1969 Washington Senators season

Offseason

• January 8, 1969: John Orsino was purchased from the Senators by the New York Yankees.

Regular season

The year 1969 was a turning point in Washington sports history. The Senators named Ted Williams as manager. The Washington Redskins hired Vince Lombardi as Head Coach and he had brought a winning attitude to the nation's capital. In the same year, the nearby University of Maryland had hired Lefty Driesell to coach basketball. It marked a renaissance in sports interest in America's most transient of cities.

The hiring of Ted Williams sparked at least increased curiosity in the team. Williams' fanatical approach to hitting helped improve the Senators offense considerably, and inspired the team to its one and only winning season during its 11-year stay in Washington. The Senators won 86 games, 21 more than in 1968, and improved from last place in the ten-team 1968 American League to one game out of third in the new AL East division. For this remarkable turnaround, Williams was voted American League Manager of the Year. As a result, attendance at RFK Stadium improved to over 900,000, the highest attendance for the "new" Senators and, at the time, the highest in Washington's baseball history.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day starters

• CF Del Unser
• RF Ed Stroud
• LF Frank Howard
• 1B Mike Epstein
• 3B Ken McMullen
• SS Ed Brinkman
• 2B Tim Cullen
• C Paul Casanova
• P Camilo Pascual

Notable transactions

• June 5, 1969: 1969 Major League Baseball draft
  • Dave Moates was drafted by the Senators in the 4th round.
  • Dave Criscione was drafted by the Senators in the 5th round.
• June 20, 1969: Bill Denehy and cash was traded by the Senators to the Cleveland Indians for Lee Maye.

Roster

Game log

Regular season

|- style="background:#fcc;" | 1 || April 7 || 1:30p.m. EST || Yankees || L 4–8 || Stottlemyre (1–0) || Pascual (0–1) || – || 2:47 || 45,113 || 0–1 || L1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2 || April 9 || 8:05p.m. EST || Yankees || W 6–4 || Coleman (1–0) || Bahnsen (0–1) || – || 2:00 || 15,162 || 1–1 || W1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 3 || April 10 || 1:30p.m. EST || Yankees || W 9–6 || Hannan (1–0) || Peterson (0–1) || Higgins (1) || 2:33 || 3,971 || 2–1 || W2 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 4 || April 11 || 8:00p.m. EST || @ Orioles || W 4–0 || Moore (1–0) || Hardin (0–1) || Higgins (2) || 2:15 || 8,415 || 3–1 || W3 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 5 || April 12 || 2:15p.m. EST || @ Orioles || L 0–9 || McNally (1–0) || Pascual (0–2) || – || 2:16 || 6,379 || 3–2 || L1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 6 || April 13 || 2:00p.m. EST || @ Orioles || L 0–2 || Palmer (1–0) || Coleman (1–1) || – || 2:03 || – || 3–3 || L2 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 7 || April 13 || 4:38p.m. EST || @ Orioles || L 0–9 || Phoebus (1–0) || Bosman (0–1) || – || 2:07 || 20,483 || 3–4 || L3 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 8 || April 15 || 2:00p.m. EST || @ Yankees || L 2–8 || Peterson (1–1) || Bertaina (0–1) || – || 2:32 || 13,889 || 3–5 || L4 |- style="background:#bbb;" |–|| April 16 || || @ Yankees || colspan="8"|Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: April 17) |- style="background:#fcc;" | 9 || April 17 || 1:00p.m. EST || @ Yankees || L 3–7 (10) || Stottlemyre (3–0) || Higgins (0–1) || – || 2:28 || – || 3–6 || L5 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 10 || April 17 || 4:03p.m. EST || @ Yankees || W 5–2 || Moore (2–0) || Bahnsen (0–3) || Higgins (3) || 2:17 || 6,883 || 4–6 || W1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 11 || April 18 || 8:05p.m. EST || Orioles || L 0–6 || Phoebus (2–0) || Coleman (1–2) || – || 2:27 || 4,457 || 4–7 || L1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 12 || April 19 || 2:15p.m. EST || Orioles || W 7–5 || Bosman (1–1) || Cuellar (0–2) || Higgins (4) || 2:20 || 5,495 || 5–7 || W1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 13 || April 20 || 1:00p.m. EST || Orioles || L 1–2 || McNally (2–0) || Hannan (1–1) || Watt (2) || 2:52 || – || 5–8 || L1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 14 || April 20 || 4:27p.m. EST || Orioles || W 5–2 || Bertaina (1–1) || Hardin (0–2) || Humphreys (1) || 2:19 || 18,055 || 6–8 || W1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 15 || April 21 || 8:05p.m. EST || Tigers || L 0–2 || Sparma (2–0) || Moore (2–1) || – || 2:15 || 3,813 || 6–9 || L1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 16 || April 22 || 8:05p.m. EST || Tigers || L 2–4 || Hiller (1–0) || Pascual (0–3) || McMahon (3) || 2:48 || 4,922 || 6–10 || L2 |- style="background:#bbb;" |–|| April 24 || || @ Red Sox || colspan="8"|Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: July 5) |- style="background:#cfc;" | 21 || April 28 || 8:00p.m. EDT || @ Tigers || W 6–1 || Pascual (1–3) || Wilson (1–3) || Bosman (1) || 2:39 || 7,353 || 11–10 || W5 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 22 || April 29 || 8:00p.m. EDT || @ Tigers || L 4–5 || Radatz (1–0) || Bertaina (1–2) || – || 2:24 || 6,986 || 11–11 || L1

Player stats

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

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

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Awards and honors

• Del Unser, American League Leader, Triples (8)
• Del Unser, American League Record, Fewest Triples in One Season by an American League Leader (8)
• Ted Williams, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year

All-Star Game

• Frank Howard, starting LF
• Darold Knowles, reserve

Farm system

Savannah affiliation shared with Houston Astros

Notes

References

• 1969 Washington Senators at Baseball Reference
• 1969 Washington Senators at Baseball Almanac

References

1. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/orsinjo01.shtml John Orsino] at ''Baseball-Reference''
2. "New York Yankees at Washington Senators Box Score, April 7, 1969".
3. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/moateda01.shtml Dave Moates] at ''Baseball Reference''
4. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/criscda01.shtml Dave Criscione] at ''Baseball Reference''
5. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mayele01.shtml Lee Maye] at ''Baseball Reference''
6. "1969 Washington Senators Statistics".
7. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.96, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, {{ISBN. 978-0-451-22363-0