1969 Montreal Expos season

1969 Montreal Expos
Inaugural Season
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1969)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Jarry Park (since 1969)
Montreal (since 1969)
Other information
Owner(s)	Charles Bronfman
Manager(s)	Gene Mauch
Local television	CBC Television (Hal Kelly, Jim Hearne) Télévision de Radio-Canada (Jean-Pierre Roy, Guy Ferron)
Local radio	CKGM (English) (Dave Van Horne, Russ Taylor) CKLM (French) (Jean-Pierre Roy, Jean-Paul Sarault)
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The Montreal Expos participated in their first season in Major League Baseball in 1969. The Expos, as typical for first-year expansion teams, finished in the cellar of the National League East Division with a 52–110 record, 48 games behind the eventual World Series Champion New York Mets. They did not win any game in extra innings during the year, which also featured a surprise no-hitter in just the ninth regular-season game they ever played. Their home attendance of 1,212,608, an average of 14,970 per game, was good for 7th in the N.L.

Offseason

Expansion draft

The Montreal Expos participated in the 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft on October 14, 1968.

Player	Former Team	Pick
Manny Mota	Pittsburgh Pirates	2nd pick[1]
Mack Jones	Cincinnati Reds	4th pick
John Bateman	Houston Astros	6th pick
Gary Sutherland	Philadelphia Phillies	8th pick
Jack Billingham	Los Angeles Dodgers	10th pick
Donn Clendenon	Pittsburgh Pirates	11th pick
Jesús Alou	San Francisco Giants	13th pick[2]
Mike Wegener	Philadelphia Phillies	15th pick
Skip Guinn	Atlanta Braves	17th pick[3]
Bill Stoneman	Chicago Cubs	19th pick
Maury Wills	Pittsburgh Pirates	21st pick[4]
Bobby Wine	Philadelphia Phillies	23rd pick[5]
Bob Reynolds	San Francisco Giants	25th pick
Dan McGinn	Cincinnati Reds	27th pick
José Herrera	Houston Astros	29th pick
Jimy Williams	Cincinnati Reds	32nd pick[6]
Remy Hermoso	Atlanta Braves	34th pick
Mudcat Grant	Los Angeles Dodgers	36th pick[7]
Jerry Robertson	St. Louis Cardinals	38th pick
Don Shaw	New York Mets	40th pick[8]
Ty Cline	San Francisco Giants	41st pick
Garry Jestadt	Chicago Cubs	43rd pick
Carl Morton	Atlanta Braves	45th pick[9]
Larry Jaster	St. Louis Cardinals	47th pick
Ernie McAnally	New York Mets	49th pick
Jim Fairey	Los Angeles Dodgers	52nd pick
Coco Laboy	St. Louis Cardinals	54th pick[10]
John Boccabella	Chicago Cubs	56th pick
Ron Brand	Houston Astros	58th pick
John Glass	New York Mets	60th pick

Other transactions

• October 16, 1968: Don Bosch was purchased by the Expos from the New York Mets.^[11]
• October 21, 1968: Bob Bailey was purchased by the Expos from the Los Angeles Dodgers.^[12]
• December 2, 1968: Floyd Wicker was drafted by the Expos from the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1968 rule 5 draft.^[13]
• January 22, 1969: Donn Clendenon and Jesús Alou were traded by the Expos to the Houston Astros for Rusty Staub. Clendenon refused to report to his new team. The Expos sent Jack Billingham, Skip Guinn, and $100,000 to the Astros on April 8 as compensation.^[14]

Regular season

Historic games

The first game

Scorecard

April 8, Shea Stadium, New York City, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Montreal	2	0	1	1	0	2	1	4	0	11	12	0
New York	0	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	4	10	15	3
W: Shaw (1–0)  L: Koonce (0–1)  SV: Sembera (1)
HRs: McGinn (1), Staub (1), Laboy (1), Dyer (1)

Others

• April 14, 1969: Mack Jones hit a three-run home run and two-run triple that highlighted an 8–7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the Expos' first home victory as a franchise at Jarry Park. Jones' blast was also the first MLB home run hit outside the United States.
• April 17, 1969: In just the franchise's ninth game in existence, Bill Stoneman pitched a 7–0 no-hitter while striking out 8 batters against the Philadelphia Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium. Johnny Briggs made the final out for the Phillies. Le Grande Orange Rusty Staub was the hitting hero for the Expos going 4 for 5 with three doubles and a homer. A crowd of 6,496 were on hand to see it in Philadelphia.^[15]

Opening Day starters

• Bob Bailey
• John Bateman
• Don Bosch
• Larry Jaster
• Mack Jones
• Coco Laboy
• Rusty Staub
• Gary Sutherland
• Maury Wills

Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Mets	100	62	.617	--
Chicago Cubs	92	70	.568	8
Pittsburgh Pirates	88	74	.543	12
St. Louis Cardinals	87	75	.537	13
Philadelphia Phillies	63	99	.389	37
Montreal Expos	52	110	.321	48

Notable transactions

• April 27, 1969: Roy Face was signed as a free agent by the Expos.^[16]
• June 3, 1969: Mudcat Grant was traded by the Expos to the St. Louis Cardinals for Gary Waslewski.^[17]
• June 11, 1969: Maury Wills and Manny Mota were traded by the Expos to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Ron Fairly and Paul Popovich.^[1]
• June 11, 1969: Paul Popovich was traded by the Expos to the Chicago Cubs for Adolfo Phillips and Jack Lamabe.^[18]
• June 15, 1969: Donn Clendenon was traded by the Expos to the New York Mets for Kevin Collins, Steve Renko, Bill Carden (minors) and Dave Colon (minors).^[19]
• August 15, 1969: Roy Face was released by the Expos.^[16]
• August 19, 1969: Claude Raymond was purchased by the Expos from the Atlanta Braves.^[20]
• September 13, 1969: Marv Staehle was purchased by the Expos from the Seattle Pilots.^[21]

Draft picks

• June 5, 1969: Terry Humphrey was drafted by the Expos in the 39th round of the 1969 Major League Baseball Draft.^[22]

Roster

1969 Montreal Expos
Roster
Pitchers 14 Roy Face 22 Mudcat Grant 21 Larry Jaster 22 Leo Marentette 25 Dan McGinn 44 Carl Morton 22,17 Dick Radatz 16 Claude Raymond 29 Howie Reed 18 Steve Renko 42 Bob Reynolds 27 Jerry Robertson 28 Carroll Sembera 23 Don Shaw 46 Steve Shea 26 Bill Stoneman 47 Gary Waslewski 24 Mike Wegener		Catchers  2 John Bateman 12 John Boccabella 11 Ron Brand Infielders  3 Bob Bailey 17 Donn Clendenon  8 Kevin Collins  6 Ron Fairly 37 Remy Hermoso 41 Garry Jestadt 39 Coco Laboy 14 Marv Staehle  1 Gary Sutherland 30 Maury Wills  7 Bobby Wine		Outfielders 19 Don Bosch  5 Ty Cline 35 Jim Fairey 43 Don Hahn 38 José Herrera  9 Mack Jones 15 Manny Mota 20 Adolfo Phillips 10 Rusty Staub 36 Floyd Wicker		Manager  4 Gene Mauch Coaches 33 Peanuts Lowrey 32 Cal McLish 34 Bob Oldis 31 Jerry Zimmerman

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Brand, RonRon Brand	103	287	19	74	.258	0	20	2
1B	Bailey, BobBob Bailey	111	358	46	95	.265	9	53	3
2B	Sutherland, GaryGary Sutherland	141	544	63	130	.239	3	35	5
3B	Laboy, CocoCoco Laboy	157	562	53	145	.258	18	83	0
SS	Wine, BobbyBobby Wine	121	370	23	74	.200	3	25	0
LF	Jones, MackMack Jones	135	455	73	123	.270	22	79	6
CF	Phillips, AdolfoAdolfo Phillips	58	199	25	43	.216	4	7	6
RF	Staub, RustyRusty Staub	158	549	89	166	.302	29	79	3

^[23]

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

Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
Fairly, RonRon Fairly	70	253	35	73	.289	12	39	1
Bateman, JohnJohn Bateman	74	235	16	49	.209	8	19	0
Cline, TyTy Cline	101	209	26	50	.239	2	12	4
Wills, MauryMaury Wills	47	189	23	42	.222	0	8	15
Clendenon, DonnDonn Clendenon	38	129	14	31	.240	4	14	0
Herrera, JoséJosé Herrera	47	126	7	36	.286	2	12	1
Bosch, DonDon Bosch	49	112	13	20	.179	1	4	1
Collins, KevinKevin Collins	52	96	5	23	.240	2	12	0
Mota, MannyManny Mota	31	89	6	28	.315	0	0	1
Boccabella, JohnJohn Boccabella	40	86	4	9	.105	1	6	1
Hermoso, RemyRemy Hermoso	28	74	6	12	.162	0	3	3
Fairey, JimJim Fairey	20	49	6	14	.286	1	6	0
Wicker, FloydFloyd Wicker	41	39	2	4	.103	0	2	0
Staehle, MarvMarv Staehle	6	17	4	7	.412	1	1	0
Hahn, DonDon Hahn	4	9	0	1	.111	0	2	0
Jestadt, GarryGarry Jestadt	6	6	1	0	.000	0	1	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
Stoneman, BillBill Stoneman	42	235.2	11	19	4.39	185
Robertson, JerryJerry Robertson	38	179.2	5	16	3.96	133
Wegener, MikeMike Wegener	32	165.2	5	14	4.40	124
Renko, SteveSteve Renko	18	103.1	6	7	4.01	68
Grant, MudcatMudcat Grant	11	50.2	1	6	4.80	20
Reynolds, BobBob Reynolds	1	1.1	0	0	20.25	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
Waslewski, GaryGary Waslewski	30	109.1	3	7	3.29	63
Reed, HowieHowie Reed	31	106	6	7	4.84	59
Jaster, LarryLarry Jaster	24	77	1	6	5.49	39
Morton, CarlCarl Morton	8	29.1	0	3	4.60	16

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
McGinn, DanDan McGinn	74	7	10	6	3.94	112
Face, RoyRoy Face	44	4	2	5	3.94	34
Shaw, DonDon Shaw	35	2	5	1	5.21	45
Sembera, CarrollCarroll Sembera	23	0	2	2	3.55	15
Radatz, DickDick Radatz	22	0	4	3	5.71	32
Raymond, ClaudeClaude Raymond	15	1	2	1	4.09	11
Shea, SteveSteve Shea	10	0	0	0	2.87	11
Marentette, LeoLeo Marentette	3	0	0	0	6.75	4

Awards and honors

1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Rusty Staub, reserve

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Vancouver Mounties	Pacific Coast League	Bob Lemon
A	West Palm Beach Expos	Florida State League	Ed Sadowski
Rookie	GCL Expos	Gulf Coast League	J. W. Porter

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Expos

Vancouver affiliation shared with Seattle Pilots

Notes

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3. 
• 1969 Montreal Expos team page at Baseball Reference
• 1969 Montreal Expos team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

1969 MLB season by team AL East Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit New York Washington AL West California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle NL East Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis NL West Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft 1969 Major League Baseball Draft 1969 All-Star Game 1969 World Series

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