The Houston Colt .45s' 1963 season was a season in American baseball. The team finished ninth in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

with a record of 66–96, 33 games behind the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

Offseason

* November 1, 1962:

Joe Morgan Joe Leonard Morgan (September 19, 1943 – October 11, 2020) was an American professional baseball second baseman who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Colt .45s / Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, ...

was signed as an amateur free agent by the Colt .45s. * November 26, 1962:

Conrad Cardinal Conrad Seth Cardinal (born March 30, 1942) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who appeared in six games in Major League Baseball for the Houston Colt .45s in . Born in Brooklyn and of Jewish descent, he attended Valley Stream Hi ...

was drafted by the Colt .45s from the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

in the 1962 first-year draft. * November 26, 1962: Ellis Burton was drafted by the Colt .45s from the

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

in the 1962 rule 5 draft.Ellis Burton
at ''Baseball Reference'' * November 26, 1962:

Don Taussig Donald Franklin Taussig (born February 19, 1932) is an American former professional baseball player. He was an outfielder who played all or part of three seasons in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, and ...

was drafted from the Colt .45s by the

in the 1962 minor league draft. * November 30, 1962:

Joey Amalfitano John Joseph Amalfitano (born January 23, 1934) is a former utility infielder, manager and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played a combined ten seasons with the New York and San Francisco Giants (1954–55; 1960–61; 1963), H ...

was traded by the Colt .45s to the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

for

Manny Mota Manuel Rafael Mota Geronimo, more commonly known as Manny Mota (born February 18, 1938), is a Dominican former Major League Baseball outfielder who played 20 seasons for the San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates and Montreal Expos, as well a ...

and

Dick LeMay Richard Paul LeMay (August 28, 1938 – March 19, 2018) was an American professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, LeMay appeared in parts of three Major League Baseball seasons (1961–63), but had a long career in minor league basebal ...

.Manny Mota
at ''Baseball Reference'' * November 30, 1962:

Norm Larker Norman Howard John Larker (December 27, 1930 – March 12, 2007) was an American professional baseball player. A first baseman who, early in his career, also frequently played corner outfielder, he appeared in 667 games in Major League Baseb ...

was traded by the Colt .45s to the

for

Jim Bolger James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997. Bolger was born to an Irish immigrant family in Ōpunake, Taran ...

Don Nottebart Donald Edward Nottebart (January 23, 1936 – October 4, 2007) was an American professional baseball player. The right-handed pitcher appeared in 296 games in Major League Baseball for five teams over nine seasons (1960–1967; 1969). Notteb ...

, and

Connie Grob Conrad George Grob (rhymes with "robe"; November 9, 1932 – September 28, 1997) was an American professional baseball player in the 1950s and 1960s. A right-handed pitcher, he spent one full season — — in Major League Baseball as a member of ...

. * March 28, 1963:

Hal Haydel John Harold Haydel (July 9, 1944 - September 12, 2018) was an American professional baseball player who was a pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). Haydel signed with the Milwaukee Braves as a free agent in 1962. Later that year, he was draf ...

and Merritt Ranew were traded by the Colt .45s to the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

for Dave Gerard and Danny Murphy.

Regular season

Broadcaster

Harry Kalas Harold Norbert Kalas (March 26, 1936 – April 13, 2009) was an American sportscaster, best known for his Ford C. Frick Award-winning role as lead play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies, a position he held fr ...

made his major league debut in 1963 with Houston, replacing

Al Helfer George Alvin "Al" Helfer (September 26, 1911 – May 16, 1975) was an American radio sportscaster. Nicknamed "Mr. Radio Baseball", Helfer called the play-by-play of seven World Series, ten All-Star Games, and regular season broadcasts for sev ...

and working alongside

Gene Elston Robert Gene Elston (March 26, 1922 – September 5, 2015) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) broadcaster, primarily with the Houston Astros. Early life and career A native of Fort Dodge, Iowa, Elston was born on March 26, 1922. He started work in ...

and

Loel Passe Loel Elijah Passe (; May 29, 1917 – July 15, 1997) was an American sports broadcaster. After working for a radio station in Alabama, Passe was a baseball play-by-play announcer for the minor league Houston Buffaloes beginning in 1950. When Hous ...

. On May 17,

pitched the first no-hitter for an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

when Houston defeated

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

by a score of 4–1.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* April 2, 1963: Ellis Burton was purchased from the Colt .45s by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

. * April 4, 1963:

was traded by the Colt .45s to the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

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''

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''

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''

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''

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''

Awards and honors

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

* Hal Woodeshick, reserve

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oklahoma City

References

External links

1963 Houston Colt .45s season at Baseball Reference
2009-05-04) {{Houston Astros Houston Astros seasons Houston Colt .45s season Houston Astro