1969 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
Home List of Articles

1969 Season

The 1969 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1969 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1969

I calculate Player won-lost records two ways: pWins, which tie to team wins and eWins, which control for context and the ability of one's teammates. For players with more pWins than eWins, their Player wins contributed to more team wins than one might expect; for players with more eWins than pWins, just the opposite is true: their Player wins translated into fewer team wins than expected. Or more briefly: a player with more pWins than eWins was better in context, a player with more eWins than pWins was worse in context.

The top 10 players in pWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Harmon Killebrew	24.6	15.2	8.4	10.5	1	Harmon Killebrew	24.6	15.2	8.4	10.5
2	Willie McCovey	22.2	12.3	8.2	10.0	2	Denny McLain	22.7	15.5	8.0	10.3
3	Denny McLain	22.7	15.5	8.0	10.3	3	Willie McCovey	22.2	12.3	8.2	10.0
4	Tom Seaver	20.6	13.4	7.9	9.9	4	Tom Seaver	20.6	13.4	7.9	9.9
5	Juan Marichal	20.9	14.6	7.5	9.6	5	Juan Marichal	20.9	14.6	7.5	9.6
6	Hank Aaron	24.2	15.4	7.1	9.2	6	Hank Aaron	24.2	15.4	7.1	9.2
7	Frank Robinson	24.6	15.7	7.0	9.1	7	Frank Robinson	24.6	15.7	7.0	9.1
8	Reggie Jackson	24.8	16.3	6.7	8.9	8	Reggie Jackson	24.8	16.3	6.7	8.9
9	Rico Petrocelli	22.7	17.1	6.5	8.6	9	Bob Gibson	22.0	16.7	6.4	8.7
10	Bob Gibson	22.0	16.7	6.4	8.7	10	Rico Petrocelli	22.7	17.1	6.5	8.6

The top 10 players in eWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		eWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						eWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL		Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
1	Juan Marichal	20.9	14.6	7.5	9.6	1	Juan Marichal	20.9	14.6	7.5	9.6
2	Reggie Jackson	25.1	16.1	7.3	9.4	2	Reggie Jackson	25.1	16.1	7.3	9.4
3	Jimmy Wynn	23.5	15.4	7.0	9.1	3	Jimmy Wynn	23.5	15.4	7.0	9.1
4	Rico Petrocelli	23.1	16.7	6.9	8.9	4	Rico Petrocelli	23.1	16.7	6.9	8.9
5	Willie McCovey	21.5	13.0	6.6	8.4	5	Bob Gibson	22.0	16.8	6.4	8.7
6	Sal Bando	23.6	16.8	6.6	8.7	6	Sal Bando	23.6	16.8	6.6	8.7
7	Bob Gibson	22.0	16.8	6.4	8.7	7	Willie McCovey	21.5	13.0	6.6	8.4
8	Harmon Killebrew	23.3	16.5	5.9	8.0	8	Harmon Killebrew	23.3	16.5	5.9	8.0
9	Mike Cuellar	19.4	15.1	5.8	7.9	9	Mike Cuellar	19.4	15.1	5.8	7.9
10	Hank Aaron	23.6	16.1	5.7	7.8	10	Hank Aaron	23.6	16.1	5.7	7.8

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1969 at the end of this article.

1969 Postseason

The 1969 postseason was historic for two reasons. First, the leagues were split into divisions so that, for the first time, both leagues played League Championship Series to determine who would make the World Series.

Second, the World Series was won by an expansion team for the first time ever, and not just any expansion team, but the expansion team that, to that point, had been by far the least successful, the New York Mets who shocked the 109-win Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.

I wrote about the 1969 Mets in my 2019 Retrospective (note: that link is to a book-length PDF) - 2019 being the 50th anniversary of the Mets' Miracle season.

The top players in the 1969 postseason, as measured by Player won-lost records, are shown below.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1969 Postseason: Total

Tommie Agee	NYN	1.6	0.7	0.9
Al Weis	NYN	1.1	0.3	0.9
Mike Cuellar	BAL	1.4	0.9	0.7
Wayne Garrett	NYN	0.8	0.3	0.6
Cleon Jones	NYN	1.2	0.7	0.6
Gary Gentry	NYN	1.0	0.5	0.6
Jerry Koosman	NYN	1.3	1.1	0.5
Ron Swoboda	NYN	0.9	0.5	0.4
Donn Clendenon	MON	0.7	0.3	0.4
Bud Harrelson	NYN	0.9	0.6	0.4

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1969 World Series

Al Weis	NYN	1.1	0.3	0.8
Gary Gentry	NYN	0.9	0.4	0.6
Mike Cuellar	BAL	1.2	0.7	0.5
Ron Swoboda	NYN	0.9	0.5	0.4
Donn Clendenon	MON	0.7	0.3	0.4

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1969 Postseason: League Championship Series

Cleon Jones	NYN	0.8	0.2	0.6
Tommie Agee	NYN	0.8	0.2	0.6
Wayne Garrett	NYN	0.7	0.2	0.5
Dave McNally	BAL	0.7	0.3	0.5
Paul Blair	BAL	0.7	0.2	0.5

Best of 1969 by Factor and Position

Next, let's look at the top players in various aspects of the game.

Best by Factor: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, Fielding

There are four basic factors for which players earn Player won-lost records: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, and Fielding. The top players in 1969 in wins over positional average (WOPA) by factor were as follows.


Batting
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Willie McCovey	18.2	10.0	7.8	1	Willie McCovey	19.3	8.9	10.1
2	Harmon Killebrew	18.9	11.5	7.0	2	Harmon Killebrew	20.3	10.1	9.8
3	Reggie Jackson	16.9	9.6	6.9	3	Hank Aaron	17.4	9.3	7.8
4	Jimmy Wynn	15.7	8.8	6.5	4	Reggie Jackson	17.0	9.5	7.1
5	Hank Aaron	16.5	10.1	6.0	5	John 'Boog' Powell	17.1	9.9	6.8
6	Frank Howard	17.2	11.0	5.7	6	Frank Robinson	17.0	9.9	6.6
7	Sal Bando	17.7	11.6	5.7	7	Mike Epstein	14.0	7.8	5.9
8	Frank Robinson	16.4	10.5	5.5	8	Sal Bando	17.6	11.7	5.4
9	John 'Boog' Powell	16.2	10.8	5.0	9	Frank Howard	16.9	11.3	5.1
10	Rusty Staub	15.0	9.7	4.9	10	Jimmy Wynn	14.9	9.6	5.0

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Bert Campaneris	2.7	1.1	1.5	1	Bert Campaneris	2.6	1.2	1.3
2	Joe L. Morgan	2.3	1.4	0.8	2	Matty Alou	2.4	1.4	0.9
3	Bobby Bonds	2.1	1.2	0.8	3	Paul Blair	1.8	0.9	0.9
4	Jose Cardenal	2.3	1.5	0.7	4	Felix Millan	1.9	1.0	0.8
5	H. Pat Kelly	1.8	1.1	0.7	5	Willie Davis	1.6	0.8	0.8
6	Felix Millan	1.8	1.1	0.7	6	Joe L. Morgan	2.2	1.4	0.8
7	Jimmy Wynn	1.9	1.2	0.6	7	Bobby Bonds	2.1	1.3	0.7
8	Frank Robinson	1.9	1.3	0.6	8	Luis Aparicio	2.0	1.3	0.7
9	Matty Alou	2.2	1.5	0.6	9	Cesar Tovar	1.9	1.2	0.7
10	Paul Blair	1.6	1.1	0.5	10	Sandy Alomar Sr.	1.8	1.2	0.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Juan Marichal	18.0	12.4	5.7	1	Denny McLain	21.4	13.3	8.1
2	Mike Cuellar	17.9	12.9	5.0	2	Juan Marichal	19.1	11.2	7.9
3	Sam McDowell	17.5	13.0	4.5	3	Tom Seaver	18.4	11.3	7.1
4	Larry Dierker	16.9	12.4	4.5	4	Mike Cuellar	18.6	12.2	6.4
5	Fritz Peterson	15.7	11.7	4.1	5	Bob Gibson	19.8	13.6	6.2
6	Bob Gibson	18.7	14.7	4.1	6	Jerry Koosman	15.9	9.9	6.0
7	Bill Singer	17.3	13.6	3.7	7	Fergie Jenkins	19.8	14.3	5.6
8	Andy Messersmith	16.2	12.6	3.7	8	Larry Dierker	17.3	12.0	5.3
9	Bill Hands	18.1	14.6	3.5	9	Bill Hands	18.9	13.7	5.3
10	Phil Niekro	17.6	14.2	3.4	10	Bill Singer	18.0	12.9	5.1

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Mel Stottlemyre Sr.	1.0	0.5	0.6	1	Sonny Siebert	0.7	0.1	0.5
2	Catfish Hunter	0.4	0.1	0.3	2	Tommy John	0.7	0.3	0.4
3	Jim McAndrew	0.3	0.1	0.3	3	Mel Stottlemyre Sr.	0.9	0.5	0.4
4	Phil Niekro	0.5	0.3	0.3	4	Gaylord Perry	0.6	0.3	0.3
5	Tommy John	0.7	0.4	0.2	5	Jim McAndrew	0.3	0.1	0.3


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Jerry Grote	1.8	1.0	0.8	1	Jerry Grote	1.8	1.0	0.8
2	Joe Azcue	1.5	1.1	0.4	2	Ellie Hendricks	1.4	0.6	0.8
3	Bob Didier	1.8	1.4	0.4	3	Johnny Bench	2.2	1.6	0.6
4	Ellie Hendricks	1.2	0.8	0.4	4	Bill Freehan	1.9	1.4	0.5
5	Johnny Bench	2.0	1.7	0.3	5	Ellie Rodriguez	1.3	0.9	0.4


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	John 'Boog' Powell	2.1	1.5	0.6	1	Orlando Cepeda	3.3	2.2	1.1
2	Orlando Cepeda	3.0	2.5	0.5	2	John 'Boog' Powell	2.2	1.5	0.7
3	Al Oliver	1.9	1.6	0.3	3	Lee May	3.0	2.3	0.7
4	Lee May	2.8	2.5	0.3	4	Rich Reese	1.8	1.1	0.7
5	Carl Yastrzemski	0.6	0.3	0.2	5	Joe Torre	2.2	1.8	0.4


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ted Sizemore	4.4	3.9	0.5	1	Felix Millan	6.6	5.6	1.1
2	Felix Millan	6.3	5.9	0.5	2	Davey Johnson	5.4	4.5	0.9
3	John Sipin	2.3	1.9	0.4	3	Al Weis	1.6	0.9	0.7
4	Gene Alley	1.9	1.5	0.4	4	Tommy Helms	4.8	4.3	0.5
5	Mike Andrews	4.8	4.4	0.4	5	Tim Cullen	2.8	2.3	0.5


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Brooks Robinson	5.2	4.1	1.1	1	Brooks Robinson	5.6	3.7	1.9
2	Aurelio Rodriguez	5.7	4.8	0.9	2	Ken McMullen	5.7	4.8	0.9
3	Ken McMullen	5.6	4.9	0.8	3	Tony Perez	5.3	4.6	0.7
4	Clete Boyer	4.5	3.7	0.8	4	Clete Boyer	4.4	3.7	0.7
5	Jerry Kenney	3.4	2.7	0.7	5	Aurelio Rodriguez	5.6	4.9	0.7


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ed Brinkman	6.8	6.0	0.8	1	Bud Harrelson	5.6	3.9	1.7
2	Mark Belanger	5.9	5.2	0.7	2	Don Kessinger	8.0	6.4	1.6
3	Rico Petrocelli	7.0	6.3	0.7	3	Mark Belanger	6.3	4.7	1.6
4	Bud Harrelson	5.0	4.4	0.6	4	Leo Cardenas	7.9	6.5	1.4
5	Dal Maxvill	5.7	5.2	0.6	5	Rico Petrocelli	7.3	6.0	1.3


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tommie Reynolds	4.4	3.1	1.3	1	Tommie Reynolds	4.4	3.1	1.3
2	Willie Horton	6.4	5.2	1.2	2	Cleon Jones	5.4	4.2	1.2
3	Johnny Briggs	3.3	2.1	1.2	3	Lou Brock	7.1	6.1	1.0
4	Roy White	6.2	5.4	0.8	4	Rick Reichardt	5.9	5.0	1.0
5	Rick Reichardt	5.8	5.1	0.7	5	George Spriggs	0.9	0.0	0.8


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Curt Flood	6.2	5.1	1.2	1	Curt Flood	6.6	4.7	1.9
2	Cesar Tovar	3.0	2.1	0.9	2	Tommie Agee	6.3	4.6	1.7
3	Paul Blair	5.2	4.4	0.9	3	Paul Blair	5.6	4.0	1.7
4	Ron Woods	2.1	1.4	0.7	4	Cesar Tovar	3.1	2.1	1.0
5	Willie Davis	5.0	4.5	0.5	5	Scott Northey	1.3	0.4	0.9


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tony Oliva	6.4	5.4	1.0	1	Pete Rose Sr.	5.6	4.1	1.5
2	Reggie Jackson	5.9	5.0	0.9	2	Frank Robinson	5.6	4.1	1.5
3	Johnny Callison	5.3	4.4	0.9	3	Al Kaline	5.2	4.0	1.2
4	Roberto Clemente	5.7	4.9	0.8	4	Reggie Jackson	5.9	5.1	0.8
5	Bob Oliver	2.1	1.5	0.6	5	Tony Oliva	6.3	5.5	0.8

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1969 Major-League leaders by position. The figures shown here only include Player decisions earned while playing this particular position.


Catcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Johnny Bench	14.8	11.6	3.8	1	Johnny Bench	15.2	11.1	4.7
2	Duke Sims	9.5	7.7	2.2	2	Randy Hundley	14.6	12.4	2.9
3	Randy Hundley	14.2	12.8	2.0	3	Duke Sims	9.6	7.7	2.2
4	Frank Fernandez	6.2	4.6	1.9	4	Ellie Hendricks	8.0	6.5	1.9
5	Bill Freehan	10.5	9.2	1.8	5	Dick Dietz	7.3	6.1	1.6


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie McCovey	21.2	13.2	6.1	1	Willie McCovey	22.1	12.2	8.2
2	John 'Boog' Powell	18.9	12.9	4.0	2	John 'Boog' Powell	20.1	11.7	6.6
3	Mike Epstein	15.1	10.5	3.0	3	Mike Epstein	15.5	10.1	3.9
4	Dick Allen	14.9	11.0	2.5	4	Frank Howard	7.3	4.1	2.7
5	Frank Howard	6.8	4.6	1.5	5	Rich Reese	10.9	7.5	2.3


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mike Andrews	16.3	13.7	3.0	1	Rod Carew	16.3	12.6	4.1
2	Rod Carew	15.7	13.2	2.9	2	Davey Johnson	17.9	14.4	4.0
3	Dick Green	16.6	14.5	2.6	3	Dick Green	17.2	13.9	3.8
4	Joe L. Morgan	17.6	15.5	2.6	4	Mike Andrews	16.4	13.6	3.2
5	Dick McAuliffe	10.1	8.7	1.7	5	Dick McAuliffe	10.5	8.4	2.3


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Sal Bando	23.3	17.1	5.9	1	Harmon Killebrew	16.3	9.1	7.1
2	Harmon Killebrew	15.0	10.3	4.5	2	Sal Bando	23.4	17.0	6.0
3	Tony Perez	22.8	17.9	4.5	3	Tony Perez	23.2	17.4	5.4
4	Ron Santo	22.6	18.8	3.4	4	Ron Santo	23.2	18.2	4.6
5	Richie Hebner	16.2	13.1	2.7	5	Richie Hebner	16.4	12.9	3.2


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Rico Petrocelli	22.7	17.0	6.6	1	Rico Petrocelli	22.7	17.0	6.6
2	Jim Fregosi	20.3	18.5	2.8	2	Mark Belanger	18.6	15.7	3.8
3	Luis Aparicio	21.5	20.7	2.0	3	Don Kessinger	22.9	20.3	3.7
4	Mark Belanger	17.5	16.7	1.7	4	Bud Harrelson	13.6	11.9	2.3
5	Denis Menke	17.2	16.3	1.7	5	Leo Cardenas	20.1	18.8	2.2


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Cleon Jones	17.8	14.1	2.8	1	Cleon Jones	18.4	14.1	3.9
2	Mack Jones	16.9	13.2	2.6	2	Carl Yastrzemski	20.0	16.5	3.0
3	Willie Stargell	16.0	12.5	2.6	3	Willie Horton	20.0	16.2	2.9
4	Willie Horton	19.7	16.2	2.3	4	Rico Carty	11.9	9.0	2.7
5	Frank Howard	14.4	11.3	2.3	5	Lou Brock	23.9	21.0	2.7


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jimmy Wynn	23.1	15.8	6.4	1	Jimmy Wynn	22.2	16.6	4.6
2	Jim Northrup	11.5	8.8	2.2	2	Tommie Agee	20.7	15.5	4.3
3	Cesar Tovar	9.7	7.2	2.0	3	Tony Gonzalez	9.3	5.8	3.2
4	Paul Blair	20.5	17.5	1.8	4	Paul Blair	21.1	17.0	3.0
5	Willie Davis	17.8	15.2	1.6	5	Cesar Tovar	10.1	6.8	2.9


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Reggie Jackson	23.3	15.1	6.5	1	Frank Robinson	22.3	13.4	7.3
2	Hank Aaron	23.1	16.0	5.3	2	Hank Aaron	23.9	15.2	7.1
3	Frank Robinson	20.7	15.0	4.1	3	Reggie Jackson	23.5	14.9	6.9
4	Rusty Staub	23.7	18.1	3.7	4	Pete Rose Sr.	16.8	11.3	4.3
5	Roberto Clemente	20.8	15.7	3.3	5	Roberto Clemente	20.9	15.6	3.5


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Juan Marichal	18.7	12.8	5.7	1	Denny McLain	21.7	13.5	8.0
2	Mike Cuellar	18.2	13.3	4.8	2	Juan Marichal	19.7	11.8	7.8
3	Larry Dierker	17.2	12.7	4.4	3	Tom Seaver	18.9	11.6	7.2
4	Sam McDowell	17.8	13.6	4.0	4	Mike Cuellar	19.0	12.5	6.4
5	Bob Gibson	19.1	15.0	3.9	5	Jerry Koosman	16.3	10.0	6.1
6	Fritz Peterson	16.3	12.5	3.7	6	Bob Gibson	20.2	13.9	6.1
7	Phil Niekro	17.5	13.9	3.4	7	Fergie Jenkins	20.5	14.9	5.4
8	Bill Hands	18.7	15.2	3.4	8	Larry Dierker	17.6	12.2	5.2
9	Bill Singer	17.3	13.9	3.4	9	Bill Hands	19.6	14.3	5.1
10	Claude Osteen	17.9	14.6	3.1	10	Bill Singer	18.0	13.2	4.7


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ken Tatum	6.4	4.5	2.1	1	Tug McGraw	7.3	3.5	3.9
2	Ron Perranoski	8.7	6.8	2.0	2	Ken Tatum	7.1	3.8	3.5
3	Dick Hall	4.1	2.5	1.6	3	Cecil Upshaw	8.7	6.0	2.9
4	Hoyt Wilhelm	5.5	4.1	1.4	4	Ron Perranoski	8.9	6.5	2.6
5	Don McMahon	4.4	3.3	1.3	5	Phil Regan	6.3	4.3	2.1
6	Eddie Watt	4.0	2.9	1.1	6	Dick Hall	4.2	2.4	1.9
7	Pete Richert	3.9	2.9	1.1	7	Hoyt Wilhelm	5.7	3.9	1.8
8	Sonny Siebert	2.4	1.5	1.0	8	Sonny Siebert	2.7	1.2	1.6
9	Moe Drabowsky	6.4	5.7	0.9	9	Pete Richert	4.1	2.7	1.5
10	Lindy McDaniel	4.0	3.1	0.9	10	Bob Moose	2.2	0.8	1.4

Finally, here are the best at three oft-forgotten positions that can nevertheless matter: pitcher offense, pinch hitting, and pinch running.


Pitcher Offense
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Blue Moon Odom	2.3	1.7	1.4	1	Blue Moon Odom	2.6	1.4	1.8
2	Jim Rooker	1.2	1.1	0.7	2	Steve Blass	2.3	1.5	1.5
3	Bob Gibson	2.0	2.6	0.7	3	Claude Osteen	2.2	2.2	1.1


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie Smith (1963)	2.2	1.2	1.2	1	Curt Motton	2.0	0.7	1.4
2	Jose Pagan	1.5	0.8	0.8	2	Willie Smith (1963)	2.2	1.1	1.3
3	Jim Ray Hart	1.1	0.5	0.7	3	Hawk Taylor	2.8	2.0	1.1


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Sonny Ruberto	0.2	0.1	0.2	1	Sonny Ruberto	0.2	0.0	0.2
2	Tommy McCraw	0.2	0.0	0.2	2	Tommy McCraw	0.2	0.0	0.2
3	Woody Woodward	0.2	0.0	0.1	3	Woody Woodward	0.2	0.0	0.1

Noteworthy Players of 1969

Most Valuable Players

The two Most Valuable Players in 1969 were both slugging first basemen who went on to hit over 500 career home runs and are now in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Measured by pWins over positional average, they were also the two best position players in major-league baseball in 1969.

Willie McCovey's and Harmon Killebrew's careers are compared in the next table, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Willie McCovey						Harmon Killebrew
1954							9	0.3	0.4	0.439	-0.1	-0.0
1955							38	1.6	2.2	0.426	-0.6	-0.4
1956							44	1.9	3.8	0.333	-1.9	-1.6
1957							9	1.0	1.2	0.446	-0.2	-0.1
1958							13	0.5	1.3	0.279	-0.8	-0.7
1959	52	7.4	4.5	0.622	2.5	3.1	153	22.2	17.9	0.554	3.3	5.3
1960	101	9.1	6.9	0.570	1.6	2.5	124	14.1	11.1	0.560	2.1	3.4
1961	106	10.4	8.5	0.550	0.9	1.9	150	17.7	15.0	0.541	1.0	2.9
1962	89	9.3	6.4	0.591	2.3	3.1	155	24.0	17.6	0.577	4.7	6.8
1963	152	22.1	16.4	0.575	4.4	6.2	142	18.9	15.4	0.552	2.2	3.8
1964	129	13.3	11.2	0.543	1.3	2.6	158	23.1	19.3	0.545	2.2	4.3
1965	160	21.2	13.1	0.618	6.7	8.4	113	15.8	9.6	0.623	5.4	6.7
1966	149	19.7	12.4	0.613	5.9	7.4	162	22.0	15.8	0.582	5.1	6.8
1967	135	18.5	11.5	0.617	5.6	7.1	163	22.9	14.2	0.617	6.9	8.7
1968	148	21.5	14.4	0.599	5.3	7.1	100	10.1	8.0	0.558	1.2	2.2
1969	149	22.2	12.3	0.645	8.2	10.0	162	24.6	15.2	0.618	8.4	10.5
1970	152	21.7	12.6	0.633	7.5	9.2	157	22.6	16.1	0.584	5.4	7.3
1971	105	12.4	8.2	0.601	3.1	4.1	147	17.4	15.6	0.527	0.3	1.9
1972	81	6.6	7.7	0.459	-2.5	-1.8	139	16.5	12.5	0.568	1.9	3.3
1973	130	14.7	10.5	0.583	3.1	4.3	69	6.2	6.6	0.483	-0.9	-0.3
1974	128	11.4	9.8	0.538	0.8	1.8	122	9.4	9.0	0.512	0.4	1.4
1975	122	11.6	12.2	0.488	-2.0	-0.8	106	8.1	7.1	0.533	0.8	1.8
1976	82	6.0	6.7	0.473	-1.2	-0.5
1977	141	13.8	12.9	0.516	-0.4	1.0
1978	108	11.5	10.0	0.535	0.5	1.6
1979	117	9.2	9.5	0.492	-1.0	-0.1
1980	48	3.2	3.1	0.511	-0.1	0.2
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,584	296.7	220.6	0.574	52.7	78.5	2,435	301.1	235.0	0.562	46.8	73.9

Pitching Greats

The 1969 season was something of a transitional year in pitching: the end of the era of the great pitchers of the 1960s and the beginning of the era of the great pitchers of the 1970s. The 1969 season was the first great season (and first Cy Young Award) in the career of Tom Seaver and the last great season in the career of Juan Marichal.

Their careers are compared in the next table. Their 1969 seasons are shown in bold.

Age	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Tom Seaver						Juan Marichal
22	36	16.7	14.2	0.541	3.4	5.1	11	5.1	3.4	0.601	2.1	2.5
23	38	16.8	14.3	0.540	3.3	4.9	30	12.7	11.7	0.519	1.5	3.0
24	39	20.6	13.4	0.605	7.9	9.9	38	17.9	15.4	0.537	3.3	5.3
25	42	20.4	15.4	0.570	6.1	8.0	42	22.6	16.0	0.585	7.4	9.8
26	39	19.5	13.0	0.600	7.4	9.2	33	18.4	12.8	0.589	6.6	8.6
27	36	18.7	16.4	0.534	3.5	5.6	39	22.0	15.2	0.591	8.0	10.2
28	39	19.9	13.8	0.591	7.1	8.9	37	22.6	14.3	0.613	9.2	11.3
29	32	14.0	14.5	0.493	0.3	1.8	26	12.6	12.2	0.508	1.1	2.6
30	37	18.3	13.3	0.580	6.2	7.9	38	20.0	16.4	0.550	4.8	6.6
31	35	16.4	14.0	0.540	3.3	5.0	38	20.9	14.6	0.588	7.5	9.6
32	33	19.0	12.3	0.606	7.7	9.6	34	12.7	13.2	0.491	0.4	1.8
33	36	15.9	15.1	0.513	1.6	3.3	37	16.6	13.9	0.545	3.8	5.5
34	33	14.0	11.8	0.544	3.0	4.4	25	9.5	12.5	0.432	-2.3	-1.0
35	26	10.0	11.9	0.458	-1.3	-0.1	34	13.4	13.0	0.508	1.1	2.6
36	23	10.5	7.5	0.584	3.5	4.6	11	3.5	2.4	0.592	1.1	1.5
37	22	6.5	10.1	0.392	-2.9	-2.0	2	0.3	0.9	0.226	-0.6	-0.5
38	34	12.6	14.8	0.459	-1.3	0.2
39	34	13.4	11.7	0.533	1.8	3.3
40	35	14.5	10.9	0.570	3.7	5.3
41	28	9.2	10.0	0.477	-0.8	0.4
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	677	306.9	258.2	0.543	63.3	95.3	475	230.8	188.0	0.551	54.9	79.5
AGES 24-31	299	148.0	113.7	0.566	41.7	56.3	291	156.9	117.0	0.573	47.9	64.1

Rico Petrocelli

One perhaps somewhat surprising name who shows up in each of the top four lists - top 10 in pWins and eWins over both positional average and replacement level - was Boston Red Sox shorstop Rico Petrocelli.

The 1969 season was easily the best of Petrocelli's career, but he had a very strong peak from 1967 through 1972 before injuries derailed his career.

Rico Petrocelli's career record, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Rico Petrocelli Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1963	BOS	20	1	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0
1965	BOS	22	103	9.3	11.8	-1.9	-0.9	10.5	10.6	0.3	1.4
1966	BOS	23	139	15.4	17.6	-1.4	0.1	16.6	16.4	0.9	2.4
1967	BOS	24	142	16.4	14.8	2.8	4.3	16.2	14.9	2.5	4.0
1968	BOS	25	123	13.3	12.7	1.7	3.0	13.3	12.7	1.6	2.9
1969	BOS	26	154	22.7	17.1	6.5	8.6	23.1	16.7	6.9	8.9
1970	BOS	27	157	20.9	17.5	4.4	6.4	20.6	17.9	3.7	5.6
1971	BOS	28	158	20.0	17.6	1.6	3.4	20.2	17.5	1.9	3.7
1972	BOS	29	147	18.8	15.4	3.1	4.8	17.9	16.3	1.2	2.9
1973	BOS	30	100	10.1	10.7	-0.9	0.1	10.6	10.2	0.1	1.1
1974	BOS	31	129	14.6	14.5	-0.1	1.3	14.5	14.6	-0.2	1.2
1975	BOS	32	115	12.1	11.8	0.4	1.5	11.3	12.6	-1.3	-0.2
1976	BOS	33	85	6.3	7.7	-1.4	-0.7	6.5	7.5	-1.0	-0.3
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			1,553	180.1	169.0	14.8	32.0	181.2	167.9	16.6	33.8
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			17	1.7	1.4		0.4	1.7	1.4		0.4
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			1,570	181.8	170.4		32.4	182.9	169.3		34.2

Notable Debuts

The 1969 season saw the major-league debut of two players who have been elected to the Hall of Merit (although both players didn't become regulars until 1972): Darrell Evans and Carlton Fisk.

Evans's and Fisk's careers are compared in the next table, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Darrell Evans						Carlton Fisk
1969	12	0.4	0.9	0.300	-0.5	-0.4	2	0.0	0.1	0.022	-0.1	-0.1
1970	12	1.2	1.6	0.423	-0.5	-0.4
1971	88	9.3	7.5	0.555	1.5	2.4	14	1.1	1.2	0.479	-0.1	0.0
1972	125	16.2	13.9	0.539	2.1	3.5	131	14.8	10.6	0.582	4.4	5.6
1973	161	22.0	16.6	0.570	4.3	6.2	135	13.7	12.7	0.519	1.8	3.1
1974	160	22.9	17.0	0.574	5.3	7.1	52	5.8	4.4	0.568	1.6	2.1
1975	156	21.0	18.5	0.532	2.1	3.9	79	8.4	6.5	0.563	2.1	2.8
1976	135	12.1	11.3	0.517	-0.2	1.0	134	12.5	12.8	0.494	0.5	1.7
1977	144	16.7	14.7	0.531	1.1	2.7	152	18.4	12.0	0.605	6.4	8.0
1978	159	20.7	17.6	0.540	2.3	4.1	157	18.4	13.0	0.586	6.0	7.5
1979	160	18.8	18.2	0.508	-0.0	1.7	91	7.3	6.6	0.526	0.8	1.6
1980	154	20.2	19.1	0.514	0.5	2.3	131	12.6	11.1	0.532	1.9	3.0
1981	101	11.7	9.9	0.543	1.3	2.5	95	9.5	9.3	0.503	0.5	1.5
1982	141	15.4	13.3	0.537	1.6	2.9	135	13.1	12.4	0.514	1.3	2.4
1983	142	18.1	14.4	0.556	2.7	4.2	138	15.4	11.4	0.574	4.6	5.8
1984	131	10.9	9.7	0.529	0.8	1.9	102	8.0	9.4	0.458	-0.8	-0.0
1985	151	15.9	12.7	0.557	2.5	3.9	153	17.7	13.4	0.569	4.8	6.4
1986	151	16.1	11.9	0.574	3.5	5.0	125	11.0	14.3	0.435	-3.0	-1.8
1987	150	15.5	11.1	0.583	3.4	4.7	135	13.1	12.2	0.519	2.1	3.2
1988	144	11.0	10.6	0.510	-0.1	1.1	76	7.5	6.9	0.521	1.1	1.8
1989	106	7.3	8.9	0.452	-2.1	-1.4	103	10.8	9.4	0.535	2.2	3.2
1990							137	14.5	10.7	0.575	4.3	5.5
1991							134	12.8	12.8	0.500	0.8	2.0
1992							62	4.8	4.5	0.519	0.6	1.1
1993							25	0.7	1.4	0.312	-0.7	-0.6
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,683	303.5	259.5	0.539	31.6	59.1	2,498	251.9	219.3	0.535	43.1	65.8

Although the Hall-of-Famer (Fisk) beats the non-Hall-of-Famer here, Evans nevertheless had a long, excellent, and noteworthy career.

Last Hurrahs

Finally, 1969 was also the final season for two players who have been elected to the Hall of Merit, only one of whom has been elected to the Hall of Fame: Don Drysdale and Ken Boyer.

Their careers are compared in the next table, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Don Drysdale						Ken Boyer
1955							147	16.7	16.2	0.508	-0.1	1.6
1956	26	5.3	6.2	0.459	-0.8	0.0	150	19.5	17.0	0.534	1.9	3.9
1957	37	14.4	12.1	0.544	3.1	4.6	142	15.1	14.7	0.508	-0.4	1.2
1958	47	14.7	14.7	0.499	0.6	2.3	150	21.5	18.4	0.539	2.8	4.7
1959	46	19.9	18.1	0.524	2.4	4.7	149	21.1	17.1	0.552	3.1	4.9
1960	41	18.4	15.0	0.552	4.2	6.3	151	20.8	16.6	0.557	3.5	5.5
1961	40	14.9	16.5	0.475	-0.7	1.1	153	21.7	17.5	0.553	3.9	6.0
1962	43	19.4	14.9	0.565	5.5	7.6	160	19.8	18.2	0.522	1.5	3.4
1963	42	19.8	20.2	0.495	0.6	3.1	159	21.1	18.2	0.537	2.6	4.4
1964	40	18.5	17.0	0.521	2.6	4.9	162	25.3	18.9	0.572	5.7	7.9
1965	58	23.0	17.6	0.567	6.7	9.1	144	18.3	16.5	0.527	1.1	2.8
1966	46	15.8	15.5	0.504	1.3	3.1	136	15.8	16.2	0.495	-1.2	0.2
1967	38	15.6	17.9	0.465	-1.0	0.9	113	11.5	11.6	0.498	-0.7	0.5
1968	31	15.9	14.9	0.516	1.6	3.3	93	8.4	8.0	0.514	0.1	0.9
1969	12	3.3	4.8	0.409	-1.2	-0.7	25	1.1	1.5	0.420	-0.3	-0.2
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	547	219.0	205.4	0.516	25.0	50.1	2,034	257.8	226.4	0.532	23.4	47.7

As with Fisk and Evans, the Hall-of-Famer (Drysdale) had the better career, but Ken Boyer had a very good career as well.

Article last updated: October 6, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1969 season. Positional averages for starting pitching and relief pitching are calculated using single-year data for all starting pitchers and all relief pitchers.

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

Home List of Articles