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May 1969
And what a month it was for the Pilots. The first winning month in franchise history as the Pilots go 14-13 for the month of May and end with a overall record of 21-26 after 2 months of the season. With the winning month the team climbed out of the AL West cellar ahead of the struggling California Angels who are 19-26 and owner Gene Autry is not singing happy tunes with that performance.
The Oakland A's are still atop the AL West with a record of 26-20 and still cling to a 1 game lead over the Minnesota Twins in a tight battle.
In the AL East, the Boston Red Sox are still continuing a torrid pace to the season going 34-13 through the end of May. At the beginning of the season the Red Sox were not considered serious contenders with a predicted record of only 500 at 81-81. So far they are proving the experts wrong and the heavily favored Orioles are 10.5 games back and in 3rd place.
In the NL East the New York Mets are leading the way at 31-18, followed closely by the Pirates at 2.5 games back and the Chicago Cubs at 3.5 games back.
In the NL West the NL's best record is still belonging to the Houston Astros at 33-18 as they are leading the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves by 4 and 5 games respectively. The pre-season favorite Dodgers are in 4th with a below 500 21-26 record and already double digits back of the Stro's.
Pilots May Batter of the Month - This was tight voting between 1B Don Mincher and 2B Tommy Harper. In the end power won out over speed as Mincher is given the award. Mincher hit 267/371/918 with 6 homers and 19 RBI's. Harper gets a note here as he stole 13 bases in the month to go along with a 278 average and 20 runs scored.
Pilots May Pitcher of the Month award is going to RP Dick Baney who saved 3 games and had a record of 1-0 for the month. In 12 games Baney pitched 22 innings with a 2.05 ERA and a WHIP of 1.09. Runner up goes to SP Marty Pattin who had a winning record of 3-2 with 3.19 ERA.
American League Awards
AL Hitter of the Month - Minnesota Twins slugger Tony Oliva snags this months honors. Oliva hit 342 with 6 home runs and 27 RBI's and 20 runs scored as the Twins keep in close contact with the A's in the AL West.
AL Pitcher of the Month - Is awarded to the Cleveland Indians SP Sam McDowell who went 3-1 in 48 innings pitched. McDowell struck out 54 and logged an ERA of 1.31 while only allowing hitters to hit .185 for the month. The Indians are in 4th place in the AL East with a record of 22-25 on the season.
AL Rookie of the Month - Goes to another Red Sox rookie pitcher, this time 24-year-old hurler Ivy Washington. Washington went 3-1 with a 2.72 ERA as the Red Sox continue to streak to the Majors best overall record through May.
National League Awards
NL Batter of the Month goes to the Philadelphia Phillies 1B Cal Emery who hit 359 in 24 games. He racked up 6 homers with 20 RBI's and 23 runs scored. For the season Emery is hitting 319 with 10 home runs and 36 RBI's with a 383 OBP.
NL Pitcher of the Month goes to the Pittsburgh Pirates 33-year-old veteran Bob Veale who went 4-1 with 43 K's in his 6 starts in May. His ERA for the month was reminiscent of Bob Gibson with a 1.01 mark in 44.2 innings of work. This season Veale is 7-2 with a 1.04 ERA and its hard to believe he has lost 2 games. Could be a early front-runner for the NL Cy Young Award.
NL Rookie of the Month - For the 2nd straight month Houston rookie Tom Griffin has won the Rookie of the Month award. In May Griffin went 3-0 in 40 innings of work striking out 46 and fashioning a 1.13 ERA in 5 starts. Griffin is making a very strong case for the NL Rookie of the Year honors so far in 1969.
ooc- These are just recaps of the 1969 season prior to the real start of this Seattle Pilots dynasty. Since the team is doing fairly decently for an expansion team so far I am doing monthly recaps, but don't worry the wheels are likely to fall off soon.
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