1969 New York Yankees season

The 1969 New York Yankees season was the 67th season for the team. The team finished in fifth-place in the newly established American League East with a record of 80–81, games behind the Baltimore Orioles. New York was managed by Ralph Houk. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

Offseason

October 15, 1968: Steve Barber was drafted from the Yankees by the Seattle Pilots as the 37th pick in the 1968 MLB expansion draft.
October 21, 1968: Jim Bouton was purchased from the Yankees by the Seattle Pilots.
December 2, 1968: Billy Cowan was drafted by the Yankees from the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1968 rule 5 draft.
December 4, 1968: Andy Kosco was traded by the Yankees to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Mike Kekich.
December 6, 1968: Charley Smith was traded by the Yankees to the San Francisco Giants for Nate Oliver.
January 8, 1969: John Orsino was purchased by the Yankees from the Washington Senators.
Prior to 1969 season: Merritt Ranew was acquired from the Yankees by the Seattle Pilots.

Regular season

August 8, 1969: Thurman Munson made his major league debut for the Yankees.

Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

June 5, 1969: 1969 Major League Baseball draft
*Ken Crosby was drafted by the Yankees in the 10th round. Player signed June 17, 1969.
*John Tamargo was drafted by the Yankees in the 15th round, but did not sign.
June 12, 1969: John Orsino was traded by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Rob Gardner.
June 14, 1969: Tom Tresh was traded by the Yankees to the Detroit Tigers for Ron Woods.
July 26, 1969: Billy Cowan was purchased by the California Angels from the New York Yankees.

Mickey Mantle's retired number

On Mickey Mantle Day, June 8, 1969, in addition to the retirement of his uniform number 7, Mantle was given a plaque that would hang on the center field wall at Yankee Stadium, near the monuments to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Miller Huggins. The plaque was given to him by Joe DiMaggio, and Mantle then gave DiMaggio a similar plaque, telling the crowd, "His should be just a little bit higher than mine." The televised ceremony, aired on WPIX, was hosted by the team's television analyst Frank Messer and long time radio broadcaster Mel Allen.

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C		71	219	18	49	.224	0	18	3
1B		135	513	49	124	.242	27	70	8
2B		156	641	82	183	.285	4	48	33
3B		130	447	49	115	.257	2	34	25
SS		119	412	41	112	.272	2	31	7
LF		130	448	55	130	.290	7	74	18
CF		72	171	18	30	.175	1	7	2
RF		152	564	82	146	.259	26	82	7

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
	89	229	34	51	.223	12	29	1
	87	222	23	38	.171	3	21	3
	80	212	21	50	.236	3	26	8
	85	191	17	41	.215	2	17	0
	45	143	13	26	.182	1	9	2
	45	108	5	19	.176	0	7	0
	26	86	6	22	.256	1	9	0
	28	83	7	15	.181	0	4	1
	22	62	2	18	.290	1	8	0
	28	48	2	4	.083	0	0	0
	32	48	5	8	.167	1	3	0
	13	39	6	9	.231	0	4	1
	9	23	0	5	.217	0	2	0
	6	11	2	3	.273	0	4	0
	4	6	0	3	.500	0	0	0
	1	1	0	0	.000	0	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	BB	SO
	39	303.0	20	14	2.82	97	113
	37	272.0	17	16	2.55	43	150
	40	220.2	9	16	3.83	90	130
	31	140.2	6	8	3.65	102	82

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
	30	130.2	7	5	3.38	85
	28	105.0	4	6	4.54	66
	3	14.0	0	0	0.64	3

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
	38	8	4	11	2.06	40
	51	5	6	5	3.55	60
	38	3	4	2	3.32	39
	12	1	2	0	3.46	21
	8	0	0	0	5.11	7
	4	0	0	0	4.50	5
	2	0	0	0	4.50	0

Awards and honors

Mel Stottlemyre, All-Star Game
Roy White, All-Star Game

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Syracuse, Oneonta