

### 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 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Bobby Bonds
* Dick Dietz
* Bobby Etheridge
* Jim Ray Hart
* Ron Hunt
* Hal Lanier
* Juan Marichal
* Willie Mays
* Willie McCovey

### Notable transactions

* August 8, 1969: The Giants traded a player to be named later to the Detroit Tigers for Don McMahon. The Giants completed the deal by sending César Gutiérrez to the Tigers on September 2.

### Roster
## 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 | Dick Dietz | 79 | 244 | 28 | 56 | .230 | 11 | 35 | 0 |
| 1B | Willie McCovey | 149 | 491 | 101 | 157 | .320 | 45 | 126 | 0 |
| 2B | Ron Hunt | 128 | 478 | 72 | 125 | .262 | 3 | 41 | 9 |
| 3B | Jim Davenport | 112 | 303 | 20 | 73 | .241 | 2 | 42 | 0 |
| SS | Hal Lanier | 150 | 495 | 37 | 113 | .228 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| LF | Dave Marshall | 110 | 267 | 32 | 62 | .232 | 2 | 33 | 1 |
| CF | Willie Mays | 117 | 403 | 64 | 114 | .283 | 13 | 58 | 6 |
| RF | Bobby Bonds | 158 | 622 | 120 | 161 | .259 | 32 | 90 | 45 |

#### 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 |
| Ken Henderson | 113 | 374 | 42 | 84 | .225 | 6 | 44 | 6 |
| Don Mason | 104 | 250 | 43 | 57 | .228 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| Jim Ray Hart | 95 | 236 | 27 | 60 | .254 | 3 | 26 | 0 |
| Jack Hiatt | 69 | 194 | 18 | 38 | .196 | 7 | 34 | 0 |
| Tito Fuentes | 67 | 183 | 28 | 54 | .295 | 1 | 14 | 2 |
| Bob Burda | 97 | 161 | 20 | 37 | .230 | 6 | 27 | 0 |
| Bobby Etheridge | 56 | 131 | 13 | 34 | .260 | 1 | 10 | 0 |
| Bob Barton | 49 | 106 | 5 | 18 | .170 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| John Stephenson | 22 | 27 | 2 | 6 | .222 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| César Gutiérrez | 15 | 23 | 4 | 5 | .217 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Leon Wagner | 11 | 12 | 0 | 4 | .333 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Frank Johnson | 7 | 10 | 2 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Harrell | 2 | 6 | 0 | 3 | .500 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| George Foster | 9 | 5 | 1 | 2 | .400 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ozzie Virgil | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | GS | IP | W | L | ERA | BB | SO |
| Gaylord Perry | 40 | 39 | 325.1 | 19 | 14 | 2.49 | 91 | 233 |
| Juan Marichal | 37 | 36 | 299.2 | 21 | 11 | 2.10 | 54 | 205 |
| Mike McCormick | 32 | 28 | 196.2 | 11 | 9 | 3.34 | 77 | 76 |
| Bobby Bolin | 30 | 22 | 146.1 | 7 | 7 | 4.43 | 49 | 102 |
| Ray Sadecki | 29 | 17 | 138.1 | 5 | 8 | 4.23 | 53 | 104 |

#### 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 |
| Ron Bryant | 16 | 57.2 | 4 | 3 | 4.37 | 30 |
| Rich Robertson | 17 | 44.1 | 1 | 3 | 5.48 | 20 |
| Ron Kline | 7 | 11.0 | 0 | 2 | 4.09 | 7 |
| Mike Davison | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 2 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Frank Linzy | 58 | 116.1 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 3.64 | 62 |
| Ron Herbel | 39 | 87.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4.02 | 34 |
| Joe Gibbon | 16 | 20.0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3.60 | 9 |
| Don McMahon | 13 | 23.2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3.04 | 21 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Phoenix Giants | Pacific Coast League | Charlie Fox |
| AA | Amarillo Giants | Texas League | Andy Gilbert |
| A | Fresno Giants | California League | Dennis Sommers |
| A | Decatur Commodores | Midwest League | Frank Funk |
| Rookie | Great Falls Giants | Pioneer League | Harvey Koepf |