1969 St. Louis Cardinals season

Major League Baseball season the Major League Baseball team the National Football League team 1969 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season March 2026 November 2013 St. Louis Cardinals 1969 St Louis Cardinals Cap Insignia.svg National League East Busch Memorial Stadium St. Louis, Missouri 87–75 (.537) 4th August "Gussie" Busch Bing Devine Red Schoendienst KSD-TV KMOX(Harry Caray, Jack Buck) The 1969 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 88th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 78th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 87–75 during the season and finished fourth in the newly established National League East, 13 games behind the eventual NL pennant and World Series champion New York Mets. The resurgent Chicago Cubs, featuring players such as Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, and Billy Williams and helmed by fiery manager Leo Durocher, led the newly formed NL East for much of the summer before faltering. The Cardinals put on a mid-season surge, as their famous announcer Harry Caray (in what would prove to be his final season of 25 doing Cardinals broadcasts) began singing, "The Cardinals are coming, tra-la, tra-la". However, to the surprise of both Chicago and St. Louis, the Miracle Mets would ultimately win the division, as well as the league championship and the World Series. Offseason October 14, 1968: Coco Laboy was drafted from the Cardinals by the Montreal Expos as the 54th pick in the 1968 MLB expansion draft.Coco Laboy page at Baseball Reference December 2, 1968: 1968 rule 5 draft Pedro Borbón was drafted from the Cardinals by the California Angels.Pedro Borbón page at Baseball Reference Bo Belinsky was drafted by the Cardinals from the Houston Astros.Bo Belinsky page at Baseball Reference February 12, 1969: Byron Browne was purchased by the Cardinals from the Houston Astros.Byron Browne page at Baseball Reference March 17, 1969: Orlando Cepeda was traded by the Cardinals to the Atlanta Braves for Joe Torre.Orlando Cepeda page at Baseball Reference March 29, 1969: Dennis Ribant was purchased by the Cardinals from the Kansas City Royals.Dennis Ribant page at Baseball Reference Prior to 1969 season: Tommy Cruz was signed by the Cardinals as an amateur free agent.Tommy Cruz page at Baseball-Reference Regular season Pitcher Bob Gibson and outfielder Curt Flood won Gold Gloves this year. 1969 also marked the final season for the Busch Stadium grass before the installation of AstroTurf, which would be their home surface for the next 26 seasons. After the season, long-time broadcaster Harry Caray's contract was not renewed. At a news conference shortly afterward, Caray pointedly and conspicuously drank from a can of Schlitz beer, at the time the main competitor to the brands of Anheuser-Busch (A–B), who owned the Cardinals. He said he did not know why he had been let go, but doubted the team's claim that the decision was made because he was hurting beer sales. Instead, he suspected that people believed rampant rumors that he had been having an affair with Susan Busch, daughter-in-law of team president and A–B CEO Gussie Busch.Knoedelseder William William Knoedelseder Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser–Busch and America's Kings of Beer 2012 HarperCollins 9780062009272 111–112 https://books.google.com/books?id=Aeu3UYUtLokC No, I gotta believe the real reason I was let go was the someone believed the rumor that I was involved with young Busch's wifeSusan Busch denied this on the single occasion she has addressed it on the record. Caray also denied it whenever the subject came up, but less consistently, in one interview suggesting the affair had happened while in another quickly changing the subject to say he was flattered that anyone thought she would be attracted to him.Knoedelseder, 106–107 Caray would be a broadcaster for the Oakland Athletics in 1970, before spending 27 seasons in Chicago with the White Sox (1971–1981) and the Cubs from 1982 until his death prior to the 1998 season. Season standings St. Louis Cardinals Record vs. opponents STL Opening Day starters Lou Brock Curt Flood Bob Gibson Julián Javier Dal Maxvill Tim McCarver Vada Pinson Mike Shannon Joe Torre1969 St. Louis Cardinals Roster by Baseball Almanac Notable transactions April 3, 1969: Bo Belinsky was purchased from the Cardinals by the California Angels. May 22, 1969: John Sipin and Sonny Ruberto were traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres for Bill Davis and Jerry DaVanon.Sonny Ruberto page at Baseball Reference June 5, 1969: Bill Madlock was drafted by the Cardinals in the 11th round of the 1969 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.Bill Madlock page at Baseball Reference June 14, 1969: Dennis Ribant was traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Reds for Aurelio Monteagudo. Roster 1969 St. Louis Cardinals Roster Pitchers 34 Nelson Briles 30 Sal Campisi 32 Steve Carlton 22 Reggie Cleveland 33 Jim Ellis 45 Bob Gibson 39 Dave Giusti 22 Mudcat Grant 36 Santiago Guzmán 19 Tom Hilgendorf 43 Joe Hoerner 47 Mel Nelson 49 Jerry Reuss 47 Dennis Ribant 42 Chuck Taylor 47 Mike Torrez 44 Ray Washburn 19 Gary Waslewski 36 Ron Willis Catchers 15 Tim McCarver 10 Dave Ricketts 23 Ted Simmons Infielders 35 Chip Coulter 26 Jerry DaVanon 16 Phil Gagliano 14 Steve Huntz 25 Julián Javier 29 Bob Johnson 27 Dal Maxvill 18 Mike Shannon  9 Joe Torre  7 Bill White Outfielders 20 Lou Brock 29 Byron Browne 17 Vic Davalillo 11 Boots Day 21 Curt Flood 12 Joe Hague 24 Jim Hicks 37 Leron Lee 24 Joe Nossek 28 Vada Pinson Manager  2 Red Schoendienst Coaches  3 George Kissell  8 Bob Milliken  4 Billy Muffett  5 Dick Sisler Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader 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 Tim McCarver 138 515 134 .260 7 51 1B Joe Torre 159 602 174 .289 18 101 2B Julián Javier 143 493 139 .282 10 42 SS Dal Maxvill 132 372 65 .175 2 32 3B Mike Shannon 150 551 140 .254 12 55 LF Lou Brock 157 655 195 .298 12 47 CF Curt Flood 153 606 173 .285 4 57 RF Vada Pinson 132 495 126 .255 10 70 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 Huntz 71 139 27 .194 3 13 Phil Gagliano 62 128 29 .227 1 10 Joe Hague 40 100 17 .170 2 8 Vic Davalillo 63 98 26 .265 2 10 Bill White 49 57 12 .211 0 4 Byron Browne baseball 22 53 12 .226 1 7 Dave Ricketts 30 44 12 .273 0 5 Jim Hicks 19 44 8 .182 1 3 Jerry DaVanon 16 40 12 .300 1 7 Bob Johnson 19 29 6 .207 1 2 Leron Lee 7 23 5 .217 0 0 Chip Coulter 6 19 6 .316 0 4 Ted Simmons 5 14 3 .214 0 3 Boots Day 11 6 0 .000 0 0 Joe Nossek 9 5 1 .200 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 Bob Gibson 35 314.0 20 13 2.18 269 Steve Carlton 31 236.1 17 11 2.17 210 Nelson Briles 36 227.2 15 13 3.52 126 Santiago Guzmán 1 7.1 0 1 4.91 7 Jerry Reuss 1 7.0 1 0 0.00 3 Reggie Cleveland 1 4.0 0 0 9.00 3 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 Ray Washburn 28 132.1 3 8 3.06 80 Chuck Taylor 27 126.2 7 5 2.56 62 Mike Torrez 24 107.2 10 4 3.59 61 Dave Giusti 22 99.2 3 7 3.61 62 Jim Ellis 2 5.1 0 0 1.69 0 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 Joe Hoerner 45 2 3 15 2.87 35 Mudcat Grant 30 7 5 7 4.12 35 Ron Willis 26 1 2 0 4.18 23 Gary Waslewski 12 0 2 1 3.92 16 Mel Nelson 8 0 1 0 11.81 3 Sal Campisi 7 1 0 0 0.93 7 Tom Hilgendorf 6 0 0 2 1.42 2 Dennis Ribant 1 0 0 0 13.50 0 Vic Davalillo 1 0 0 0 inf 0 Awards and honors Lou Brock, League leader, Stolen Bases Bob Gibson, Pitcher, Gold Glove Award Curt Flood, Outfield, Gold Glove Award All-Star Game Steve Carlton, P, Starter Bob Gibson, P, Reserve Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Tulsa Oilers American Association Warren Spahn AA Arkansas Travelers Texas League Ray Hathaway A Modesto Reds California League Joe Cunningham A St. Petersburg Cardinals Florida State League Jack Krol A Cedar Rapids Cardinals Midwest League Roy Majtyka A-Short Season Lewis-Clark Broncs Northwest League Bobby Dews Rookie GCL Cardinals Gulf Coast League Tom BurgessJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007 Notes References 2 External links 1969 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1969 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:St. Louis Cardinals seasons Saint Louis Cardinals season St Louis