# 1969 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1969 Baltimore Orioles season was a season in North America's Major League Baseball (MLB). In the first season after the American League was split into two divisions, the Orioles won the first-ever American League East title, finishing first with a record of 109 wins and 53 losses, 19 games ahead of the Detroit Tigers, who had won the World Series in the previous season.
After the regular season, the Orioles went on to the 1st American League Championship Series, where they faced the Minnesota Twins. They swept the Twins in the 1969 ALCS, but lost the World Series to the upstart National League champion New York Mets in five games.
The team was managed by Earl Weaver (in his first full season as manager), and played their home games at Memorial Stadium.

## Offseason

* October 15, 1968: Wally Bunker was drafted from the Orioles by the Kansas City Royals with the 25th pick in the 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft.
* December 4, 1968: Curt Blefary and John Mason (minors) were traded by the Orioles to the Houston Astros for Mike Cuellar, Enzo Hernández, and Elijah Johnson (minors).
* December 2, 1968: Bobby Darwin was drafted from the Orioles by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1968 rule 5 draft.
* January 20, 1969: Ron Stone was traded by the Orioles to the Philadelphia Phillies for Clay Dalrymple.
* March 31, 1969: Gene Brabender and Gordy Lund were traded by the Orioles to the Seattle Pilots for Chico Salmon.

## Spring training

The Baltimore Orioles held spring training at Miami Stadium in Miami for the 11th season.

## Regular season

On August 13, 1969, Jim Palmer threw the only no-hitter of his career, defeating the Oakland Athletics, 8-0.

### 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

* June 5, 1969: 1969 Major League Baseball draft
** Dave Skaggs was drafted by the Orioles in the 6th round.
** Dave Winfield was drafted by the Orioles in the 40th round, but did not sign.
* August 16, 1969: Bob Galasso was signed as an amateur free agent by the Orioles.

### Game log

1969 Regular Season Game Log (109–53) (Home: 60–21; Road: 49–32) :
April (16–7) (Home: 10–4; Road: 6–3)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceStadiumRecordReportRankGB
1April 8Red Sox4–5 (12)36,1000–14-13:41
2April 10Red Sox2–1 (13)3,0911–13-13:06
3April 11Senators0–48,4151–25-1½2:15
4April 12Senators9–06,3792–24-12:16
5April 13 (1)Senators2–0–3–22-½2:03
6April 13 (2)Senators9–020,4834–22-½2:07
7April 14@ Red Sox3–533,8994–32-1½2:30
8April 15@ Red Sox10–59,6735–32-½2:50
9April 16@ Red Sox11–8 (8)8,3286–31+½2:45
10April 17@ Red Sox9–58,9107–31+12:44
11April 18@ Senators6–08–3
12April 19@ Senators5–78–4
13April 20@ Senators2–19–4
14April 20@ Senators2–59–5
15April 21Indians11–010–5
16April 22Indians3–211–5
17April 23Tigers3–2 (10)12–5
18April 24Tigers5–213–5
19April 25Yankees2–713–6
20April 26Yankees5–613–7
21April 27Yankees6–014–7
22April 27Yankees10–515–7
–April 28@ IndiansPostponed (rain); Makeup: June 20
–April 29@ IndiansPostponed (rain); Makeup: August 4
23April 30@ Tigers3–216–7 :
May (18–8) (Home: 7–4; Road: 11–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceStadiumRecordReportRankGB
24May 1@ Tigers0–216–8
25May 2@ Yankees5–117–8
26May 3@ Yankees5–418–8
27May 4@ Yankees5–319–8
28May 4@ Yankees14–220–8
29May 6White Sox0–120–9
30May 7White Sox4–620–10
31May 9Royals2–420–11
32May 10Royals6–521–11
33May 11Royals5–022–11
34May 13@ Twins2–422–12
35May 14@ Twins9–823–12
36May 15@ Twins5–024–12
37May 16@ Royals5–3 (11)25–12
38May 17@ Royals4–226–12
39May 18@ Royals5–027–12
40May 20Twins2–3 (13)27–13
41May 21Twins4–328–13
42May 22Twins6–229–13
43May 23Athletics4–330–13
44May 24Athletics2–131–13
45May 25Athletics5–332–13
46May 27@ Pilots1–832–14
47May 28@ Pilots9–533–14
48May 30@ Angels3–134–14
49May 31@ Angels3–434–15 :
June (21–6) (Home: 8–4; Road: 13–2)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceStadiumRecordReportRankGB
50June 1@ Angels4–335–15
51June 3@ Athletics3–1 (11)36–15
52June 4@ Athletics6–137–15
53June 6Pilots5–138–15
54June 7Pilots10–039–15
55June 8Pilots5–739–16
56June 10Angels11–440–16
57June 11Angels5–7 (14)40–17
58June 13@ White Sox5–241–17
59June 14@ White Sox12–342–17
60June 15@ White Sox9–043–17
61June 15@ White Sox13–244–17
62June 17@ Senators5–145–17
63June 18@ Senators3–146–17
64June 19@ Senators2–047–17
65June 20@ Indians2–747–18
66June 20@ Indians5–148–18
67June 21@ Indians3–149–18
68June 22@ Indians2–349–19
69June 22@ Indians6–050–19
70June 23Senators5–351–19
71June 24Senators6–3 (11)52–19
72June 25Senators8–1152–20
73June 27Tigers4–153–20
74June 28Tigers6–454–20
75June 29Tigers2–354–21
76June 29Tigers4–355–21 :
July (17–10) (Home: 13–3; Road: 4–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceStadiumRecordReportRankGB
77July 1@ Yankees9–1055–22
78July 2@ Yankees2–355–23
79July 4@ Tigers1–4 (5)55–24
80July 5@ Tigers9–356–24
81July 6@ Tigers4–556–25
82July 8Yankees10–357–25
83July 8Yankees4–158–25
84July 9Yankees6–5 (10)59–25
85July 10Red Sox5–460–25
86July 11Red Sox4–760–26
87July 11Red Sox3–1260–27
88July 12Red Sox4–061–27
89July 13Red Sox6–362–27
90July 15Indians5–163–27
91July 16Indians4–663–28
92July 16Indians6–564–28
93July 17Indians3–265–28
94July 18@ Red Sox1–665–29
95July 19@ Red Sox3–565–30
96July 20@ Red Sox5–665–31
July 23: All-Star Game (NL wins—)9–3Carlton (STL)Stottlemyre (NYY)45,259RFK StadiumWashington, D.C.
97July 24White Sox5–266–31
98July 25White Sox4–267–31
99July 26White Sox2–168–31
100July 27White Sox17–069–31
101July 29@ Royals4–170–31
102July 30@ Royals4–271–31
103July 31@ Royals3–172–31 :
August (19–12) (Home: 12–4; Road: 7–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceStadiumRecordReportRankGB
104August 1@ Twins3–4 (10)72–32
105August 2@ Twins6–573–32
106August 3@ Twins2–573–33
107August 4@ Indians0–273–34
108August 5Royals7–5 (10)74–34
109August 6Royals2–175–34
110August 7Royals10–276–34
111August 8Twins6–577–34
112August 9Twins5–178–34
113August 10Twins2–079–34
114August 11Athletics4–779–35
115August 12Athletics4–380–35
116August 13Athletics8–081–35
117August 15@ Pilots2–182–35
118August 16@ Pilots15–383–35
119August 17@ Pilots4–184–35
120August 18@ Pilots12–385–35
121August 19@ Angels10–086–35
122August 20@ Angels2–386–36
123August 21@ Angels0–286–37
124August 22@ Athletics4–3 (10)87–37
125August 23@ Athletics2–487–38
126August 24@ Athletics0–987–39
127August 24@ Athletics8–9 (18)87–40
128August 26Pilots1–287–41
129August 27Pilots7–288–41
130August 28Pilots4–3 (11)89–41
131August 29Angels2–689–42
132August 29Angels1–289–43
133August 30Angels6–390–43
134August 31Angels5–491–43 :
September (17–10) (Home: 9–2; Road: 8–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceStadiumRecordReportRankGB
135September 1@ White Sox8–092–43
136September 2@ White Sox3–1092–44
137September 4@ Tigers5–493–44
138September 5@ Tigers8–494–44
139September 6@ Tigers4–5 (11)94–45
140September 7@ Tigers6–5 (14)95–45
141September 9Senators6–196–45
142September 9Senators3–297–45
143September 10Red Sox8–798–45
144September 11Red Sox4–299–45
145September 12Indians2–1100–45
146September 13Indians10–5101–45
147September 14Indians7–3102–45
148September 15@ Senators2–3102–46
149September 16@ Senators1–0103–46
150September 18@ Red Sox6–4104–46
151September 18@ Red Sox0–5104–47
152September 19Yankees4–2105–47
153September 20Yankees8–7106–47
154September 23@ Indians1–3106–48
155September 24@ Indians4–3 (11)107–48
156September 25@ Indians4–1108–48
157September 26@ Yankees2–4108–49
158September 27@ Yankees0–1108–50
159September 28@ Yankees2–3108–51
160September 29Tigers1–4108–52
161September 30Tigers3–4108–53 :
October (1–0) (Home: 1–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceStadiumRecordReportRankGB
162October 1Tigers2–1 (10)109–53 :

## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| C | Elrod Hendricks | 105 | 295 | 36 | 72 | .244 | 12 | 38 | 0 |
| 1B | Boog Powell | 152 | 533 | 83 | 162 | .304 | 37 | 121 | 1 |
| 2B | Davey Johnson | 142 | 511 | 52 | 143 | .280 | 7 | 57 | 3 |
| 3B | Brooks Robinson | 156 | 598 | 73 | 140 | .234 | 23 | 84 | 2 |
| SS | Mark Belanger | 150 | 530 | 76 | 152 | .287 | 2 | 50 | 14 |
| LF | Don Buford | 144 | 554 | 99 | 161 | .291 | 11 | 64 | 19 |
| CF | Paul Blair | 150 | 625 | 102 | 178 | .285 | 26 | 76 | 20 |
| RF | Frank Robinson | 148 | 539 | 111 | 166 | .308 | 32 | 100 | 9 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| Andy Etchebarren | 73 | 217 | 29 | 54 | .249 | 3 | 26 | 1 |
| Merv Rettenmund | 95 | 190 | 27 | 47 | .247 | 4 | 25 | 6 |
| Dave May | 78 | 120 | 8 | 29 | .242 | 3 | 10 | 2 |
| Chico Salmon | 52 | 91 | 18 | 27 | .297 | 3 | 12 | 0 |
| Curt Motton | 56 | 89 | 15 | 27 | .303 | 6 | 21 | 3 |
| Bobby Floyd | 39 | 84 | 7 | 17 | .202 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Clay Dalrymple | 37 | 80 | 8 | 19 | .238 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| Terry Crowley | 7 | 18 | 2 | 6 | .333 | 0 | 3 | 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 |
| Mike Cuellar | 39 | 290.2 | 23 | 11 | 2.38 | 182 |
| Dave McNally | 41 | 268.2 | 20 | 7 | 3.22 | 166 |
| Tom Phoebus | 35 | 202.0 | 14 | 7 | 3.52 | 117 |
| Jim Palmer | 26 | 181.0 | 16 | 4 | 2.34 | 123 |

#### 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 |
| Jim Hardin | 30 | 137.2 | 6 | 7 | 3.60 | 64 |

#### 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 |
| Eddie Watt | 56 | 71.0 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 1.65 | 46 |
| Pete Richert | 44 | 57.1 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 2.20 | 54 |
| Dick Hall | 39 | 65.2 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 1.92 | 31 |
| Dave Leonhard | 37 | 94.0 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2.49 | 37 |
| Marcelino López | 27 | 69.1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4.41 | 57 |
| Al Severinsen | 12 | 19.2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.29 | 13 |
| Mike Adamson | 6 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 2 |
| Frank Bertaina | 3 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 5 |
| Fred Beene | 2 | 2.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Postseason
### ALCS
#### Game 1

October 4, 1969, at Memorial Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | R | H | E |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Baltimore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| W: Dick Hall (1–0) L: Ron Perranoski (0–1) ||||||||||||||||
| HR: MIN – Tony Oliva (1), BAL – Frank Robinson (1), Mark Belanger (1), Boog Powell (1) ||||||||||||||||

#### Game 2

October 5, 1969, at Memorial Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Baltimore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| W: Dave McNally (1–0) L: Dave Boswell (0–1) |||||||||||||||
| HR: None |||||||||||||||

#### Game 3

October 6, 1969, at Metropolitan Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Baltimore | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 18 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 2 |
| W: Jim Palmer (1–0) L: Bob Miller (0–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: BAL – Paul Blair (1) |||||||||||||

### 1969 World Series

| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| 1 | Mets – 1, Orioles – 4 | October 11 | Memorial Stadium | 50,429 |
| 2 | Mets – 2, Orioles – 1 | October 12 | Memorial Stadium | 50,850 |
| 3 | Orioles – 0, Mets – 5 | October 14 | Shea Stadium | 56,335 |
| 4 | Orioles – 1, Mets – 2 (10 innings) | October 15 | Shea Stadium | 57,367 |
| 5 | Orioles – 3, Mets – 5 | October 16 | Shea Stadium | 57,397 |

### Game log

1969 Postseason Game Log :
1969 American League Championship Series vs. Minnesota – Baltimore wins series 3–0
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceStadiumReportGame TimeLocal TVNational TV
1October 4Twins
2October 5Twins
3October 6@ Twins :
1969 World Series vs. New York (NL) – New York (NL) wins series 4–1
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceStadiumReportGame TimeLocal TVNational TV
1October 11Mets
2October 12Mets
3October 14@ Mets
4October 15@ Mets
5October 16@ Mets :

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Cal Ripken Sr. |
| AA | Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs | Texas League | Joe Altobelli |
| A | Stockton Ports | California League | Bill Werle |
| A | Miami Marlins | Florida State League | Woody Smith |
| A-Short Season | Aberdeen Pheasants | Northern League | Ken Rowe |
| Rookie | Bluefield Orioles | Appalachian League | Jackie Ferrell |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Stockton, Miami