1969 Atlanta Braves season

The 1969 Atlanta Braves season was the fourth in Atlanta and the 99th overall season of the franchise. The National League had been split into two divisions before the season, with the Braves somewhat incongruously being assigned to the National League West. The Braves finished with a record of 93–69, winning the first ever NL West title by three games over the [1969 San Francisco San Francisco Giants|Giants season|San Francisco Giants].
After the season, the Braves played in the first inter-divisional National League Championship Series. They went on to lose the [1969 National League (baseball)|National League Championship Series|NLCS] to the eventual World Champion New York Mets, three games to none.

Offseason

The new National League

The 1969 season marked the first year of divisional play in Major League Baseball. The Braves were placed in the National League West division, despite being located further east than the two westernmost teams in the new National League East, the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. This was because the New York Mets wanted to be in the same division as the reigning power in the NL, which were the Cardinals at the time. The Cubs consequently demanded to be in the NL East as well in order to continue playing in the same division as the Cardinals, one of the Cubs' biggest rivals. But the primary reason for this odd alignment was that the Cardinals, Giants, and Cubs finished 1-2-3 the previous two seasons and it was feared putting them all in the West would create too big of a disparity in strength between the West and East.

Notable transactions

October 14, 1968: 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft
*Al Santorini was drafted from the Braves by the San Diego Padres with the 7th pick.
*Skip Guinn was drafted from the Braves by the Montreal Expos with the 17th pick.
*Carl Morton was drafted from the Braves by the Expos with the 45th pick.
*Cito Gaston was drafted from the Braves by the Padres with the 59th pick.
December 2, 1968: Darrell Evans was drafted by the Braves from the Oakland Athletics in the 1968 rule 5 draft.
March 17, 1969: Joe Torre was traded by the Braves to the St. Louis Cardinals for Orlando Cepeda.

Regular season

Second baseman Félix Millán started the All-Star Game, along with right fielder Hank Aaron, and won his first Gold Glove.

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

June 5, 1969: Larvell Blanks was drafted by the Braves in the 3rd round of the 1969 Major League Baseball draft.
June 13, 1969: Van Kelly, Walt Hriniak and Andy Finlay were traded by the Braves to the San Diego Padres for Tony González.
August 19, 1969: Claude Raymond was purchased from the Braves by the Montreal Expos.
September 8, 1969: Mickey Rivers and Clint Compton were traded by the Braves to the California Angels for Hoyt Wilhelm and Bob Priddy.
September 11, 1969: Chico Ruiz was signed as an amateur free agent by the Braves.

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		114	352	90	.256	0	32
1B		154	573	147	.257	22	88
2B		162	652	174	.267	6	57
3B		144	496	124	.250	14	57
SS		98	318	76	.239	1	27
LF		104	304	104	.342	16	58
CF		123	476	134	.282	5	32
RF		147	547	164	.300	44	97

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
	89	320	94	.294	10	50
	82	227	50	.220	0	10
	82	198	50	.253	3	24
	69	190	37	.195	12	29
	121	168	45	.268	1	22
	51	88	26	.295	2	22
	49	60	15	.250	1	5
	22	27	6	.222	0	2
	12	26	6	.231	0	1
	7	7	1	.143	0	0
	3	7	0	.000	0	0
	7	4	1	.250	0	0
	2	1	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

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
	40	284.1	23	13	2.56	193
	36	241.1	18	10	3.47	160
	37	217.1	13	11	4.43	123
	26	144.0	6	10	3.62	72
	1	3.0	0	0	3.00	3
	1	2.1	0	1	15.43	2

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
	36	165.1	13	10	3.65	102
	24	88.0	7	5	3.78	60
	9	29.0	0	1	4.97	20

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
	62	6	4	27	2.91	57
	36	2	0	4	2.08	25
	33	2	2	1	5.25	15
	29	1	2	0	3.90	42
	8	2	0	4	0.73	14
	2	0	0	0	3.00	1
	1	0	0	0	0.00	1
	1	0	0	0	13.50	2
	1	0	0	0	18.00	1

Awards and honors

All-Stars

1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Hank Aaron, OF, starter
Félix Millán, 2B, starter
Phil Niekro, reserve

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenwood