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 — a major reason why the team was forced into bankruptcy after only one season. Despite the poor conditions at aging Sick's Stadium, the ticket prices were among the highest in the major leagues. The bankruptcy sale of the team was approved by a federal court in Seattle on March 31, 1970, 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.

The last remaining active member of the 1969 Seattle Pilots was Fred Stanley, who retired after the 1982 season.

Offseason

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

Expansion draft

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

1968 MLB June amateur draft and minor league affiliates

The Pilots and Kansas City Royals, along with the two National League expansion teams set to debut in 1969, the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres, were allowed to participate in the June 1968 MLB first-year player draft, although the new teams were barred from the lottery's first three rounds. The Pilots drafted 29 players in the 1968 June draft, including future major league manager Tom Kelly (eighth round) and starting pitcher Bill Parsons (seventh round). Seattle affiliated with one minor league club during 1968 to develop drafted players; the roster was filled out by professional and amateur free agents that had been signed and players loaned from other organizations.

1968 farm system

Regular season

• 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. Right fielder Mike Hegan hit Seattle's first-ever home run, a two-run shot off Jim McGlothlin, after second baseman Tommy Harper 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 in the bottom of the sixth. Seattle 1b Don Mincher hit a two-run HR off RHP Joe Horlen 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.
• 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.
• On October 2, the Pilots played their last-ever game, losing 3-1 to Oakland in front of 5,473 fans in Seattle. In the final inning, Steve Whitaker hit the Pilots' last-ever home run, Greg Goossen got their final hit (a single), and Jerry McNertney struck out to end the game. Steve Barber took the loss.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

The first game

April 8, Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California

Opening Day Lineup

Notable transactions

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

Roster

Game log

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

The Pilots' farm system consisted of four minor league affiliates in 1969. The Triple-A Vancouver Mounties were shared with the Montreal Expos.

Awards and honors

1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Don Mincher
• Mike Hegan (reserve, did not play)

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

• Allen, Rick (2020). Inside Pitch: Insiders Reveal How the Ill-Fated Seattle Pilots Got Played into Bankruptcy in One Year. Tacoma, WA: Persistence Press. ISBN 978-1-73-459590-1.
• 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.