1969 Seattle Pilots season

The 1969 Seattle Pilots season was the only season of the Seattle Pilots, a Major League Baseball team. As an expansion team in the American League, along with the Kansas City Royals, the Pilots were placed in the newly established West division. They finished last among the six teams with a record of 64–98 (.395), 33 games behind the division champion Minnesota Twins.

1969 Seattle Pilots
Only season in Seattle
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Dewey Soriano
General manager(s)Marvin Milkes
Manager(s)Joe Schultz
Local televisionNone
Local radioKVI
(Jimmy Dudley, Bill Schonely)
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Fewer than 678,000 fans came to see the Pilots, which ranked 20th of the 24 major league teams[1] — a major reason why the team was forced into bankruptcy after only one season.[2] Despite the poor conditions at aging Sick's Stadium, the ticket prices were among the highest in the major leagues.[3] The bankruptcy sale of the team was approved by a federal court in Seattle on March 31,[4] and the team moved to Milwaukee at the end of spring training for the 1970 season and became the Milwaukee Brewers. Milwaukee had lost the Braves to Atlanta after the 1965 season.

A book about the season exists called The 1969 Seattle Pilots: Major League Baseball's One-Year Team. Part of the Pilots' season was also documented in the book Ball Four by Jim Bouton. In 2020, a book specifically about the behind-the-scenes management of the team and its move to Milwaukee titled Inside Pitch: Insiders Reveal How the Ill-Fated Seattle Pilots Got Played into Bankruptcy in One Year by Rick Allen was released.

After the Pilots, there would not be another MLB team in Seattle until the birth of the Mariners in 1977.

Offseason

Expansion draft

The MLB expansion draft for the Pilots and the Kansas City Royals was held on October 15, 1968.

Player Former team Pick
Don Mincher California Angels 2nd
Tommy Harper Cleveland Indians 3rd
Ray Oyler Detroit Tigers 5th
Jerry McNertney[9] Chicago White Sox 7th
Buzz Stephen Minnesota Twins 9th
Chico Salmon[8] Cleveland Indians 11th
Diego Seguí[10] Oakland Athletics 14th
Tommy Davis Chicago White Sox 16th
Marty Pattin California Angels 18th
Gerry Schoen Washington Senators 20th
Gary Bell Boston Red Sox 21st
Jack Aker Oakland Athletics 24th
Rich Rollins Minnesota Twins 26th
Lou Piniella[11] Cleveland Indians 28th
Dick Bates Washington Senators 30th
Larry Haney Baltimore Orioles 32nd
Dick Baney Boston Red Sox 33rd
Steve Hovley[12] California Angels 35th
Steve Barber[13] New York Yankees 37th
John Miklos Washington Senators 39th
Wayne Comer Detroit TIgers 41st
Bucky Brandon Boston Red Sox 44th
Skip Lockwood Oakland Athletics 46th
Gary Timberlake New York Yankees 48th
Bob Richmond Washington Senators 50th
John Morris Baltimore Orioles 52nd
Mike Marshall[14] Detroit Tigers 53rd
Jim Gosger Oakland Athletics 55th
Mike Ferraro New York Yankees 57th
Paul Click California Angels 59th

1968 MLB June amateur draft and minor league affiliates

The Pilots and Kansas City Royals, along with the two National League expansion teams set to debut in 1969, the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres, were allowed to participate in the June 1968 MLB first-year player draft, although the new teams were barred from the lottery's first three rounds. The Pilots drafted 29 players in the 1968 June draft, including future major league manager Tom Kelly (eighth round) and starting pitcher Bill Parsons (seventh round).[15] Seattle affiliated with one minor league club during 1968 to develop drafted players; the roster was filled out by professional and amateur free agents that had been signed and players loaned from other organizations.

1968 farm system

Level Team League Manager
A-Short Season Newark Co-Pilots New York–Penn League Sibby Sisti

Regular season

Season standings

AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 9765 0.599 57–24 40–41
Oakland Athletics 8874 0.543 9 49–32 39–42
California Angels 7191 0.438 26 43–38 28–53
Kansas City Royals 6993 0.426 28 36–45 33–48
Chicago White Sox 6894 0.420 29 41–40 27–54
Seattle Pilots 6498 0.395 33 34–47 30–51

Record vs. opponents

1969 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIN NYY OAK SEA WSH
Baltimore 10–86–69–313–511–711–18–411–78–49–313–5
Boston 8–108–45–712–610–810–27–511–74–86–66–12
California 6–64–89–98–45–79–97–113–96–129–9–15–7
Chicago 3–97–59–98–43–98–105–133–98–1010–84–8
Cleveland 5–136–124–84–87–117–55–79–85–77–53–15
Detroit 7–118–107–59–311–78–46–610–87–510–27–11
Kansas City 1–112–109–910–85–74–88–105–7–18–1010–87–5
Minnesota 4–85–711–713–57–56–610–810–213–512–66–6
New York 7–117–119–39–38–98–107–5–12–106–67–510–8
Oakland 4–88–412–610–87–55–710–85–136–613–58–4
Seattle 3–96–69–9–18–105–72–108–106–125–75–137–5
Washington 5–1312–67–58–415–311–75–76–68–104–85–7

The first game

April 8, Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Seattle 400 000 000 460
California 010 010 100 3101
W: Marty Pattin (1–0)  L: Jim McGlothlin (0–1)  SV: Jack Aker (1)   
HRs: SEA: Mike Hegan (1), CAL: Jim Fregosi (1)

[17]

Opening Day lineup

21Tommy Harper2B
  8Mike HeganRF
12Tommy Davis    LF
  5Don Mincher1B
  9Rich Rollins3B
14Jim GosgerCF
15Jerry McNertney   C
  1Ray OylerSS
33Marty PattinP

[18]

Notable transactions

Roster

1969 Seattle Pilots
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders
  • 12 Tommy Davis

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Game log

1969 regular season game log: 64–98 (Home: 34–47; Away: 30–51)
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement/Tie
Bold = Pilots team member

[23]

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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
CJerry McNertney12841099.241855
1BDon Mincher140427105.2462578
2BJohn Donaldson9533879.234119
3BTommy Harper148537126.235941
SSRay Oyler10625542.165722
LFTommy Davis123454123.271680
CFWayne Comer147481118.2451554
RFMike Hegan9526778.292837

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
Steve Hovley9132991.277320
Gus Gil9222149.222017
Steve Whitaker6911629.250613
Rich Rollins5818742.225421
Ron Clark5716332.196012
Greg Goossen5213943.3091024
John Kennedy6112830.234414
Jim Pagliaroni4011029.264514
Danny Walton239220.217310
Merritt Ranew548120.24704
Jim Gosger39556.10917
Dick Simpson26519.17625
Larry Haney225915.25427
Fred Stanley174312.27904
Gordy Lund203810.26301
Sandy Valdespino20388.21100
José Vidal18265.19212
Freddie Velázquez6162.12502
Billy Williams4100.00000
Mike Ferraro540.00000

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
Gene Brabender40202.113144.36139
Marty Pattin34158.27125.62126
Mike Marshall2087.23105.1347
George Brunet1263.2255.3737
Gary Bell1361.1264.7030
Bob Meyer632.2033.3117
Gary Timberlake26007.504

Other 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
Fred Talbot25114.25804.1667
John Gelnar39108.231033.3169
Steve Barber2586.14704.8069
Miguel Fuentes8261305.1914
Garry Roggenburk724.12204.4411
Skip Lockwood6230103.5210

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
Diego Seguí66142.1126123.35113
Jim Bouton57922113.9168
John O'Donoghue55702262.9648
Bob Locker5178.13362.1846
Jack Aker1516.20237.567
Dick Baney918.21003.869
Dooley Womack914.12102.518
Bucky Brandon8150108.4010
John Morris612.20006.398
Bill Edgerton4401013.502
Jerry Stephenson22.200010.121
Dick Bates11.200026.993

Farm system

The Pilots' farm system consisted of four minor league affiliates in 1969.[24][25] The Triple-A Vancouver Mounties were shared with the Montreal Expos.[25]

Level Team League Manager
Triple-A Vancouver Mounties Pacific Coast League Bob Lemon
Class A Clinton Pilots Midwest League Sibby Sisti, Karl Kuehl, and Tommy Giordano
Class A Short Season Newark Co-Pilots New York–Penn League Earl Torgeson
Rookie Billings Mustangs Pioneer League Bob Mavis and Roland LeBlanc

Awards and honors

1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Notes

  1. "1969 Major League Baseball Attendance & Miscellaneous". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  2. "Financially stricken Seattle owners still courting move". Toledp Blade. Associated Press. March 1970. p. 29.
  3. "Seattle Story: Downhill Run". Milwaukee Journal. April 1, 1970. p. 15.
  4. "We're Big League Again! Court OKs sale of Pilots". Milwaukee Journal. April 1, 1970. p. 1.
  5. Marv Staehle at Baseball-Reference
  6. Wilbur Howard at Baseball-Reference
  7. Jim Bouton at Baseball-Reference
  8. Chico Salmon at Baseball-Reference
  9. Jerry McNertney at Baseball-Reference
  10. Diego Seguí at Baseball-Reference
  11. Lou Piniella at Baseball-Reference
  12. Steve Hovley at Baseball-Reference
  13. Steve Barber at Baseball-Reference
  14. Mike Marshall page on Baseball Reference
  15. Information at Baseball Reference
  16. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p. 129, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  17. Box Score of Game played on Tuesday, April 8, 1969 at Anaheim Stadium
  18. 1969 Seattle Pilots Roster by Baseball Almanac
  19. Jim Pagliaroni at Baseball-Reference
  20. Gorman Thomas at Baseball-Reference
  21. Bob Coluccio at Baseball-Reference
  22. John Donaldson at Baseball-Reference
  23. "1969 Seattle Pilots Schedule | Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  24. "1969 Seattle Pilots Minor League Affiliates". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  25. "The Mounties: Who Will Expo Cuts Replace?". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia. April 5, 1969. p. 18 via Newspapers.com.

References

Further reading

  • Allen, Rick (2020). Inside Pitch: Insiders Reveal How the Ill-Fated Seattle Pilots Got Played into Bankruptcy in One Year. Tacoma, WA: Persistence Press. ISBN 978-1-73-459590-1.
  • Bouton, Jim (1970). Ball Four. New York: World Publishing. LCCN 78-120125.
  • Hogan, Kenneth (2006). The 1969 Seattle Pilots: Major League Baseball's One-Year Team. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-78-642786-4.
  • Mullins, Bill (2013). Becoming Big League: Seattle, the Pilots, and Stadium Politics. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-29-599252-5.
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