# 1964 Houston Colt .45s season

The 1964 Houston Colt .45s season was the team's third season in Major League Baseball. It involved the Houston Colt .45s finishing in ninth place in the National League with a record of 66–96, 27 games behind the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. It was their final season for the team at Colt Stadium before relocating their games to the Astrodome in 1965, along with the accompanying name change to the "Astros" for the '65 season.

## Offseason

On April 8, just a few days before Opening Day, Colt .45s pitcher Jim Umbricht died of cancer. Umbricht had come back from cancer in 1963 to pitch in 35 games, but it returned during the offseason. His uniform number 32 would be retired by the Astros the following season.

### Notable transactions

* October 10, 1963: Claude Raymond was drafted by the Colt .45s from the Milwaukee Braves in a 1963 special draft.

## Regular season

On April 23, Houston pitcher Ken Johnson became the first pitcher in major league history to lose a complete game no-hitter in nine innings when he was beaten 1–0 by the Cincinnati Reds. Cincinnati's Pete Rose scored the only run of the game in the ninth inning, when he reached second base on an error and later scored.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 93 | 69 | .574 | — | 48‍–‍33 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 92 | 70 | .568 | 1 | 46‍–‍35 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 92 | 70 | .568 | 1 | 47‍–‍34 | 45‍–‍36 |
| San Francisco Giants | 90 | 72 | .556 | 3 | 44‍–‍37 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 88 | 74 | .543 | 5 | 45‍–‍36 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 80 | 82 | .494 | 13 | 42‍–‍39 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 80 | 82 | .494 | 13 | 41‍–‍40 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Chicago Cubs | 76 | 86 | .469 | 17 | 40‍–‍41 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Houston Colt .45s | 66 | 96 | .407 | 27 | 41‍–‍40 | 25‍–‍56 |
| New York Mets | 53 | 109 | .327 | 40 | 33‍–‍48 | 20‍–‍61 |

### Record vs. opponents

1964 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MIL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SF | STL |
| Chicago | — | 6–12 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 6–12 |
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | — | 12–6 | 14–4–1 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 10–8 |
| Houston | 7–11 | 6–12 | — | 7–11 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 5–13 | 7–11 | 8–10 |
| Los Angeles | 8–10 | 4–14–1 | 11–7 | — | 8–10 | 15–3–1 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 10–8 |
| Milwaukee | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 10–8 | — | 14–4 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 8–10 |
| New York | 7–11 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 3–15–1 | 4–14 | — | 3–15 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 7–11 |
| Philadelphia | 12-6 | 9–9 | 13–5 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 15–3 | — | 10–8 | 10–8 | 5–13 |
| Pittsburgh | 9–9 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 8–10 | — | 8–10 | 6–12 |
| San Francisco | 9–9 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 10–8 | — | 9–9 |
| St. Louis | 12–6 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 9–9 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Bob Aspromonte
* John Bateman
* Walt Bond
* Nellie Fox
* Eddie Kasko
* Jim Owens
* Pete Runnels
* Rusty Staub
* Jimmy Wynn

### Notable transactions

* May 26, 1964: Walt Williams was selected off waivers from the Colt .45s by the St. Louis Cardinals.

### 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 | Jerry Grote | 100 | 298 | 26 | 54 | 9 | 3 | .181 | 3 | 24 | 0 |
| 1B | Walt Bond | 148 | 543 | 63 | 138 | 16 | 7 | .254 | 20 | 85 | 2 |
| 2B | Nellie Fox | 133 | 442 | 45 | 117 | 12 | 6 | .265 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| 3B | Bob Aspromonte | 157 | 553 | 51 | 155 | 20 | 3 | .280 | 12 | 28 | 6 |
| SS | Eddie Kasko | 133 | 448 | 45 | 109 | 16 | 1 | .243 | 0 | 22 | 4 |
| LF | Al Spangler | 135 | 449 | 51 | 110 | 18 | 5 | .245 | 4 | 38 | 7 |
| CF | Mike White | 89 | 280 | 30 | 76 | 11 | 3 | .271 | 0 | 27 | 1 |
| RF | Joe Gaines | 89 | 307 | 37 | 78 | 9 | 7 | .254 | 7 | 34 | 8 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Lillis | 109 | 332 | 31 | 89 | 11 | 2 | .268 | 0 | 17 | 4 |
| Rusty Staub | 89 | 292 | 26 | 63 | 10 | 2 | .216 | 8 | 35 | 1 |
| Mike White | 89 | 280 | 30 | 76 | 11 | 3 | .271 | 0 | 27 | 1 |
| John Bateman | 74 | 221 | 18 | 42 | 8 | 0 | .190 | 5 | 19 | 0 |
| Carroll Hardy | 46 | 157 | 13 | 29 | 1 | 1 | .185 | 2 | 12 | 0 |
| Dave Roberts | 61 | 125 | 9 | 23 | 4 | 1 | .184 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Jim Beauchamp | 23 | 55 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 0 | .164 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Pete Runnels | 22 | 51 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 0 | .196 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Joe Morgan | 10 | 37 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | .189 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonny Jackson | 9 | 23 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | .348 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Johnny Weekly | 6 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .133 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| John Hoffman | 6 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .067 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ivan Murrell | 10 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .143 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Dave Adlesh | 3 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .200 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Walt Williams | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Steve Hertz | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brock Davis | 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 | 35 | 35 | 218.0 | 11 | 16 | 3.63 | 100 | 88 | 44 | 117 |
| Bob Bruce | 35 | 29 | 202.1 | 15 | 9 | 2.76 | 73 | 70 | 62 | 135 |
| Turk Farrell | 32 | 27 | 198.1 | 11 | 10 | 3.27 | 80 | 72 | 52 | 117 |
| Don Nottebart | 28 | 24 | 157.0 | 6 | 11 | 3.90 | 76 | 68 | 37 | 90 |
| Hal Brown | 27 | 21 | 132.0 | 3 | 15 | 3.95 | 68 | 58 | 26 | 53 |
| Chris Zachary | 1 | 1 | 4.0 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 |

#### 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 Owens | 48 | 11 | 118.0 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 3.28 | 48 | 43 | 32 | 88 |
| Don Larsen | 30 | 10 | 103.1 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 2.26 | 36 | 26 | 20 | 58 |
| Larry Dierker | 3 | 1 | 9.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Don Bradey | 3 | 1 | 2.1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19.29 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 |

#### 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 | 61 | 78.1 | 2 | 9 | 23 | 2.76 | 32 | 24 | 32 | 58 |
| Claude Raymond | 38 | 79.2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2.82 | 28 | 25 | 22 | 56 |
| Gordon Jones | 34 | 50.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.14 | 24 | 23 | 14 | 28 |
| Larry Yellen | 13 | 21.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.86 | 19 | 16 | 10 | 9 |
| Dave Giusti | 8 | 25.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.16 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 16 |
| Danny Coombs | 7 | 18.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.00 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 14 |
| Joe Hoerner | 7 | 11.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.91 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 4 |

## 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 | Chuck Churn |
| A | Durham Bulls | Carolina League | Billy Goodman and Walt Matthews |
| A | Statesville Colts | Western Carolinas League | Dave Philley and Rudy York |
| Rookie | Cocoa Colts | Cocoa Rookie League | Dave Philley |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: San Antonio
Statesville affiliation shared with Boston Red Sox