1969 was a year of change in the NCABL. Five clubs had new managers, one of them was Bill Stamper of the Cooperstown Cardinals. Known for their professional image, the Cardinals took the Western League by storm and romped to a 106-56 record, 14 games ahead of the Winchester Rifles.

Formerly the Houston Spiders, the team was drafted with a focus on the future. A nucleus of Billy Williams, Jim Fregosi, Dave Johnson, Boog Powell and pitchers Gaylord Perry, Claude Osteen, Bill Hands and Ron Perranoski stuck together during two years of losing baseball (131-193, third worst in the NCABL). The Cardinals also benefited from career seasons from Rich Reese and Cleon Jones.

Reese became the first (and only) reserve to be voted to an NCABL all star team. Reese was Boog's backup at first and also played left and right field. Although he did not qualify for the batting title, Reese's .355 average led the Cardinals. He also drove in 85 runs with power figures of 29-3-24 in just 439 plate appearances! Regular right fielder Cleon Jones was a starter on the Western League all star team. Jones finished 2^nd in the batting race (.341) and scored 108 runs. He was the catalyst of the offense, frequently on base for big boppers Reese, Powell and Williams. Boog Powell earned a starting position at first on the Western League all star team with his .296, 29 HR, 93 RBI season. An amazing feat is that Powell scored more runs (95) than he drove in! That feat can be explained by Reese driving in runs in front of Powell and Billy Williams driving in Powell. Williams hit .297 with 79 RBI. His power was down from his monster 68 performance, but he hit well in the clutch. The Cards led the Western League in hitting at .261 while averaging 4.7 runs per game.

The Cards were 2^nd in the Western League in pitching and featured three 20 game winners. Claude Osteen (24-8, 2.30) , Bill Hands (22-11, 2.12) and Gaylord Perry (21-11, 3.35) accounted for nearly 2/3 of the teams wins. As is usually the case, behind every good front line of starters is a good bullpen, and the Cards had their's. Ron Perranoski saved 27 games for Cooperstown, while Tug McGraw (1.55) and Wayne Granger (2.18) made it tough for teams to catch up in the middle innings.

The 1969 Cardinals represent one of the most balanced teams in league history.

Pennant Races

Cooperstown's win in the Western League was a fairly easy one. The Cards held a 7 game lead after 60 games and never looked back. Earning the 2^nd playoff slot, 14 games back, was the Winchester Rifles. The Rifles were led by the power of Tony Perez (36 HR, 121 RBI) and a strong pitching staff. Tom Seaver was the team's only 20 game winner (20-10). Sam McDowell was 2^nd in the Western League in ERA (1.87) and strikeouts (292).

In the Eastern League, the race was much more close than in the Western League. It was a battle between the old and new as Mt. Holly edged out Mechanicsburg by 3 games. The Lions (105-57) featured Eastern League MVP Henry Aaron (.302, 44, 133) and a pitching trio of Juan Marichal (18-7, 2.04), Denny McLain (24-13, 2.54) and Denny Lemaster (20-11, 2.65). The Flash took a route similar to the Cardinals as they survived two terrible years (118-206) to finish at 102-60. The Flash had no one offensive star but featured a balanced hitting attack. Reggie Smith (.292) and Willie Stargell (29 HR, 97 RBI) were the statistical leaders. The team's star was Cy Young winner Larry Dierker. Dierker posted a 24-6 record with a 2.34 ERA and 8 shutouts.

In the Western League Playoffs, Tom Seaver opened with a 5-0 shutout at Cooperstown and things looked good for the playoff experienced Rifles. Claude Osteen outdueld Bob Veale to knot the series at 1. At Winchester the Cardinal bats came alive as homers by Powell and Dave Johnson put the Cards up with a 6-3 win. Bill Hands masterpiece 3 hitter put the Rifles away in a 2-0 game four win. The young Cards were off to the show!

In the Eastern League, host Mt. Holly took the first two games 8-4 and 2-1. Aaron hit a pair of homers and Alex Johnson and Mike Fiore added their own shots as McLain bested Dierker. Marichal won game two to send the series to Mechanicsburg. Blue Moon Odom homered and won game three 7-4, but the Lions took game four on McLain's four hitter, 3-0.

The World Series opened with an exciting 7-6 Cardinal win. Cooperstown fans were ecstatic at the hopes of their first year franchise bringing a title home! Claude Osteen was given an early lead and Ron Perranoski held on for the save. Game two also went to the Cards, 2-1. Tommy Harper's HR was the difference as Coleman and Marichal were extremely stingy, allowing only 7 hits total in the game. In Mt. Holly, the Cardinals took game 3 by a 4-3 score. Bill Hands survived a pair of homers by Nate Colbert and Aaron to defeat McLain. Brooms sales soared in Cooperstown as the Cards completed the sweep 2-1 behind Osteen. Good pitching and defense kept the scoring down, favoring the Cards' faster lineup.

The All Star Game

Berwyn - The Western League tied this young series at one game apiece as they defeated the Eastern League 5-4 after trailing 4-0. The Eastern League took an early 1-0 lead as Redbirds Pete Rose doubled and Tony Oliva singled him home. In the top of the 5^th, the Cards' Bill Hands got into a jam. He walked Mike Andrews of the Loons and gave up an infield single to the Roadies' Carl Yastrzemski. Those pesky Redbirds Rose and Oliva followed, Rose with a 2 run double and Oliva with a single to drive him in for a 4-0 Eastern League lead after 4 ½!

The ball was given to Juan Marichal of the Lions, but on this day he didn't have his good stuff. The Cards' Boog Powell and Rifles' Tony Perez hit back to back homers to quickly cut the lead to 4-2. Singles by Jim Fregosi of the Cards and John Roseboro of the Warriors chased Marichal and Knarro's Mike Cuellar entered. Cuellar and Marichal were swapped for each other before the season. Cuellar got some good defensive help from Loons' shortstop Luis Aparicio, and after a walk to load the bases, he struck out Montgomery's Jim Northrup to hold the lead.

In the 6^th the hometown's Reggie Jackson singled and scored on Fregosi's double. In the 7^th, Snowflake's Roberto Clemente homered off McLain to tie the game at 4. The Lions' Eddie Watt came on to pitch the 8^th, and with two outs Tony Perez hit his 2^nd HR of the game to give the Western League its first lead, 5-4. Jim Roland of the Fire Ants and Ron Perranoski pitched in the 9^th, with Perranoski getting Rose with the tie run on 3^rd to end the game.

Changes adopted for the next season

The rules vote during the 1969 season presented two proposals which had major implications…expansion and divisional alignment within each league. The Satellite Beach Saturns and Hopewell Flying Dutchmen were to be added to the Eastern League and Western League respectively. A lottery to determine divisional alignment was held in Knarro, creating what has become some very enjoyable rivalries.

Individual Stars

Western League - One player who was mentioned just briefly above was Western League MVP Reggie Jackson. Reggie hit .273, belted 39 HR and drove in 114 while scoring 108 times. He led the Western League in slugging (.586) and HR. Rod Carew of Snowflake hit .328 with 48 doubles, and his teammate Roberto Clemente hit .312 with 21-13-15 power. While a disappointment for someone of Clemente's stature, these still were good numbers. Lou Brock rebounded from an off year in '68 to score 120 runs while stealing 55 bases. Like Clemente, Brock posted a "triple-double" in the power categories with 35-12-14. Hannover's Matty Alou lead the Western League in batting at .351. Rusty Staub had a beautifully balanced season with a .290, 29, 117 season along with 105 runs and 111 walks. Jim Northrup surprised a lot of people as he was clearly Montgomery's MVP. He hit .270 with 39-3-36 power and 95 runs and 103 RBI.

On the hill Bob Gibson won his 2^nd Cy Young Award with a 24-7, 1.49, 293 strikeout season. Along with Gibson and the Cooperstown trio (see above), Dave Boswell (23-9) of Snowflake, Phil Niekro (21-11) of Berwyn and Tom Seaver (20-10) won 20 or more games.

Eastern League - MVP Henry Aaron hit .302, tied Yastrzemski with 44 HR, and led the league with 133 RBI. Pete Rose (.343) won his 2^nd consecutive batting title and was the only player to top 200 hits (211). His 125 runs was 2^nd to Mechanicsburg's Bobby Bonds (127). Bonds also stole 57 of 60 bases to easily lead the league in that category. One more category Bonds led in was strikeouts with 193, 47 more than the next player. Yastrzemski's 44 HR were accompanied by 109 runs but only 90 RBI as he was basically a one man offense for the Roadies. Harmon Killebrew had a strong season for the Loons with 41 HR and 103 RBI. Teammate Paul Blair bulked up to hit 28 HR and drive in 102. Willie McCovey held an unusual place in the Virginia lineup - leadoff. McCovey led the league in on base percentage at .425, but only drove in 64, leaving many NCABL followers scatching their heads and wondering. Along with the aforementioned Rose, the Redbird lineup featured Cesar Tovar (.307, 95 runs) and Tony Olvia (.300, 119 RBI). Rico Petrocelli's season was somewhat obscured in Wisconsin, but he set an NCABL record with 59 doubles. Rico also hit 37 HR, scored 101 runs and drove in 111.

Besides Dierker, McLain and Lemaster, Bill Singer of Virginia (24-11), Mel Stottlemyre of Louisville (23-8) and Mike Cuellar of Knarro (21-12) won 20 games. Dick Bosman sparkled for Minneapolis with a 2.00 ERA and a 19-4 record. Hoyt Wilhelm set the NCABL mark for saves with 39, while Bill Singer struck out 299.

All League Teams

The Eastern League team was dominated by three teams - Louisville, Mechanicsburg and Minneapolis. Cooperstown had 5 of the 10 starters in the Western Leauge. Henry Aaron and Hoyt Wilhelm were voted as starters for the third straight season.

Other notes

• "Only" four no hitters in 1969, with Bob Gibson and Denny Lemaster duplicating their 1968 feats.
• 1967 Champs Harned, now Florida, fell to a 49 win season as new owners (the third in as many years) cleaned house to acquire draft picks in the 1970 draft.
• For the first time in league history the home team held an advantage with a .506 winning percent. The league's mark after three years is .499.
  

Standings

Statistics, Leaders