1969 MLB Leaders and Award Winners

2 leagues · 162 team games · 46 ranking tables · 25 awards

Awards

Most Valuable Player

Harmon KillebrewAmerican League
Willie McCoveyNational League

Cy Young Award

Mike CuellarAmerican League · shared
Denny McLainAmerican League · shared
Tom SeaverNational League

Rookie of the Year

Lou PiniellaAmerican League
Ted SizemoreNational League

Gold Glove

Mark BelangerAmerican League
Johnny BenchNational League
Paul BlairAmerican League
Clete BoyerNational League
Roberto ClementeNational League
Curt FloodNational League
Bill FreehanAmerican League
Bob GibsonNational League
Davey JohnsonAmerican League
Jim KaatAmerican League
Don KessingerNational League
Felix MillanNational League
Wes ParkerNational League
Joe PepitoneAmerican League
Brooks RobinsonAmerican League
Pete RoseNational League
Mickey StanleyAmerican League
Carl YastrzemskiAmerican League

Not every award existed in this season. This database has Silver Slugger (from 1980). Their absence here is not a statement about these players: those awards had not been invented yet.

American League

Led the American League — the first row of every table below.

Batting13 categories

RunsR

1	Reggie Jackson	123
2	Frank Howard	111
2	Frank Robinson	111
4	Sal Bando	106
4	Harmon Killebrew	106
6	Paul Blair	102
7	Don Buford	99
7	Cesar Tovar	99
9	Tony Oliva	97
10	Carl Yastrzemski	96

HitsH

1	Tony Oliva	197
2	Horace Clarke	183
3	Paul Blair	178
4	Frank Howard	175
5	Tony Horton	174
6	Sal Bando	171
7	Luis Aparicio	168
7	Reggie Smith	168
9	Frank Robinson	166
9	Del Unser	166

Doubles2B

1	Tony Oliva	39
2	Reggie Jackson	36
3	Davey Johnson	34
4	Paul Blair	32
4	Tommy Davis	32
4	Rico Petrocelli	32
7	Don Buford	31
7	Jim Northrup	31
9	Rod Carew	30
9	Roy White	30

Triples3B

1	Del Unser	8
2	Horace Clarke	7
2	Reggie Smith	7
4	Jim Fregosi	6
4	Dick Green	6
4	Mike Hegan	6
4	Lou Piniella	6
4	Ed Stroud	6
9	Luis Aparicio	5
9	Paul Blair	5
9	Ed Brinkman	5
9	Jimmie Hall	5
9	Jay Johnstone	5
9	Dick McAuliffe	5
9	Jim Northrup	5
9	Syd O'Brien	5
9	Frank Robinson	5
9	George Scott	5
9	Cesar Tovar	5
9	Roy White	5

Home RunsHR

1	Harmon Killebrew	49
2	Frank Howard	48
3	Reggie Jackson	47
4	Rico Petrocelli	40
4	Carl Yastrzemski	40
6	Boog Powell	37
7	Frank Robinson	32
8	Sal Bando	31
9	Mike Epstein	30
9	Ken Harrelson	30

Runs Batted InRBI

1	Harmon Killebrew	140
2	Boog Powell	121
3	Reggie Jackson	118
4	Sal Bando	113
5	Frank Howard	111
5	Carl Yastrzemski	111
7	Tony Oliva	101
8	Frank Robinson	100
9	Rico Petrocelli	97
10	Tony Horton	93
10	Reggie Smith	93

WalksBB

1	Harmon Killebrew	145
2	Reggie Jackson	114
3	Sal Bando	111
4	Frank Howard	102
5	Carl Yastrzemski	101
6	Ken Harrelson	99
7	Rico Petrocelli	98
8	Don Buford	96
9	Tommy Harper	95
10	Jim Fregosi	93

Stolen BasesSB

1	Tommy Harper	73
2	Bert Campaneris	62
3	Cesar Tovar	45
4	Pat Kelly	40
5	Joe Foy	37
6	Jose Cardenal	36
7	Horace Clarke	33
8	Jerry Kenney	25
9	Luis Aparicio	24
10	Sandy Alomar	20
10	Paul Blair	20
10	Tommy Davis	20

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Harmon Killebrew	9.7
2	Rico Petrocelli	9.6
3	Reggie Jackson	9.5
4	Sal Bando	8.6
5	Frank Howard	7.5
6	Frank Robinson	7.5
7	Paul Blair	7.2
8	Ken McMullen	6.4
9	Reggie Smith	6.4
10	Jim Northrup	6.2

Batting Averagemin 502 PA

1	Rod Carew	.332
2	Tony Oliva	.309
2	Reggie Smith	.309
4	Frank Robinson	.308
5	Boog Powell	.304
5	Walt Williams	.304
7	Rico Petrocelli	.297
8	Frank Howard	.296
9	Jim Northrup	.295
10	Mike Andrews	.293

On-Base Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Harmon Killebrew	.427
2	Frank Robinson	.415
3	Reggie Jackson	.410
4	Rico Petrocelli	.403
5	Frank Howard	.402
6	Sal Bando	.400
7	Don Buford	.397
8	Roy White	.392
9	Mike Andrews	.390
10	Rod Carew	.386

Slugging Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Reggie Jackson	.608
2	Rico Petrocelli	.589
3	Harmon Killebrew	.584
4	Frank Howard	.574
5	Boog Powell	.559
6	Frank Robinson	.540
7	Reggie Smith	.527
8	Jim Northrup	.508
9	Carl Yastrzemski	.507
10	Tony Oliva	.496

On-Base Plus Sluggingmin 502 PA

1	Reggie Jackson	1.018
2	Harmon Killebrew	1.011
3	Rico Petrocelli	.992
4	Frank Howard	.976
5	Frank Robinson	.955
6	Boog Powell	.942
7	Reggie Smith	.895
8	Sal Bando	.885
9	Carl Yastrzemski	.870
10	Jim Northrup	.866

Pitching10 categories

WinsW

1	Denny McLain	24
2	Mike Cuellar	23
3	Dave Boswell	20
3	Dave McNally	20
3	Jim Perry	20
3	Mel Stottlemyre	20
7	Mickey Lolich	19
8	Sam McDowell	18
9	Ray Culp	17
9	Fritz Peterson	17

SavesSV

1	Ron Perranoski	31
2	Ken Tatum	22
3	Sparky Lyle	17
4	Dennis Higgins	16
4	Eddie Watt	16
6	Wilbur Wood	15
7	Jack Aker	14
7	Hoyt Wilhelm	14
9	Darold Knowles	13
9	Don McMahon	13

StrikeoutsSO

1	Sam McDowell	279
2	Mickey Lolich	271
3	Andy Messersmith	211
4	Dave Boswell	190
5	Joe Coleman	182
5	Mike Cuellar	182
7	Denny McLain	181
8	Ray Culp	172
9	Dave McNally	166
10	Bill Butler	156
10	Luis Tiant	156

Innings PitchedIP

1	Denny McLain	325.0
2	Mel Stottlemyre	303.0
3	Mike Cuellar	290.7
4	Sam McDowell	285.0
5	Mickey Lolich	280.7
6	Fritz Peterson	272.0
7	Dave McNally	268.7
8	Jim Perry	261.7
9	Dave Boswell	256.3
10	Andy Messersmith	250.0

Complete GamesCG

1	Mel Stottlemyre	24
2	Denny McLain	23
3	Mike Cuellar	18
3	Sam McDowell	18
5	Fritz Peterson	16
6	Mickey Lolich	15
7	Joe Coleman	12
7	Jim Perry	12
9	Chuck Dobson	11
9	Dave McNally	11
9	Jim Palmer	11

ShutoutsSHO

1	Denny McLain	9
2	Jim Palmer	6
3	Mike Cuellar	5
4	Bill Butler	4
4	Joe Coleman	4
4	Mike Kilkenny	4
4	Sam McDowell	4
4	Dave McNally	4
4	Fritz Peterson	4
10	Catfish Hunter	3
10	Blue Moon Odom	3
10	Jim Perry	3
10	Gary Peters	3
10	Mel Stottlemyre	3

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Sam McDowell	7.6
2	Fritz Peterson	5.9
3	Denny McLain	5.8
4	Mike Cuellar	5.5
5	Mickey Lolich	5.0
6	Dave Boswell	4.0
7	Jim Perry	4.0
8	Andy Messersmith	4.0
9	Dave McNally	3.8
10	Dick Bosman	3.3

Earned Run Averagemin 162 IP

1	Dick Bosman	2.19
2	Jim Palmer	2.34
3	Mike Cuellar	2.38
4	Andy Messersmith	2.52
5	Fritz Peterson	2.55
6	Casey Cox	2.78
7	Denny McLain	2.80
8	Jim Perry	2.82
9	Mel Stottlemyre	2.82
10	Blue Moon Odom	2.92

Walks and Hits per Inningmin 162 IP

1	Fritz Peterson	1.00
2	Mike Cuellar	1.00
3	Dick Bosman	1.01
4	Andy Messersmith	1.08
5	Jim Palmer	1.08
6	Denny McLain	1.09
7	Sam McDowell	1.14
8	Rudy May	1.15
9	Wally Bunker	1.17
10	Dave McNally	1.18

Fielding Independent Pitchingmin 162 IP

1	Sam McDowell	2.29
2	Fritz Peterson	2.63
3	Dick Bosman	2.86
4	Mike Cuellar	2.89
5	Andy Messersmith	2.96
6	Jim Palmer	3.02
7	Mickey Lolich	3.05
7	Denny McLain	3.05
9	Jim Perry	3.09
10	Dave Boswell	3.19

National League

Led the National League — the first row of every table below.

Batting13 categories

RunsR

1	Bobby Bonds	120
1	Pete Rose	120
3	Jim Wynn	113
4	Don Kessinger	109
5	Matty Alou	105
6	Bobby Tolan	104
7	Tony Perez	103
7	Billy Williams	103
9	Willie McCovey	101
10	Hank Aaron	100

HitsH

1	Matty Alou	231
2	Pete Rose	218
3	Lou Brock	195
4	Bobby Tolan	194
5	Billy Williams	188
6	Tony Perez	185
7	Don Kessinger	181
8	Roberto Clemente	175
9	Felix Millan	174
9	Joe Torre	174

Doubles2B

1	Matty Alou	41
2	Don Kessinger	38
3	Lou Brock	33
3	Pete Rose	33
3	Billy Williams	33
6	Lee May	32
7	Curt Flood	31
7	Tony Perez	31
7	Willie Stargell	31
10	Hank Aaron	30

Triples3B

1	Roberto Clemente	12
2	Pete Rose	11
3	Lou Brock	10
3	Bobby Tolan	10
3	Billy Williams	10
6	Nate Colbert	9
7	Willie Davis	8
7	Maury Wills	8
9	Curt Blefary	7
9	Ken Boswell	7
9	Cito Gaston	7

Home RunsHR

1	Willie McCovey	45
2	Hank Aaron	44
3	Lee May	38
4	Tony Perez	37
5	Jim Wynn	33
6	Dick Allen	32
6	Bobby Bonds	32
8	Ron Santo	29
8	Willie Stargell	29
8	Rusty Staub	29

Runs Batted InRBI

1	Willie McCovey	126
2	Ron Santo	123
3	Tony Perez	122
4	Lee May	110
5	Ernie Banks	106
6	Joe Torre	101
7	Hank Aaron	97
8	Billy Williams	95
9	Bobby Tolan	93
10	Willie Stargell	92

WalksBB

1	Jim Wynn	148
2	Willie McCovey	121
3	Joe Morgan	110
3	Rusty Staub	110
5	Ron Santo	96
6	Pete Rose	88
7	Hank Aaron	87
7	Denis Menke	87
9	Bobby Bonds	81
10	Curt Blefary	77

Stolen BasesSB

1	Lou Brock	53
2	Joe Morgan	49
3	Bobby Bonds	45
4	Maury Wills	40
5	Bobby Tolan	26
6	Willie Davis	24
7	Jim Wynn	23
8	Matty Alou	22
9	Tony Taylor	19
10	Larry Hisle	18

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Willie McCovey	9.2
2	Jim Wynn	9.0
3	Pete Rose	8.3
4	Hank Aaron	8.1
5	Rusty Staub	7.7
6	Tony Perez	7.3
7	Bobby Bonds	7.0
8	Ron Santo	6.6
9	Roberto Clemente	6.6
10	Bobby Tolan	6.4

Batting Averagemin 502 PA

1	Pete Rose	.348
2	Roberto Clemente	.345
3	Cleon Jones	.340
4	Matty Alou	.331
5	Willie McCovey	.320
6	Alex Johnson	.315
7	Willie Davis	.311
8	Willie Stargell	.307
9	Bobby Tolan	.305
10	Rusty Staub	.302

On-Base Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Willie McCovey	.453
2	Jim Wynn	.436
3	Pete Rose	.428
4	Rusty Staub	.426
5	Cleon Jones	.422
6	Roberto Clemente	.411
7	Hank Aaron	.396
8	Ron Santo	.384
9	Willie Stargell	.382
10	Richie Hebner	.380

Slugging Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Willie McCovey	.656
2	Hank Aaron	.607
3	Dick Allen	.573
4	Willie Stargell	.556
5	Roberto Clemente	.544
6	Lee May	.529
7	Tony Perez	.526
7	Rusty Staub	.526
9	Pete Rose	.512
10	Jim Wynn	.507

On-Base Plus Sluggingmin 502 PA

1	Willie McCovey	1.108
2	Hank Aaron	1.003
3	Roberto Clemente	.955
4	Rusty Staub	.952
5	Dick Allen	.949
6	Jim Wynn	.943
7	Pete Rose	.940
8	Willie Stargell	.938
9	Cleon Jones	.904
10	Tony Perez	.883

Pitching10 categories

WinsW

1	Tom Seaver	25
2	Phil Niekro	23
3	Fergie Jenkins	21
3	Juan Marichal	21
5	Larry Dierker	20
5	Bob Gibson	20
5	Bill Hands	20
5	Claude Osteen	20
5	Bill Singer	20
10	Gaylord Perry	19

SavesSV

1	Fred Gladding	29
2	Wayne Granger	27
2	Cecil Upshaw	27
4	Jim Brewer	20
5	Phil Regan	17
6	Joe Hoerner	15
7	Ron Taylor	13
8	Tug McGraw	12
9	Joe Gibbon	11
9	Frank Linzy	11

StrikeoutsSO

1	Fergie Jenkins	273
2	Bob Gibson	269
3	Bill Singer	247
4	Don Wilson	235
5	Gaylord Perry	233
6	Larry Dierker	232
7	Don Sutton	217
8	Bob Veale	213
9	Steve Carlton	210
10	Tom Seaver	208

Innings PitchedIP

1	Gaylord Perry	325.3
2	Claude Osteen	321.0
3	Bill Singer	315.7
4	Bob Gibson	314.0
5	Fergie Jenkins	311.3
6	Larry Dierker	305.3
7	Bill Hands	300.0
8	Juan Marichal	299.7
9	Don Sutton	293.3
10	Phil Niekro	284.3

Complete GamesCG

1	Bob Gibson	28
2	Juan Marichal	27
3	Gaylord Perry	26
4	Fergie Jenkins	23
5	Phil Niekro	21
6	Larry Dierker	20
7	Bill Hands	18
7	Tom Seaver	18
9	Jerry Koosman	16
9	Claude Osteen	16
9	Bill Singer	16

ShutoutsSHO

1	Juan Marichal	8
2	Fergie Jenkins	7
2	Claude Osteen	7
4	Ken Holtzman	6
4	Jerry Koosman	6
6	Tom Seaver	5
6	Bill Stoneman	5
8	Larry Dierker	4
8	Bob Gibson	4
8	Grant Jackson	4
8	Phil Niekro	4
8	Don Sutton	4
8	Rick Wise	4

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Bob Gibson	8.3
2	Fergie Jenkins	7.4
3	Juan Marichal	7.4
4	Larry Dierker	7.2
5	Bill Singer	6.5
6	Claude Osteen	6.0
7	Bill Hands	6.0
8	Gaylord Perry	5.9
9	Bob Veale	5.8
10	Phil Niekro	5.6

Earned Run Averagemin 162 IP

1	Juan Marichal	2.10
2	Steve Carlton	2.17
3	Bob Gibson	2.18
4	Tom Seaver	2.21
5	Jerry Koosman	2.28
6	Larry Dierker	2.33
7	Bill Singer	2.34
8	Bill Hands	2.49
8	Gaylord Perry	2.49
10	Phil Niekro	2.56

Walks and Hits per Inningmin 162 IP

1	Juan Marichal	0.99
2	Bill Singer	1.01
3	Larry Dierker	1.02
4	Phil Niekro	1.03
5	Tom Seaver	1.04
6	Jerry Koosman	1.06
7	Bob Gibson	1.10
8	Bill Hands	1.14
9	Fergie Jenkins	1.14
10	Claude Osteen	1.14

Fielding Independent Pitchingmin 162 IP

1	Bob Gibson	2.29
2	Bob Veale	2.33
3	Juan Marichal	2.39
4	Bob Moose	2.44
5	Larry Dierker	2.47
6	Fergie Jenkins	2.64
7	Bill Singer	2.65
8	Jerry Koosman	2.67
9	Don Wilson	2.76
10	Phil Niekro	2.77

How this page is built

The qualifying line for 1969 is 502 plate appearances and 162 innings pitched. It comes from the length of the schedule — 162 games per team, measured from the season files themselves — at the official rate of 3.1 plate appearances and one inning per team game. Batting average, on-base, slugging, OPS, earned run average and WHIP all use it; a player who came to the plate twice and got two hits does not appear at the top of the batting average table, which is exactly what that line is for. Counting statistics such as home runs and strikeouts have no minimum, because none is needed.

How the rankings were made

Wins above replacement in these tables is ours rather than the source database's, so it will not match a published figure exactly. Also: why every ranking stops at one league, and why some categories are missing on purpose.

Every ranking on this page is worked out inside one league. 1969 is counted as 2 separate leagues — American League and National League, and a player is ranked only against the men in his own. Leading the American League and leading baseball are different claims, and the one we can make from these files is the first. There is no combined table anywhere on this page, because adding two leagues together would produce a number that no record book recognises.

There are 46 ranking tables here, 20 places deep. Players tied on a value share a place, so a table can run past ten rows when the tenth spot is shared, and a league with fewer than ten qualified players in a category is left out rather than shown as a top ten that is not one. A player who did none of the thing is not ranked in it either — a shutout table lists the pitchers who threw one, not the hundreds who threw none tied on zero. Some categories are missing on purpose: nobody leads a league in strikeouts at the plate, in losses, or in home runs allowed. A ranking is meant to mark an achievement, so only achievements are ranked.

Wins above replacement on this page is ours, not the source database's. The hitting and pitching files carry a WAR column that we compute here from the same season lines you see, using park factors and a run environment worked out per season. Published versions elsewhere use different methods and will not match ours exactly. Every other column is the record as the database supplies it.

Names on this page lead to that player's own record. Most of them open a full career page with every season he appeared in. Some open a summary screen instead — we pre-build pages for the players people look for, and everyone else is assembled on demand from the same files, so the numbers are identical either way even though the address looks different.

Data for 1871 to 2025: Lahman Baseball Database 2025, compiled by SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) and licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported. Negro Leagues data licensed from Seamheads.com and included under SABR major-league recommendations (2021-02-11, 2024-06-03). This page ranks the 1969 season lines published on this site, league by league, with WAR worked out here. — the WAR columns are computed here — and they are published under the same CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported licence, as ShareAlike requires. That database is published once a season is complete, so the 2026 figures on this site come from a different place: the MLB Stats API, whose notice reads “Copyright 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Use of any content on this page acknowledges agreement to the terms posted here http://gdx.mlb.com/components/copyright.txt”. Those numbers are MLB Advanced Media, L.P.’s, not SABR (Society for American Baseball Research)’s, and they carry that notice rather than the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported licence above. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Major League Baseball or any of its clubs.