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.

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

Offseason

• April 1, 1968: Marv Staehle was purchased by the Pilots from the Cleveland Indians.^[5]
• June 7, 1968: Wilbur Howard was selected by the Pilots in the 19th round of the 1968 Major League Baseball draft.^[6]
• October 21, 1968: Jim Bouton was purchased by the Pilots from the New York Yankees.^[7]
• March 31, 1969: Chico Salmon was traded by the Pilots to the Baltimore Orioles for Gene Brabender and Gordy Lund.^[8]

Expansion draft

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

Regular season

Pilots' logo.

• On Tuesday, April 8, the Pilots won their first-ever game, 4–3 at Anaheim Stadium over the California Angels. Twenty-six-year-old Pilots' starter Marty Pattin went five innings, allowing two earned runs for Seattle. RHP Jack Aker earned the save. RF Mike Hegan hit Seattle's first-ever HR, a two-run shot off Jim McGlothlin CAL, after 2b Tommy Harper SEA had doubled to left to begin the Pilots' existence.
• On the afternoon of Friday, April 11, the Pilots played, and won, their first American League game at Sick's Stadium in Seattle – 7–0 over the Chicago White Sox. Thirty-two-year-old righty Gary Bell tossed a complete game for Seattle, scattering nine hits, striking out six Sox and walking four. Bell also helped his own cause by stroking a two-run double off RHP Bob Locker CHW in the bottom of the sixth. 1b Don Mincher SEA hit a two-run HR off RHP Joe Horlen CHW in the third. The official attendance was 14 993.
• On July 2, Reggie Jackson of the Oakland Athletics hit three home runs against the Pilots to raise his season total to 34 home runs.^[15]
• In the 1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, outfielder Mike Hegan was the only Pilot selected to the All-Star game on the reserved squad. However, due to injury, he would be replaced by his teammate, infielder Don Mincher.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

The first game

April 8, Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California

^[16]

Opening Day lineup

^[17]

Notable transactions

• April 1, 1969: Lou Piniella was traded by the Pilots to the Kansas City Royals for Steve Whitaker and John Gelnar.^[11]
• May 27, 1969: Jim Pagliaroni was purchased by the Pilots from the Oakland Athletics.^[18]
• June 5, 1969: 1969 Major League Baseball draft
  • Gorman Thomas was drafted by the Pilots in the 1st round (21st pick).^[19]
  • Bob Coluccio was drafted by the Pilots in the 17th round.^[20]
• June 14, 1969: Larry Haney was traded by the Pilots to the Oakland Athletics for John Donaldson.^[21]
• August 24, 1969: Jim Bouton was traded by the Pilots to the Houston Astros for Dooley Womack and Roric Harrison.^[7]
• September 13, 1969: Marv Staehle was purchased from the Pilots by the Montreal Expos.^[5]

Roster

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

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

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; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers

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

Farm system

Vancouver affiliation shared with Montreal Expos

Notes

References

• 1969 Seattle Pilots: Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics. Baseball-Reference.com
• 1969 Seattle Pilots Roster webpage. Baseball Almanac website
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3. 

Further reading

• 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.