The 1969 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The club finished in last place in the newly established American League East with a record of 62 wins and 99 losses. The 1969 season seemed hopeful before the season started, based on the Indians' modest 86–75 record the previous season, along with their solid pitching. However, a 1–15 start shattered any illusions of a successful season. Not helping, was that the Indians strong pitching the previous season fell apart. Luis Tiant fell to 9–20 in 1969 and didn't look like the same pitcher from 1968, when he went 21–9, with a 1.60 ERA. Sam McDowell stayed solid at the very least, going 18–14, with a 2.94 ERA.

Offseason October 8, 1968: Eddie Fisher was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the California Angels for Jack Hamilton. October 15, 1968: 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft Chico Salmon was drafted from the Indians by the Seattle Pilots as the 11th pick.Chico Salmon page at Baseball Reference Lou Piniella was drafted from the Indians by the Pilots as the 28th pick.Lou Piniella page at Baseball Reference

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 10, 1969: Oscar Zamora was released by the Indians.Oscar Zamora page at Baseball Reference April 19, 1969: Joe Azcue, Vicente Romo and Sonny Siebert were traded by the Indians to the Boston Red Sox for Dick Ellsworth, Ken Harrelson and Juan Pizarro.Joe Azcue page at Baseball-Reference June 12, 1969: Rob Gardner was traded by the Indians to the New York Yankees for John Orsino.John Orsino page at Baseball Reference June 20, 1969: Lee Maye was traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Bill Denehy and cash.Lee Maye page at Baseball Reference

Opening Day Lineup +Opening Day Starters # Name Position1 José Cardenal CF16 Larry Brown SS28 Richie Scheinblum RF11 Tony Horton 1B20 Jimmie Hall LF7 Joe Azcue C17 Zoilo Versalles 3B13 Vern Fuller 2B33 Luis Tiant P 1969 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference

Roster 1969 Cleveland Indians Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches (Hitting) (First Base) (Pitching) (Third Base)

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 Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C Duke Sims 114 326 77 .236 18 45 1B Tony Horton 159 625 174 .278 27 93 2B Vern Fuller 108 254 60 .236 4 22 SS 132 469 112 .239 4 24 3B Max Alvis 66 191 43 .225 1 15 LF Frank Baker 52 172 44 .256 3 15 CF 146 557 143 .257 11 45 RF Ken Harrelson 149 519 115 .222 27 84

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 Russ Snyder 122 266 66 .248 2 24 Lou Klimchock 90 258 74 .287 6 26 Zoilo Versalles 72 217 49 .226 1 13 Eddie Leon 64 213 51 .239 3 19 Richie Scheinblum 102 199 37 .186 1 13 52 123 25 .203 0 6 Chuck Hinton 94 121 31 .256 3 19 Ray Fosse 37 116 20 .172 2 9 Cap Peterson 76 110 25 .227 1 14 43 108 27 .250 1 15 Ken Suarez 36 85 25 .294 1 9 7 24 7 .292 1 1 Russ Nagelson 12 17 6 .353 0 0 Lou Camilli 13 14 0 .000 0 0 Jimmie Hall 4 10 0 .000 0 0 Jack Heidemann 3 3 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

= Indicates league leader 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 Sam McDowell 39 285.0 18 14 2.94 279 Luis Tiant 38 249.2 9 20 3.71 156 Sonny Siebert 2 14.0 0 1 3.21 6

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 Stan Williams 61 178.1 6 14 3.94 139 Steve Hargan 32 143.2 5 14 5.70 76 Dick Ellsworth 34 135.0 6 9 4.13 48 Mike Paul 47 117.1 5 10 3.61 98 8 11.0 0 2 9.00 9

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 Juan Pizarro 48 3 3 4 3.16 44 Ron Law 35 3 4 1 4.99 29 31 4 2 1 5.21 32 29 0 2 0 4.25 26 Jack Hamilton 20 0 2 1 4.40 13 Gary Kroll 19 0 0 0 4.13 28 Phil Hennigan 9 2 1 0 3.31 10 Vicente Romo 3 1 1 0 2.25 7

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

Statesville franchise moved to Monroe, June 20, 1969Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

Notes

References 1969 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference 1969 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com