1969 Montreal Expos season

The 1969 Montreal Expos season was the inaugural season in Major League Baseball for the team. The Expos, as typical for first-year expansion teams, finished in the cellar of the National League East Division with a 52–110 record, 48 games behind the eventual World Series Champion New York Mets. They did not win any game in extra innings during the year, which also featured a surprise no-hitter in just the ninth regular-season game they ever played. Their home attendance of 1,212,608, an average of 14,970 per game, was good for 7th in the N.L.

1969 Montreal Expos
Inaugural Season
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Charles Bronfman
General manager(s)Jim Fanning
Manager(s)Gene Mauch
Local televisionCBC Television
(Hal Kelly, Jim Hearne)
Télévision de Radio-Canada
(Jean-Pierre Roy, Guy Ferron)
Local radioCKGM (English)
(Dave Van Horne, Russ Taylor)
CKLM (French)
(Jean-Pierre Roy, Jean-Paul Sarault)
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Offseason

Expansion draft

The Montreal Expos participated in the 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft on October 14, 1968.

Player Former team Pick
Manny Mota Pittsburgh Pirates 2nd pick[1]
Mack Jones Cincinnati Reds 4th pick
John Bateman Houston Astros 6th pick
Gary Sutherland Philadelphia Phillies 8th pick
Jack Billingham Los Angeles Dodgers 10th pick
Donn Clendenon Pittsburgh Pirates 11th pick
Jesús Alou San Francisco Giants 13th pick[2]
Mike Wegener Philadelphia Phillies 15th pick
Skip Guinn Atlanta Braves 17th pick[3]
Bill Stoneman Chicago Cubs 19th pick
Maury Wills Pittsburgh Pirates 21st pick[4]
Bobby Wine Philadelphia Phillies 23rd pick[5]
Bob Reynolds San Francisco Giants 25th pick
Dan McGinn Cincinnati Reds 27th pick
José Herrera Houston Astros 29th pick
Jimy Williams Cincinnati Reds 32nd pick[6]
Remy Hermoso Atlanta Braves 34th pick
Mudcat Grant Los Angeles Dodgers 36th pick[7]
Jerry Robertson St. Louis Cardinals 38th pick
Don Shaw New York Mets 40th pick[8]
Ty Cline San Francisco Giants 41st pick
Garry Jestadt Chicago Cubs 43rd pick
Carl Morton Atlanta Braves 45th pick[9]
Larry Jaster St. Louis Cardinals 47th pick
Ernie McAnally New York Mets 49th pick
Jim Fairey Los Angeles Dodgers 52nd pick
Coco Laboy St. Louis Cardinals 54th pick[10]
John Boccabella Chicago Cubs 56th pick
Ron Brand Houston Astros 58th pick
John Glass New York Mets 60th pick

Other transactions

1968 MLB June amateur draft

The Expos and San Diego Padres, along with the two American League expansion teams set to debut in 1969, the Kansas City Royals and Seattle Pilots, were allowed to participate in the June 1968 MLB first-year player draft, although the new teams were barred from the lottery's first three rounds. The Expos drafted only 15 players in the 1968 June draft, and none reached the major leagues. All but five went unsigned.[15]

Spring training

The Expos held spring training at West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium in West Palm Beach, Florida, a facility they shared with the Atlanta Braves. It was destined to become their long-time spring training home: They would train there through 1972 and from 1981 through 1997.

Regular season

Historic games

The first game

Milestones
Scorecard

April 8, Shea Stadium, New York City, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Montreal 201 102 140 11120
New York 030 300 004 10153
W: Shaw (1–0)  L: Koonce (0–1)  SV: Sembera (1)   
HRs: McGinn (1), Staub (1), Laboy (1), Dyer (1)

Opening Day lineup
30Maury WillsSS
  1Gary Sutherland   2B
10Rusty StaubRF
  9Mack JonesLF
  3Bob Bailey1B
  2John BatemanC
39Coco Laboy3B
43Don HahnCF
22Mudcat GrantP

[16]

Others
  • April 14, 1969: Mack Jones hit a three-run home run and two-run triple that highlighted an 8–7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the Expos' first home victory as a franchise at Jarry Park. Jones' blast was also the first MLB home run hit outside the United States. Dan McGinn became the first MLB pitcher to win a game outside the United States.
  • April 17, 1969: In just the franchise's ninth game in existence, Bill Stoneman pitched a 7–0 no-hitter while striking out 8 batters against the Philadelphia Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium. Johnny Briggs made the final out for the Phillies. Le Grand Orange Rusty Staub was the hitting hero for the Expos going 4 for 5 with three doubles and a homer. A crowd of 6,496 were on hand to see it in Philadelphia.[17] Stoneman pitched another 7–0 no-hitter in 1972, against the New York Mets in Jarry Park on October 2.

Season standings
NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Mets 10062 0.617 — 52–30 48–32
Chicago Cubs 9270 0.568 8 49–32 43–38
Pittsburgh Pirates 8874 0.543 12 47–34 41–40
St. Louis Cardinals 8775 0.537 13 42–38 45–37
Philadelphia Phillies 6399 0.389 37 30–51 33–48
Montreal Expos 52110 0.321 48 24–57 28–53

Record vs. opponents
1969 National League Records

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta —3–912–615–39–98–44–86–68–413–59–96–6
Chicago 9–3—6–6–18–46–610–88–1012–67–1111–16–69–9
Cincinnati 6–126–6–1—9–910–88–46–610–25–711–710–88–4
Houston 3–154–89–9—6–1211–110–28–43–910–810–87–5
Los Angeles 9–96–68–1012–6—10–24–88–48–412–65–133–9
Montreal 4–88–104–81–112–10—5–1311–75–134–81–117–11
New York 8–410–86–62–108–413–5—12–610–811–18–412–6
Philadelphia 6-66–122–104–84–87–116–12—10–88–43–97–11
Pittsburgh 4–811–77–59–34–813–58–108–10—10–25–79–9
San Diego 5–131–117–118–106–128–41–114–82–10—6–124–8
San Francisco 9–96–68–108–1013–511–14–89–37–512–6—3–9
St. Louis 6–69–94–85–79–311–76–1211–79–98–49–3—

Notable transactions

Draft picks

Roster
1969 Montreal Expos
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats
= Indicates team leader

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
CRon Brand1032871974.2580202
1BBob Bailey1113584695.2659533
2BGary Sutherland14154463130.2393355
3BCoco Laboy15756253145.25818830
SSBobby Wine1213702374.2003250
LFMack Jones13545573123.27022796
CFAdolfo Phillips581992543.216476
RFRusty Staub15854989166.30229793

[26]

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
Ron Fairly702533573.28912391
John Bateman742351649.2098190
Ty Cline1012092650.2392124
Maury Wills471892342.2220815
Donn Clendenon381291431.2404140
José Herrera47126736.2862121
Don Bosch491121320.179141
Kevin Collins5296523.2402120
Manny Mota3189628.315001
John Boccabella408649.105161
Remy Hermoso2874612.162033
Jim Fairey2049614.286160
Floyd Wicker413924.103020
Marv Staehle61747.412110
Don Hahn4901.111020
Garry Jestadt6610.000010

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
Bill Stoneman42235.211194.39185
Jerry Robertson38179.25163.96133
Mike Wegener32165.25144.40124
Steve Renko18103.1674.0168
Mudcat Grant1150.2164.8020
Bob Reynolds11.10020.252

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
Gary Waslewski30109.1373.2963
Howie Reed31106674.8459
Larry Jaster2477165.4939
Carl Morton829.1034.6016

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
Dan McGinn7471063.94112
Roy Face444253.9434
Don Shaw352515.2145
Carroll Sembera230223.5515
Dick Radatz220435.7132
Claude Raymond151214.0911
Steve Shea100002.8711
Leo Marentette30006.754

Awards and honors

1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Vancouver Mounties Pacific Coast League Bob Lemon
A West Palm Beach Expos Florida State League Ed Sadowski
Rookie GCL Expos Gulf Coast League J. W. Porter

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Expos

On June 5, 1969 the Montreal Expos played a game against their farm team the Vancouver Mounties, the Mounties won 5-3.[27]

Vancouver affiliation shared with Seattle Pilots

Notes
  1. Manny Mota at Baseball Reference
  2. Jesús Alou at Baseball Reference
  3. Skip Guinn at Baseball Reference
  4. Maury Wills at Baseball Reference
  5. Bobby Wine at Baseball Reference
  6. Jimy Williams at Baseball Reference
  7. Mudcat Grant at Baseball Reference
  8. Don Shaw at Baseball Reference
  9. Carl Morton at Baseball Reference
  10. Coco Laboy at Baseball Reference
  11. Don Bosch at Baseball Reference
  12. Bob Bailey at Baseball Reference
  13. Floyd Wicker at Baseball Reference
  14. Rusty Staub at Baseball Reference
  15. 1968 Montreal Expos Draft Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft Baseball Reference
  16. Retrosheet box score: Montreal Expos 11, New York Mets 10; 8 April 1969
  17. Associated Press (April 18, 1969). "Stoneman of Expos Hurls No-Hitter to Beat Phils, 7–0". The New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  18. Roy Face at Baseball Reference
  19. Mudcat Grant at Baseball Reference
  20. Dodgers finally bring Wills back home
  21. Paul Popovich at Baseball Reference
  22. Donn Clendenon at Baseball Reference
  23. Claude Raymond at Baseball Reference
  24. Marv Staehle at Baseball Reference
  25. Terry Humphrey at Baseball Reference
  26. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MON/1969.shtml
  27. Archived January 5, 2018, at the Wayback Machine at Fun While It Lasted

References
  • Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
  • 1969 Montreal Expos at Baseball Reference
  • 1969 Montreal Expos at Baseball Almanac
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