# 1969 Atlanta Braves season

The 1969 Atlanta Braves season was the fourth in Atlanta and the 99th overall season of the franchise. The National League had been split into two divisions before the season, with the Braves somewhat incongruously being assigned to the National League West. The Braves finished with a record of 93–69, winning the first ever NL West title by three games over the San Francisco Giants.
After the season, the Braves played in the first inter-divisional National League Championship Series. They went on to lose the NLCS to the eventual World Champion New York Mets, three games to none.

## Offseason
### The new National League

The 1969 season marked the first year of divisional play in Major League Baseball. The Braves (along with the Cincinnati Reds) were placed in the National League West division, despite being located further east than the two westernmost teams in the new National League East, 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. But the primary reason for this odd alignment was that the Cardinals, Giants, and Cubs finished 1-2-3 the previous two seasons and it was feared putting them all in the West would create too big of a disparity in strength between the West and East.

### Notable transactions

* October 14, 1968: 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft
** Al Santorini was drafted from the Braves by the San Diego Padres with the 7th pick.
** Skip Guinn was drafted from the Braves by the Montreal Expos with the 17th pick.
** Carl Morton was drafted from the Braves by the Expos with the 45th pick.
** Cito Gaston was drafted from the Braves by the Padres with the 59th pick.
* December 2, 1968: Darrell Evans was drafted by the Braves from the Oakland Athletics in the 1968 rule 5 draft.
* March 17, 1969: Joe Torre was traded by the Braves to the St. Louis Cardinals for Orlando Cepeda.

## Regular season

Second baseman Félix Millán started the All-Star Game, along with right fielder Hank Aaron, and won his first Gold Glove.

### 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

* Hank Aaron
* Felipe Alou
* Clete Boyer
* Orlando Cepeda
* Tito Francona
* Sonny Jackson
* Pat Jarvis
* Félix Millán
* Bob Tillman

### Notable transactions

* June 5, 1969: Larvell Blanks was drafted by the Braves in the 3rd round of the 1969 Major League Baseball Draft.
* June 13, 1969: Van Kelly, Walt Hriniak and Andy Finlay (minors) were traded by the Braves to the San Diego Padres for Tony González.
* August 19, 1969: Claude Raymond was purchased from the Braves by the Montreal Expos.
* September 8, 1969: Mickey Rivers and Clint Compton were traded by the Braves to the California Angels for Hoyt Wilhelm and Bob Priddy.
* September 11, 1969: Chico Ruiz was signed as an amateur free agent by the Braves.

### 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 | Bob Didier | 114 | 352 | 90 | .256 | 0 | 32 |
| 1B | Orlando Cepeda | 154 | 573 | 147 | .257 | 22 | 88 |
| 2B | Félix Millán | 162 | 652 | 174 | .267 | 6 | 57 |
| 3B | Clete Boyer | 144 | 496 | 124 | .250 | 14 | 57 |
| SS | Sonny Jackson | 98 | 318 | 76 | .239 | 1 | 27 |
| LF | Rico Carty | 104 | 304 | 104 | .342 | 16 | 58 |
| CF | Felipe Alou | 123 | 476 | 134 | .282 | 5 | 32 |
| RF | Hank Aaron | 147 | 547 | 164 | .300 | 44 | 97 |

#### 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 |
| Tony González | 89 | 320 | 94 | .294 | 10 | 50 |
| Gil Garrido | 82 | 227 | 50 | .220 | 0 | 10 |
| Bob Aspromonte | 82 | 198 | 50 | .253 | 3 | 24 |
| Bob Tillman | 69 | 190 | 37 | .195 | 12 | 29 |
| Mike Lum | 121 | 168 | 45 | .268 | 1 | 22 |
| Tito Francona | 51 | 88 | 26 | .295 | 2 | 22 |
| Tommie Aaron | 49 | 60 | 15 | .250 | 1 | 5 |
| Ralph Garr | 22 | 27 | 6 | .222 | 0 | 2 |
| Darrell Evans | 12 | 26 | 6 | .231 | 0 | 1 |
| Walt Hriniak | 7 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Dusty Baker | 3 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Oscar Brown | 7 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Breazeale | 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 |
| Phil Niekro | 40 | 284.1 | 23 | 13 | 2.56 | 193 |
| Ron Reed | 36 | 241.1 | 18 | 10 | 3.47 | 160 |
| Pat Jarvis | 37 | 217.1 | 13 | 11 | 4.43 | 123 |
| Milt Pappas | 26 | 144.0 | 6 | 10 | 3.62 | 72 |
| Mike McQueen | 1 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 3 |
| Garry Hill | 1 | 2.1 | 0 | 1 | 15.43 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| George Stone | 36 | 165.1 | 13 | 10 | 3.65 | 102 |
| Jim Britton | 24 | 88.0 | 7 | 5 | 3.78 | 60 |
| Ken Johnson | 9 | 29.0 | 0 | 1 | 4.97 | 20 |

#### 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 |
| Cecil Upshaw | 62 | 6 | 4 | 27 | 2.91 | 57 |
| Paul Doyle | 36 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2.08 | 25 |
| Claude Raymond | 33 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5.25 | 15 |
| Gary Neibauer | 29 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.90 | 42 |
| Hoyt Wilhelm | 8 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0.73 | 14 |
| Larry Maxie | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 1 |
| Bob Priddy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
| Rick Kester | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 2 |
| Charlie Vaughan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 |

## Postseason
### National League Championship Series

| Game | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Score | Record (NYM-ATL) | Attendance |
| 1 | October 4 | New York | 9 | Atlanta | 5 | 1–0 | 50,122 |
| 2 | October 5 | New York | 11 | Atlanta | 6 | 2–0 | 50,270 |
| 3 | October 6 | Atlanta | 4 | New York | 7 | 3–0 | 53,195 |
| NYM won 3, ATL won 0. New York wins the National League Championship and advances to the World Series ||||||||

## Awards and honors

* Rawlings Gold Glove Award
** Félix Millán, second base
** Clete Boyer, third base

### All-Stars

1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
* Hank Aaron, OF, starter
* Félix Millán, 2B, starter
* Phil Niekro, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Richmond Braves | International League | Mickey Vernon |
| AA | Shreveport Braves | Texas League | Lou Fitzgerald |
| A | Greenwood Braves | Western Carolinas League | Eddie Haas |
| Rookie | Magic Valley Cowboys | Pioneer League | Connie Ryan |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenwood