1962 Houston Colt .45s season
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. 1961 minor league affiliates. The Colt .45s and Mets were established on October 17, 1960, giving them time to acquire professional minor-league players, sign amateur free agents (there was no MLB first-year player draft until 1965) and enter into working agreements with minor league affiliates during the 1961 season. Houston had formal working agreements with two minor league baseball teams in 1961: The first game. April 10, Colt Stadium, Houston, Texas Opening Day lineup 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. 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. And, with an August 21 loss at the hands of the Phillies, 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. 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.