# 1963 Houston Colt .45s season

The Houston Colt .45s' 1963 season was a season in American baseball. The team finished ninth in the National League with a record of 66–96, 33 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

## Offseason

* November 1, 1962: Joe Morgan was signed as an amateur free agent by the Colt .45s.
* November 26, 1962: Conrad Cardinal was drafted by the Colt .45s from the Detroit Tigers in the 1962 first-year draft.
* November 26, 1962: Ellis Burton was drafted by the Colt .45s from the Milwaukee Braves in the 1962 rule 5 draft.
* November 26, 1962: Don Taussig was drafted from the Colt .45s by the Milwaukee Braves in the 1962 minor league draft.
* November 30, 1962: Joey Amalfitano was traded by the Colt .45s to the San Francisco Giants for Manny Mota and Dick LeMay.
* November 30, 1962: Norm Larker was traded by the Colt .45s to the Milwaukee Braves for Jim Bolger, Don Nottebart, and Connie Grob.
* March 28, 1963: Hal Haydel, Dick LeMay and Merritt Ranew were traded by the Colt .45s to the Chicago Cubs for Dave Gerard and Danny Murphy.

## Regular season

Broadcaster Harry Kalas made his major league debut in 1963 with Houston, replacing Al Helfer and working alongside Gene Elston and Loel Passe.
On May 17, Don Nottebart pitched the first no-hitter for an expansion team when Houston defeated Philadelphia by a score of 4–1.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 99 | 63 | .611 | — | 50‍–‍31 | 49‍–‍32 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 93 | 69 | .574 | 6 | 53‍–‍28 | 40‍–‍41 |
| San Francisco Giants | 88 | 74 | .543 | 11 | 50‍–‍31 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 87 | 75 | .537 | 12 | 45‍–‍36 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 86 | 76 | .531 | 13 | 46‍–‍35 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 84 | 78 | .519 | 15 | 45‍–‍36 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Chicago Cubs | 82 | 80 | .506 | 17 | 43‍–‍38 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 74 | 88 | .457 | 25 | 42‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍49 |
| Houston Colt .45s | 66 | 96 | .407 | 33 | 44‍–‍37 | 22‍–‍59 |
| New York Mets | 51 | 111 | .315 | 48 | 34‍–‍47 | 17‍–‍64 |

### Record vs. opponents

1963 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MIL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SF | STL |
| Chicago | — | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 7–11 |
| Cincinnati | 9–9 | — | 11–7 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 11–7 |
| Houston | 9–9 | 7–11 | — | 5–13 | 5–13 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 5–13 |
| Los Angeles | 11–7 | 10–8 | 13–5 | — | 8–10–1 | 16–2 | 7–11 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 12–6 |
| Milwaukee | 6–12 | 8–10 | 13–5 | 10–8–1 | — | 12–6 | 10–8 | 7–11 | 10–8 | 8–10 |
| New York | 7–11 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 2–16 | 6–12 | — | 8–10 | 4–14 | 6–12 | 5–13 |
| Philadelphia | 9–9 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 10–8 | — | 13–5 | 8–10 | 8–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–8 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 5–13 | 11–7 | 14–4 | 5–13 | — | 5–13 | 5–13 |
| San Francisco | 8–10 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 |
| St. Louis | 11–7 | 7–11 | 13–5 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 10–8 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 2, 1963: Ellis Burton was purchased from the Colt .45s by the Cleveland Indians.
* April 4, 1963: Manny Mota was traded by the Colt .45s to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Howie Goss and cash.

### Roster
## 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 |
| C | John Bateman | 128 | 404 | 23 | 85 | 8 | 6 | .210 | 10 | 59 | 0 |
| 1B | Rusty Staub | 150 | 513 | 43 | 115 | 17 | 4 | .224 | 6 | 45 | 0 |
| 2B | Ernie Fazio | 102 | 228 | 31 | 42 | 10 | 3 | .184 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| 3B | Bob Aspromonte | 136 | 468 | 42 | 100 | 9 | 5 | .214 | 8 | 49 | 3 |
| SS | Bob Lillis | 147 | 469 | 31 | 93 | 13 | 1 | .198 | 1 | 19 | 3 |
| LF | Al Spangler | 120 | 430 | 52 | 121 | 25 | 4 | .281 | 4 | 27 | 5 |
| CF | Howie Goss | 133 | 411 | 37 | 86 | 18 | 2 | .209 | 9 | 44 | 4 |
| RF | Carl Warwick | 150 | 528 | 49 | 134 | 19 | 5 | .209 | 7 | 47 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Pete Runnels | 124 | 388 | 35 | 98 | 9 | 1 | .253 | 2 | 23 | 2 |
| Johnny Temple | 100 | 322 | 22 | 85 | 12 | 1 | .264 | 1 | 17 | 7 |
| Jim Wynn | 70 | 250 | 31 | 61 | 10 | 5 | .244 | 4 | 27 | 4 |
| Jim Campbell | 55 | 158 | 9 | 35 | 3 | 0 | .222 | 4 | 19 | 0 |
| J. C. Hartman | 39 | 90 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 0 | .122 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Johnny Weekly | 34 | 80 | 4 | 18 | 3 | 0 | .225 | 3 | 14 | 0 |
| Hal Smith | 31 | 58 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 0 | .241 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Brock Davis | 34 | 55 | 7 | 11 | 2 | 0 | .200 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Carroll Hardy | 15 | 44 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 0 | .227 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Glenn Vaughan | 9 | 30 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | .167 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Morgan | 8 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 1 | .240 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Dave Adlesh | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike White | 3 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .286 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerry Grote | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .200 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ivan Murrell | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .200 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aaron Pointer | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .200 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Paciorek | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Sonny Jackson | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### 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 |
| Ken Johnson | 37 | 32 | 224.0 | 11 | 17 | 2.65 | 86 | 66 | 50 | 148 |
| Turk Farrell | 34 | 26 | 202.1 | 14 | 13 | 3.02 | 76 | 68 | 35 | 141 |
| Don Nottebart | 31 | 27 | 193.0 | 11 | 8 | 3.17 | 80 | 68 | 39 | 118 |
| Bob Bruce | 30 | 25 | 170.1 | 5 | 9 | 3.59 | 73 | 68 | 60 | 123 |
| Hal Brown | 26 | 20 | 141.1 | 5 | 11 | 3.31 | 54 | 52 | 60 | 68 |
| Larry Yellen | 1 | 1 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 3.60 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Jay Dahl | 1 | 1 | 2.2 | 0 | 1 | 16.88 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 |

#### 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 |
| Dick Drott | 27 | 14 | 97.2 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 4.98 | 61 | 54 | 49 | 58 |
| Chris Zachary | 22 | 7 | 57.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4.89 | 38 | 31 | 22 | 42 |
| Conrad Cardinal | 6 | 1 | 13.1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.08 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 7 |
| George Brunet | 5 | 2 | 12.2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7.11 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 11 |
| Jim Golden | 3 | 1 | 6.1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.68 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Hal Woodeshick | 55 | 114.0 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 1.97 | 29 | 25 | 42 | 94 |
| Don McMahon | 49 | 80.0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4.05 | 38 | 36 | 26 | 51 |
| Jim Umbricht | 35 | 76.0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2.61 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 48 |
| Russ Kemmerer | 17 | 36.2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5.65 | 28 | 23 | 8 | 12 |
| Jim Dickson | 13 | 14.2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6.14 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 6 |
| Joe Hoerner | 1 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Danny Coombs | 1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game
* Hal Woodeshick, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Oklahoma City 89ers | Pacific Coast League | Grady Hatton |
| AA | San Antonio Bullets | Texas League | Lou Fitzgerald |
| A | Modesto Colts | California League | Dave Philley |
| A | Durham Bulls | Carolina League | Billy Goodman |
| A | Moultrie Colt .22s | Georgia–Florida League | Jim Walton |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oklahoma City