O’s Pennant Winners: 1969 Begins

Written by: John Rosenfelder on 10th April 2009

O's Pennant Winners: 1969 Begins | read this item

In celebration of the 30th and 40th Anniversaries of the Orioles 1979 and 1969 American League Championship seasons, correspondent Brian Wright will write frequent updates about those teams as the season progresses.

Orioles Pennant Winners: 1969 Begins

By Brian Wright

At 91-71 in 1968, the Baltimore Orioles were coming off a second place finish in the American League to the eventual World Champion Detroit Tigers. But all 12 clubs, including the Orioles, had to deal with the change in baseball’s divisions. A new alignment and the creation of two divisions in the American and National Leagues, with the Pennant winner determined by the League Championship Series.

Internally, the Orioles were prepared for their first full season under manager Earl Weaver, who took over for Hank Bauer midway through 1968. Left mostly unchanged was the lineup. The only minor alterations were the placement of Elrod Hendricks at catcher (alongside Andy Etchebarren) and Don Buford in left field.

On the mound, Jim Palmer returned to the starting rotation after two years with arm trouble. In addition, All-Star Mike Cuellar came to Baltimore in a trade with Houston and would be one of the Orioles’ most consistent pitchers.

Ultimately, it would be the pitching that would help drive Baltimore to a single-season franchise record for wins. However, opening day resulted in defeat. On April 8 at Memorial Stadium, the visiting Boston Red Sox were victorious in a thrilling 12-inning contest.

The Orioles knotted the game at 2-2 with a run in the eighth. Later, down a pair in the bottom half of the 10th, Frank Robinson’s two-out, two-run homer tied the score at four apiece. However, Dalton Jones’ sacrifice fly to right field scored Tony Conigliaro – proving to be in the deciding run.

Baltimore defeated Boston two days later in 13 innings, 2-1, but then opened a four-game set against the Washington Senators with a 4-0 loss. It was only one of eight instances in which the Oriole bats would be shutout and was the only day in 1969 that the team was under .500.

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Topics: 1969 Pennant Winner, American League Champion, Andy Etchebarren, Baltimore Orioles, Earl Weaver, Jim Palmer