1962 Houston Colt .45s season

1962 Houston Colt .45s
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record 64–96 (.400)
League place 8th
Other information
Owner(s) Craig F. Cullinan, Jr., Roy Hofheinz
General manager(s) Paul Richards
Manager(s) Harry Craft
Local television KTRK
(Al Helfer, Gene Elston, Guy Savage)
Local radio KPRC (AM)
(Al Helfer, Gene Elston, Loel Passe)
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The 1962 Houston Colt .45s were an expansion team in American Major League Baseball's National League, and 1962 was the first season in franchise history. Harry Craft was Houston's first manager. The .45s finished eighth among the National League's ten teams with a record of 64–96, 36½ games behind the league champion San Francisco Giants.

Offseason

Expansion draft

The Colt .45s were one of two teams added to the National League before the 1962 season, the other being the New York Mets. This brought the number of teams in the NL to ten, matching the 1961 expansion of the American League.

Regular phase

$75,000 per player

Premium phase

$125,000 per player

Opening Day lineup

14Bob Aspromonte   3B
21Al SpanglerCF
25Román MejíasRF
10Norm Larker1B
23Jim PendletonLF
  8Hal SmithC
11Joey Amalfitano   2B
18Don BuddinSS
42Bobby ShantzP

[8]

Regular season

The Colt .45s started their inaugural season on April 10, 1962, with an 11–2 win against the Chicago Cubs, highlighted by a three run home run in the bottom of the third inning by Román Mejías.[8] The .45s would go on to sweep the Cubs in their first three-game series at Colt Stadium. The team finished April with a 7–8 record, 4 games in front of the expansion Mets and only 5 games behind the National League leading Pirates and Giants.

By June 2, with the second loss to the Pirates in Pittsburgh, the Colt .45s had fallen to 16 games behind eventual National League Champion Giants, a deficit that no pre-wild card team had recovered from to make the post season.[9] And, with an August 21 loss at the hands of the Phillies,[10] the Houston Colt .45s were mathematically eliminated from the postseason with a 37-game deficit to the Dodgers with 37 games left.

To get an idea of how the first season was for Houston, look at the team's best pitcher, Richard "Turk" Farrell. A starter for the Colt .45s, he was primarily a relief pitcher when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. Turk lost 20 games in 1962, but had an ERA of 3.02. Turk was selected to both All-Star games that year.[11]

There was a bright spot in the line up in 1962. Román Mejías, who was acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the expansion draft, was named the Colt .45s starting right fielder. It was in Houston that Mejías would play the best season of his career. While he played better the first half of the season, an injury slowed him the second half of the season. However, he still finished with a .286 batting average, 24 home runs, and 76 RBIs. His modesty and his hard play made him a fan favorite that year. Despite his good year, Mejías was traded to the Boston Red Sox in the fall of 1962.[12]

Season standings

National League W L Pct. GB Home Road
San Francisco Giants 10362 0.624 — 61–21 42–41
Los Angeles Dodgers 10263 0.618 1 54–29 48–34
Cincinnati Reds 9864 0.605 3½ 58–23 40–41
Pittsburgh Pirates 9368 0.578 8 51–30 42–38
Milwaukee Braves 8676 0.531 15½ 49–32 37–44
St. Louis Cardinals 8478 0.519 17½ 44–37 40–41
Philadelphia Phillies 8180 0.503 20 46–34 35–46
Houston Colt .45s 6496 0.400 36½ 32–48 32–48
Chicago Cubs 59103 0.364 42½ 32–49 27–54
New York Mets 40120 0.250 60½ 22–58 18–62

Record vs. opponents

1962 National League Records

Sources:
Team CHC CIN HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SF STL
Chicago —4–147–114–148–109–910–84–146–127–11
Cincinnati 14–4—13–59–913–513–58–1013–57–118–10
Houston 11–75–13—6–127–1113–3–11–175–137–119–9–1
Los Angeles 14–49–912–6—10–816–214–410–810–117–11
Milwaukee 10–85–1311–78–10—12–611–710–87–1112–6
New York 9–95–133–13–12–166–12—4–142–164–145–13
Philadelphia 8–1010–817–14–147–1114–4—7–105–139–9
Pittsburgh 14–45–1313–58–108–1016–210–7—7–1112–6
San Francisco 12–611–711–711–1011–714–413–511–7—9–9
St. Louis 11–710–89–9–111–76–1213–59–96–129–9—

Notable transactions

Roster

1962 Houston Colt .45s
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Game log

Houston Colt .45s 1962 Regular Season Game Log

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases Positional abbreviations: C = Catcher; 1B = First base; 2B = Second base; 3B = Third base; SS = Shortstop; LF = Left field; CF = Center field; RF = Right field

Pos Player G AB R H 2B 3B Avg. HR RBI SB
CHal Smith1093453281140.23512350
1BNorm Larker14750658133195.2639631
2BJoey Amalfitano1173804490125.2371274
3BBob Aspromonte14953459142184.26611594
SSBob Lillis12945738114124.2491307
LFAl Spangler12941851119109.2855357
CFCarl Warwick13047763124171.26016602
RFRomán Mejías14656682162123.286247612

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Player G AB R H 2B 3B Avg. HR RBI SB
J. C. Hartman51148113350.223051
Al Heist277241610.222030
Dave Roberts165331330.2451100
Don Taussig16251500.200110
Dick Gernert10241500.208010
George Williams581310.375020

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player G GS IP W L ERA R ER BB K
Turk Farrell4329241.210203.02918155203
Ken Johnson33311977163.031008446178
Bob Bruce32271751094.06927982135
Hal Woodeshick3126139.15164.3984685482

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player G GS IP W L SV ERA R ER BB K
Jim Golden3718152.271114.0784695088
Dave Giusti22573.22305.6249463043
George Brunet1711542404.5031272136
Dick Drott61131007.621211910

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA R ER BB K
Don McMahon5176.25581.5314133369
Bobby Tiefenauer43852414.3442412160
John Anderson1017.20005.09121036
Al Cicotte54.20003.864214

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Oklahoma City 89ers American Association Connie Ryan
B Durham Bulls Carolina League Lou Fitzgerald
C Modesto Colts California League Fred Hatfield
D Moultrie Colt .22s Georgia–Florida League Jim Walton

References

  1. ↑ Rusty Staub at Baseball-Reference
  2. ↑ Al Cicotte at Baseball-Reference
  3. 1 2 Dave Philley at Baseball-Reference
  4. ↑ J. C. Hartman at Baseball-Reference
  5. ↑ Merritt Ranew at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ Don Taussig Archived March 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. at Baseball Reference
  7. ↑ Norm Larker at Baseball Reference
  8. 1 2 "Retrosheet Boxscore: Houston Colt .45s 11, Chicago Cubs 2". Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2009.
  9. ↑ Vass, George (2005). "The greatest pennant-chase comebacks in baseball history: here are 14 teams that trailed by 10 or more games near the season's midpoint and went on to win division or league titles". Baseball Digest.
  10. ↑ "Retrosheet Boxscore: Philadelphia Phillies 5, Houston Colt .45s 3 (1)". Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2009.
  11. ↑ Coons, Ron (May 10, 2006). "Richard "Turk" Farrell". find a grave. Retrieved October 2, 2008.
  12. ↑ Briley, Ron (June 10, 2003). "ROMAN MEJIAS – BRIEF BIOGRAPHY". McFarland & co. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved October 2, 2008.
  13. ↑ John Anderson at Baseball Reference
  14. 1 2 Bob Cerv at Baseball Reference
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