1969 Seattle Pilots

		1969 ROSTER
		Manager
	4	Joe Schultz
		Coaches
	2	Frankie Crosetti
	4	Sal Maglie
	6	Eddie O'Brien
	7	Ron Plaza
	31	Sibby Sisti
		Pitchers
	23	Jack Aker
	32	Dick Baney*
	13	Steve Barber
	46	Dick Bates
	39	Gary Bell
	56	Jim Bouton
	32	Gene Brabender
	27	Darrell Brandon**
	39	George Brunet**
	40	Bill Edgerton
	14	Mickey Fuentes
	25	John Gelnar
	27	Bob Locker
	42	Skip Lockwood
	28	Mike Marshall
	38	Bob Meyer
	35	John Morris
	43	John O'Donoghue
	33	Marty Pattin
	46	Garry Roggenburk***
	24	Diego Segui
	41	Jerry Stephenson****
	23	Fred Talbot
	41	Dooley Womack
		Catchers
	10	Larry Haney
	15	Jerry McNertney
	17	Jim Pagliaroni
	26	Merritt Ranew
	45	Gary Timberlake
	30	Freddie Velazquez
		Infielders
	30	Ron Clark
	10	John Donaldson
	8	Mike Ferraro
	18	Gus Gil
	34	Greg Goossen
	21	Tommy Harper
	11	John Kennedy
	14	Gordy Lund
	5	Don Mincher
	1	Ray Oyler
	9	Rich Rollins
	22	Fred Stanley
		Outfielders
	20	Wayne Comer
	12	Tommy Davis
	14	Jim Gosger
	8	Mike Hegan
	36	Steve Hovley
	16	Dick Simpson
	28	Sandy Valdespino
	31	Jose Vidal
	12	Danny Walton
	19	Steve Whitaker
	51	Billy Williams
	*	Also wore 45 for a time
	**	Also wore 57 for a time
	***	Also wore 44 and 39 for a time
	****	Also wore 40 for a time

BR Team Page

Record: 64-98, Finished 6th in AL Western Division (1969 AL)

Managed by Joe Schultz

Coaches: Frankie Crosetti, Sal Maglie, Eddie O'Brien, Ron Plaza and Sibby Sisti

Ballpark: Sicks Stadium

Season Highlights[edit]

The 1969 Seattle Pilots were the only edition of the expansion Seattle Pilots to play in the Pacific Northwest. After finishing in last place in the AL West, they moved to Milwaukee, WI before the start of the 1970 season. Nevertheless, the Pilots secured a place in baseball history because the team's travails were described in humorous detail by pitcher Jim Bouton in his classic book, Ball Four which came out in 1970.

Major League Baseball awarded Dewey Soriano and Max Soriano an expansion franchise at the 1967 Winter Meetings in Mexico City on the condition King County would build a domed stadium. In 1968, after a round of public appearances by American League president Joe Cronin, and players Mickey Mantle, Jimmy Piersall and Carl Yastrzemski, King County voters approved the construction of a domed stadium. But in the menatime, the Pilots would need to play in outdated Sicks Stadium, a minor league ballpark which was quickly and shoddily expanded to hold more fans.

The Seattle Pilots' first pick in the expansion draft was Don Mincher, and they became one of four expansion franchises the began play in 1969.

The Pilots won their first game on April 8th against the California Angels, but there were very few other bright spots to the season. Nevertheless, the team managed to stay in reasonable striking distance of a .500 record for the first three months of the season, and were only 6 games back of the division lead (in third place in the AL West) as late as June 28th. But a disastrous 9-20 July and an even worse 6-22 August ended even a faint hope of any kind of contention, and the team finished in last place with a record of 64-98.

In terms of individual accomplishments, Tommy Harper led the American League with 73 stolen bases, Mincher clubbed 25 home runs and made the All-Star team as an injury replacement for Mike Hegan who hit .292 with a .427 OBP. Reliever Diego Segui went 12-6 with a respectable 3.35 ERA. However, only two other regulars (Tommy Davis and Steve Hovley) had a batting average above .250 and no starting pitcher posted an ERA below 4.00. The team's mediocrity, coupled with an inadequate 31-year-old ballpark, led to a per-game attendance of little more than 8,000.

Also, the Pilots had no television deal with any local broadcasting station at the time, which also helped lead to the team's demise when television was becoming a key marketing tool for teams and source of revenue. Former part-owner Max Soriano said about the cost of broadcasting rights: "The cost of the A.T.& T line was such that we couldn't get advertisers to come forth. There wasn't any revenue for the ball club by the time you paid the telephone charges."

Add that along with former Cleveland Indians owner William Daley, who the Sorianos met in 1965 when the Indians were considering moving to Seattle, told Seattle officials they had one year to prove themselves or lose the team, withdrew his support for the Pilots. Daley's threat worked as city officials, the Pilots, and local creditors all argued over money owned by Pilots management due to delays to construction to the domed stadium or from lawsuits which later led to the Pilots filing for bankruptcy.

As a result, the bankrupt team was sold to a group led by Milwaukee businessman named Bud Selig for $10.8 million and moved during spring training to become the Milwaukee Brewers.

Awards and Honors[edit]

All-Stars: Mike Hegan and Don Mincher

Season Timeline[edit]

April 1 - The Pilots trade little-known minor league outfielder Lou Piniella to the Kansas City Royals for two prospects. Piniella will hit .282 with 11 home runs and 68 RBI, good enough to win American League Rookie of the Year honors.

April 8 - The Pilots win in their debut game, defeating the California Angels, 4 - 3. Leadoff hitter Tommy Harper doubles for the team's first hit, and the next batter, Mike Hegan, hits the first home run in club history. Marty Pattin gets the win, while Jack Aker records a save.

April 11 - Seattle wins in their home opener behind a Gary Bell 7 - 0 shutout of the Chicago White Sox at Sicks Stadium.

May 16 - In the highest-scoring 11th inning ever, the Pilots score six runs, then allows five, but hang on for a 10 - 9 win at Boston. Jim Bouton gets the win with three shutout innings. Wayne Comer has a pair of homers, including one in the 11th. John Kennedy also adds a homer in the 11th.

July 27 - Seattle suffers a heartbreaker, losing 5 - 3 to the Red Sox in 20 innings at Sicks Stadium. Joe Lahoud hits a two-run home run in the top of the 20th for Boston, and Tommy Harper matches him in the bottom of the inning for the losers.