December 13, 1969 Curt Flood attends the Players’ Association executive board meeting to...
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On October 8, 1969 The Cincinnati Reds fired Dave Bristol after an 89-73 season. He was hired in...
Read More1969 – Orlando “Marty” Martinez, a utility man picked up in an off-season trade with Atlanta, drives home Curt Blefary in the ninth inning for a 5-4 triumph over the Braves. It is the Astros’ tenth straight win, the second time they’ve reached that plateau that season.
Read More1969 – Private Larry Dierker, on a 24-hour pass from the Army while fulfilling his military commitment in Louisiana, outduels Steve Carlton for a 2-1, eleven-inning triumph over the Cardinals at the Astrodome. Dierker allows just five hits and caps his night by driving in Julio Gotay with the game-winner. Dierker singled off Joe Hoerner to earn his eighth win of the year.
Read More1969 – Joe Morgan goes 4-for-4, including a home run and four runs scored, to pace the Astros past St. Louis, 11-6, at the Astrodome. Dooley Womack, the last of six Houston pitchers, gets the victory. Houston wins off the field too, choosing pitcher James Rodney Richard of Ruston, LA with the second overall pick in the draft, behind Jeff Burroughs. Richard has a 21-0 mark in his three years at Ruston High School.
Read More1969 – Doug Rader belts a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth off Luis Peraza to beat the Phillies, 6-2. Don Wilson strikes out 13 and goes the distance for the victory. Denis Menke also homers.
Read More1969 – Doug Rader delivers the game-winner again in a 7-6, ten-inning triumph over the Phillies that ties a club-record ten-game winning streak. This time it’s a bases-loaded single off Gary Wagner that sends the crowd home happy. Afterwards, Rader apologizes for not slugging another grand slam.
Read More1969 – Houston plays their first game outside the United States, a 10-3 pounding of the Montreal Expos at Parc Jarry. Doug Rader drives in three and Johnny Edwards produces two run-scoring singles against their new expansion foe. Donn Clendenon, who refused to accept a trade to Houston during the winter, goes 0-for-5.
Read More1969 – Houston storms back from a 6-1 deficit with three runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth to upend the Phillies, 7-6, at Connie Mack Stadium. Jesus Alou has a big night, driving in two runs with a double then producing an RBI single in the two rallies. Johnny Edwards’ two-run single is the game-winner. Fred Gladding quells a Philadelphia threat to save the game for Jack Billingham.
Read More1969 – Astros tie a major league mark, turning seven double plays in a 3-1 victory over the Giants . First baseman Curt Blefary makes a putout in all seven.
Read More1969 – For only the second time in major league history, back-to-back no-hitters are tossed. Don Wilson avenges Jim Maloney’s no-no by hurling one against the Reds, 4-0, at Crosley Field . Doug Rader homers and squeezes the final out on a foul pop. Wilson, who fans 13 and walks six, has two career no-hitters and has yet to see his 25th birthday.
Read More1969 – Jim Maloney tosses a no-hitter as Cincinnati embarrasses the Astros, 10-0. The Reds ace fans 13 and walks five, including an intentional pass to Jim Wynn with the bases empty and two outs in the ninth. Doug Rader whiffs for the final out. Houston ends the month with a dismal 4-20 record.
Read More1969 – San Francisco catcher Jack Hiatt drills two homers and drives in seven during a 12-8 decision over the Astros. Houston would later acquire Hiatt from the Cubs.
Read More1969 – The Rusty Staub trade with Montreal is finally settled when the Astros accept pitchers Skip Guinn and Jack Billingham, along with $100,000, instead of first baseman Donn Clendenon. Jesus Alou was to accompany Clendenon to Houston and he remains part of the deal.
Read More1969 – After Donn Clendenon “retires” and refuses to report to spring training, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn rules that Montreal can keep both Rusty Staub and Clendenon, insisting that Houston will have to settle for further compensation rather than voiding the trade.
Read More1969 – Brian Williams is born in Lancaster, SC. He posts a 19-17 record in two stints (1991-1994, 1999) with Houston along with three saves.
Read More1969 – Curt Flood of the St. Louis Cardinals mails a letter to Commissioner Bowie Kuhn stating his refusal to report to the Philadelphia Phillies after being traded. He does not retire to void the trade, as Donn Clendenon did in refusing to play for the Astros. Flood’s letter is the beginning of the end for baseball’s reserve clause and the first salvo in the fight for free agency. While his decision cuts short a solid baseball career, every major leaguer owes a debt of gratitude to him for the rights as players they now enjoy.
Read More1969 – First Baseman Curt Blefary is traded to the Yankees for first baseman Joe Pepitone. A year to the day since being acquired, Blefary is dealt and his career is never able to recapture the magic of his first three years in Baltimore. Pepitone turns out not to be the answer at first base either and spends less than a year in Houston.
Read More1969 – Astros sell pitcher Danny Coombs to San Diego. After bouncing between the minors and Houston for seven seasons, the lefthander leaves with an 8-7 mark and two saves in 90 appearances.
Read More1969 – Tommy Davis and Norm Miller homer in a 6-3 triumph at Dodger Stadium. Denny Lemaster goes the distance and strikes out eleven while scattering four hits . The Astros reach 81 wins and, for the first time in their history, experience a non-losing season.
Read More1969 – Third base coach Salty Parker sends Norm Miller home from third when he sees a white object fly away from Atlanta catcher Bob Didier after a pitch. The object turns out not to be the ball, but a finger cast the catcher was wearing on his glove hand. Miller is easily tagged out. The 5-3 loss creates an unhappy 23rd birthday for sore-armed Larry Dierker who broke in with the Colt .45s on his brithday five years earlier.
Read More1969 – Larry Dierker becomes the first Houston pitcher to reach 20 wins in a 2-1 victory at San Francisco. Jim Wynn and Doug Rader homer off Gaylord Perry for the decisive runs. For Giant fans, the chance to see Willie Mays hit his 600th homer is the big attraction but Dierker and Jim Bouton limit him to a single and two walks. The Astros are five games over .500 and 5-1/2 games out of first.
Read More1969 – Larry Dierker tosses 8-2/3rds no-hit innings against Atlanta in quest of his 20th win. An infield single by Felix Millan breaks up the no-hitter but the game is still tied, 0-0. Dierker leaves in the 13th with a 2-0 lead, only to see ex-Astros Sonny Jackson and Bob Aspromonte key a three-run Atlanta rally for a nightmarish 3-2 defeat. Houston drops to fifth place, 4-1/2 games out of the N.L. West lead.
Read More1969 – Jim Wynn’s homer and Denis Menke’s bases-loaded double spark an 8-1 win over the Dodgers. Denny Lemaster scatters six hits. The Astros are tied for fourth in the tight N.L. West, but are just two games out of first place.
Read More1969 – Denis Menke belts a two-run blast in the ninth off Gaylord Perry for a 2-0 shocker over the Giants. Larry Dierker scatters four hits for his 18th win and fans nine to pass 200 strikeouts for the season.
Read More1969 – Amazing. It’s September and the Astros are actually in a pennant race. They rally to drop the Cardinals in eleven, 7-6, when Jesus Alou’s base hit plates Johnny Edwards. Joe Morgan and Doug Rader play long ball to overcome a 6-1 deficit. Houston sits in fifth place but just five games behind the front-running Giants and six games over the .500 mark.
Read More1969 – Larry Dierker becomes the first Astro to record 17 wins in a 2-1 triumph over the Pirates. Dierker fans 14 while scattering seven hits. Houston manages just three of their own but are helped by nine free passes. The Astros are in uncharted waters, seven games over .500, four games out of first and yet in fifth place in the NL West.
Read More1969 – Every player in the lineup gets a hit for the Astros in an 8-2 victory in Chicago. Houston worked eight walks to go with 14 hits – all singles. Doug Rader gets three base hits. Jesus Alou drives in three. Larry Dierker tosses a four-hit complete game for his 16th win.
Read More1969 – Curt Blefary’s three-run bomb off Jerry Koosman leads Houston to an 8-7 victory over the Mets. Blefary drives in four while Doug Rader has a hand in four different rallies. Joe Morgan steals home for the game-winner which was actually a botched suicide squeeze play.
Read More1969 – Denis Menke and Jim Wynn launch grand slams in the same inning as the Astros crush the Mets, 16-3 and 11-5 in a twinbill at Shea Stadium . The double slam was the first National League occurance in 79 years. So hot were Houston’s bats that Larry Dierker took Nolan Ryan deep in the nightcap and Fred Gladding broke an oh-for-the-decade slump with a bloop single for the only hit in his career.
Read More1969 – Back for the first time in over a month after an on-field collision with teammate Hector Torres put him in a hospital, Jesus Alou starts a four-run ninth-inning rally that topples the Reds, 7-4. Alou scores the tying run on a double by Sandy Valdespino then Joe Morgan plates Johnny Edwards with a squeeze bunt for the game-winner.
Read More1969 – Astros erase a five-run deficit en route to a 10-7 triumph over Los Angeles. Norm Miller drives in three. Doug Rader has two RBI singles. Jim Wynn walks during the five-run fourth, breaking a league mark with his 11th straight game with a base on balls. Ex-teammate Eddie Mathews set the record in 1954.
Read MoreMajor League Season Recap 1969 World Series – New York Mets NL over Baltimore Orioles AL 4 games to 1 World Series MVP – Don Clendenon Babe Ruth Award – Al Weis ALCS Baltimore over Minnesota 3...
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Curt Flood will sue Major League Baseball over the reserve clause
Read MoreThe New York Times reports Curt Flood will challenge the reserve clause by suing major league baseball. The Cardinals’ outfielder’s case, which will ultimately be appealed unsuccessfully in the U.S. Supreme Court, will pave the way for the players to overturn baseball’s reserve clause in their attempt to gain free agency.
Read More1969 – The New York Times reports that former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood will sue Major League Baseball over the reserve clause, which perpetually binds players to their teams. Flood is objecting to being traded from the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies without his consent.
Read More1969 – In a letter to Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, traded St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood states his refusal to report to the Philadelphia Phillies citing he is not a piece of property to be sold. The MLB Players Association announces it supports Flood’s suit against baseball and will pay his legal fees.
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Curt Flood refuses to accept a trade to the Philadelphia Phillies
Read More“I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes.” – CURT FLOOD,responding to being traded to Philadelphia.In a letter to Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, Curt Flood states his refusal to report to the Phillies after being traded by the Cardinals, citing he is not a piece of property to be sold. The MLB Players Association announces support for the outfielder’s suit against baseball and agrees to pay the legal fees for the case that will eventually be heard in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read More1969 – The White Sox send veteran left-handed slugger Pete Ward to the Yankees for P Mickey Scott and cash.
Read More1969 – Pitcher Pat House is traded to Cincinnati for outfielder Jim Beauchamp. It is Beauchamp’s second tour of duty with Houston. House earns a 2-1 record with one save in 24 games with the Astros. The lefthander never pitches in the majors after that deal.
Read More1969 – The National Labor Relations Board accepts the case of fired umpires Bill Valentine and Al Salerno, thereby issuing a challenge to baseball’s antitrust status.
Read More1969 – The Red Sox send 1B Syd O’Brien and pitcher Billy Farmer and cash to the White Sox for P Gary Peters and C Don Pavletich. Boston also picks up 3B Tom Matchick from the Tigers for Dalton Jones. Farmer will announce his retirement and in March the White Sox will replace him with P Jerry Janeski.
Read MoreThe Mets pick up veteran P Ray Sadecki and OF Dave Marshall from the Giants for OF Jim Gosger and IF Bob Heise.
Read MoreCleveland trades pitchers Luis Tiant and Stan Williams to the Twins for 3B Graig Nettles, OF Ted Uhlaender, and pitchers Dean Chance and Bob Miller. Tiant led the American League in ERA in 1968.
Read More1969 – A Federal Court in New York City rules against the suit of umpires Bill Valentine and Al Salerno because baseball is exempt from antitrust laws.
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1969 – Ramon Garcia is born in Guanare, Venezuela. Claimed off the Milwaukee roster on his 27th birthday, the righthander serves up a 9-8 record in 1997 with one save while splitting time between the bullpen and the starting rotation. Injuries prevent him from resuming his big league career.
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On December 7, 1969, Francis “Lefty” O’Doul, one of the most popular figures in...
Read More1969 – Chub Feeney succeeds Warren Giles as president of the National League. He is elected for a four-year term, beginning January 1, 1970.
Read MoreThe Yankees send veteran P Al Downing and C Frank Fernandez to Oakland for 1B Danny Cater and C Ossie Chavarria. They also trade 1B Joe Pepitone to the Astros for 1B Curt Blefary.
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