1969 Los Angeles Dodgers season

The 1969 Los Angeles Dodgers finished in fourth place in the new National League Western Division, eight games behind the Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers' record for 1969 was 85–77, which was nine wins better than 1968.

1969 Los Angeles Dodgers
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Walter O'Malley, James Mulvey
General manager(s)Al Campanis
Manager(s)Walter Alston
Local televisionKTTV (11)
Local radioKFI
Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett
KWKW
Jose Garcia, Jaime Jarrín
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Offseason

Regular season

After finishing 8th in 1967 and 7th in 1968, the Dodgers looked to improve in 1969 with the addition of youngsters Ted Sizemore, Bill Sudakis, and by obtaining Tom Haller in a trade. The Dodgers started fast and on June 10, they were in 2nd place at 31–22, 1 game back in a wild 5 team N.L. West race. On June 11, they reacquired Maury Wills in a trade, and obtained Manny Mota in the same deal for Ron Fairly and Paul Popovich. By July 16, they were in 1st place, and after beating the Mets on September 3, they were in second place, 1 game back. Centerfielder Willie Davis had just extended his club record 31 game hitting streak. They headed to San Diego to face the expansion Padres in a 4-game series and disaster struck. They scored 4 runs in 4 games, lost 4 in a row, and Davis had his hitting streak stopped in the first game. They left San Diego in 4th place, still only 2½ games out. They rebounded somewhat, and when they beat the Atlanta Braves on September 18, they were one-half game behind co-leaders Atlanta and the San Francisco Giants as they headed to San Francisco. The pressure of the season long 5 team pennant race got to this young team, as they lost 10 of their next 11 games, ultimately finishing 85–77, 8 games behind division winning Atlanta.

Impact

While they did not win the division, the 1969 Dodgers marked the start of a turnaround for the franchise. After finishing 8th and 7th in 1967 and 1968 respectively, they would not finish in the bottom half of the standings again until 1984. Ted Sizemore won the rookie of the year award, and other youngsters like Steve Garvey, Bill Russell, Von Joshua, Bobby Valentine, and Bill Buckner contributed in back up roles. Waiting in the wings in the minors were Ron Cey, Davey Lopes, Tom Paciorek, and manager Tommy Lasorda.

Season standings
NL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 9369 0.574 — 50–31 43–38
San Francisco Giants 9072 0.556 3 52–29 38–43
Cincinnati Reds 8973 0.549 4 50–31 39–42
Los Angeles Dodgers 8577 0.525 8 50–31 35–46
Houston Astros 8181 0.500 12 52–29 29–52
San Diego Padres 52110 0.321 41 28–53 24–57

Record vs. opponents
1969 National League Records

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta —3–912–615–39–98–44–86–68–413–59–96–6
Chicago 9–3—6–6–18–46–610–88–1012–67–1111–16–69–9
Cincinnati 6–126–6–1—9–910–88–46–610–25–711–710–88–4
Houston 3–154–89–9—6–1211–110–28–43–910–810–87–5
Los Angeles 9–96–68–1012–6—10–24–88–48–412–65–133–9
Montreal 4–88–104–81–112–10—5–1311–75–134–81–117–11
New York 8–410–86–62–108–413–5—12–610–811–18–412–6
Philadelphia 6-66–122–104–84–87–116–12—10–88–43–97–11
Pittsburgh 4–811–77–59–34–813–58–108–10—10–25–79–9
San Diego 5–131–117–118–106–128–41–114–82–10—6–124–8
San Francisco 9–96–68–108–1013–511–14–89–37–512–6—3–9
St. Louis 6–69–94–85–79–311–76–1211–79–98–49–3—

Opening Day lineup
Opening Day starters
NamePosition
Willie CrawfordCenter fielder
Len GabrielsonRight fielder
Bill SudakisThird baseman
Ron FairlyFirst baseman
Andy KoscoLeft fielder
Tom HallerCatcher
Jim LefebvreSecond baseman
Ted SizemoreShortstop
Don DrysdaleStarting pitcher

Notable transactions

Roster
1969 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders
  • 14 Len Gabrielson

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

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
1BWes Parker132471131.2781368
2BTed Sizemore159590160.271446
3BBill Sudakis132462108.2341453
SSMaury Wills104434129.297439
LFManny Mota8529495.323330
CFWillie Davis129498155.3111159
RFAndy Kosco120424105.2481974

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

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

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

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
Jim Brewer5976202.5592
Pete Mikkelsen487542.7751

Awards and honors

All-Stars

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Spokane Indians Pacific Coast League Tommy Lasorda
AA Albuquerque Dodgers Texas League Del Crandall
A Bakersfield Dodgers California League Don LeJohn
A Daytona Beach Dodgers Florida State League Bob Shaw
A Rogue Valley Dodgers Northwest League Bill Berrier
Rookie Ogden Dodgers Pioneer League Ray Malgradi

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rogue Valley, Ogden

1969 Major League Baseball Draft

This was the fifth year of a Major League Baseball Draft. The Dodgers drafted 47 players in the June draft and 11 in the January draft.

The Dodgers first round selection in the June draft, High School Catcher Terry McDermott did make it to the Majors, in 1972, but played only 9 games.

The only player from this draft class who made any impact in the Majors was Lee Lacy, who was drafted twice this year... as a third baseman in the January draft and as a pitcher in the June draft. He was primarily an outfielder in the Majors, and played through 1987 with the Dodgers, Braves, Pirates and Orioles.

Notes
  1. Bob Bailey page at Baseball Reference
  2. Pete Mikkelsen page at Baseball Reference
  3. Mike Kekich page at Baseball Reference
  4. Jim Campanis page at Baseball Reference
  5. Ted Savage page at Baseball Reference
  6. Tommy Dean page at Baseball Reference
  7. Dodgers finally bring Wills back home
  8. Chuck Goggin page at Baseball Reference
  9. Jack Jenkins page at Baseball Reference
  10. 1969 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Regular Phase
  11. 1969 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase
  12. 1969 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
  13. 1969 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase
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References
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