The 1969 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 88th season in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and its 78th season in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

. The Cardinals went 87–75 during the season and finished fourth in the newly established

National League East The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Leag ...

, 13 games behind the eventual NL pennant and

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

champion

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. The resurgent Chicago Cubs, featuring players such as

Ernie Banks Ernest Banks (January 31, 1931 – January 23, 2015), nicknamed "Mr. Cub" and "Mr. Sunshine", was an American professional baseball player who starred in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs between ...

, Ron Santo, and Billy Williams and helmed by fiery manager

Leo Durocher Leo Ernest Durocher (French spelling Léo Ernest Durocher) (; July 27, 1905 – October 7, 1991), nicknamed "Leo the Lip" and "Lippy", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as an infie ...

, led the newly formed NL East for much of the summer before faltering. The Cardinals put on a mid-season surge, as their famous announcer

Harry Caray Harry Christopher Caray (; March 1, 1914 – February 18, 1998) was an American radio and television sportscaster. During his career he called the play-by-play for five Major League Baseball teams, beginning with 25 years of calling the games ...

(in what would prove to be his final season of 25 doing Cardinals broadcasts) began singing, "The Cardinals are coming, tra-la, tra-la". However, to the surprise of both Chicago and St. Louis, the ''Miracle Mets'' would ultimately win the division, as well as the league championship and the World Series.

Offseason

* October 14, 1968:

Coco Laboy José Alberto "Coco" Laboy (born 3 July 1940) is a former Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player. He was signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent in 1959 but remained mired in the minor leagues, playing for a while in Nort ...

was drafted from the Cardinals by the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

as the 54th pick in the 1968 MLB expansion draft. * December 2, 1968: 1968 rule 5 draft **

Pedro Borbón Pedro Borbón Rodriguez (December 2, 1946 – June 4, 2012) was a Dominican professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) most notably as a member of the Cincinnati Reds dynasty that won four National League pennants a ...

was drafted from the Cardinals by the California Angels. **

Bo Belinsky Robert "Bo" Belinsky (December 7, 1936 – November 23, 2001) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played for the Los Angeles Angels, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cincinnati Reds of Major League ...

was drafted by the Cardinals from the Houston Astros.Bo Belinsky page at Baseball Reference
/ref> * February 12, 1969: Byron Browne was purchased by the Cardinals from the Houston Astros. * March 17, 1969:

Orlando Cepeda Orlando Manuel Cepeda Pennes (; born September 17, 1937), nicknamed "the Baby Bull" and "Peruchin", is a Puerto Rican former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for six teams from 1958 to 1974, primarily the San Francisco Giants. A ...

was traded by the Cardinals to the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

for

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseb ...

. * March 29, 1969:

Dennis Ribant Dennis Joseph Ribant (born September 20, 1941) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, and Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds ...

was purchased by the Cardinals from the Kansas City Royals.Dennis Ribant page at Baseball Reference
/ref> * Prior to 1969 season: Tommy Cruz was signed by the Cardinals as an amateur free agent.

Regular season

Pitcher

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ( ...

and outfielder

Curt Flood Curtis Charles Flood (January 18, 1938 – January 20, 1997) was an American professional baseball player and activist. He was a center fielder who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Redlegs, St. Louis Cardinals, ...

won Gold Gloves this year. 1969 also marked the final season for the Busch Stadium grass before the installation of AstroTurf, which would be their home surface for the next 26 seasons. After the season, long-time broadcaster

's contract was not renewed. At a news conference shortly afterward, Caray pointedly and conspicuously drank from a can of

Schlitz beer Schlitz may refer to: * Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company * Schlitz, Hesse, a town in Germany * Schlitz (river), a river in Germany People with the surname * Don Schlitz (born 1952), award-winning country music songwriter * Joseph Schlitz Josep ...

, at the time the main competitor to the brands of

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV ( AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...

(A–B), who owned the Cardinals. He said he did not know why he had been let go, but doubted the team's claim that the decision was made because he was hurting beer sales. Instead, he suspected that people believed rampant rumors that he had been having an affair with Susan Busch, daughter-in-law of team president and A–B CEO

Gussie Busch August Anheuser "Gussie" Busch Jr. (March 28, 1899 – September 29, 1989) was an American brewing magnate who built the Anheuser-Busch Companies into the largest brewery in the world by 1957 as company chairman from 1946 to 1975.Holian, Ti ...

. Caray would be a broadcaster for the Oakland Athletics in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

, before spending 27 seasons in Chicago with the White Sox ( 1971–

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

) and the Cubs from 1982 until his death prior to the 1998 season.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day starters

Lou Brock Louis Clark Brock (June 18, 1939September 6, 2020) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He began his 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the 1961 Chicago Cubs but spent most of it as a left fielder for the St. Louis Ca ...

Julián Javier Manuel Julián (Liranzo) Javier (born August 9, 1936), better known as Julián Javier oo-lee-AN hah-vee-ER is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. Called ''Hoolie'' by his teammates, he was also nicknamed "The Phantom" by Tim McCarver ...

* Dal Maxvill *

Tim McCarver James Timothy McCarver (born October 16, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from to , most prominently as a member of the St. Louis Cardina ...

* Vada Pinson *

Mike Shannon Thomas Michael Shannon (born July 15, 1939) is an American former professional baseball infielder / outfielder who spent his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career playing for the St. Louis Cardinals (–). Shannon worked as a Cardinals radio ...

Notable transactions

* April 3, 1969: Bo Belinsky was purchased from the Cardinals by the California Angels. * May 22, 1969: John Sipin and Sonny Ruberto were traded by the Cardinals to the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

for

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the member of provincial Parliament for Peel in the 1959 provincia ...

and

Jerry DaVanon Frank Gerald DaVanon (born August 21, 1945) is a former professional baseball player. He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily as an infielder. Professional career First Cardinals stint DaVanon attended Hoo ...

. * June 5, 1969:

Bill Madlock Bill "Mad Dog" Madlock, Jr. (born January 12, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1973 to 1987. Madlock is notable for being a four-time National League b ...

was drafted by the Cardinals in the 11th round of the

1969 Major League Baseball Draft The 1969 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft took place prior to the 1969 MLB season. The draft featured future Hall of Famers Bert Blyleven (pick 55) and Dave Winfield (pick 882). First round selections The following are the first round picks ...

, but did not sign. * June 14, 1969: Dennis Ribant was traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Reds for

Aurelio Monteagudo Aurelio Faustino Monteagudo Cintra (; November 19, 1943 – November 10, 1990), nicknamed "Monty", was a right-handed screwball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball. He was the son of former big-leaguer René Monteagudo. Career Monte ...

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; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

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

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

Notes

References

External links

1969 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference1969 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
{{St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis Cardinals seasons Saint Louis Cardinals season

St Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...