The
HOUSTON COLT .45s
First National
League Baseball
Team
in Houston (renamed Astros in 1965)
1962 was a magical year in Houston, Texas: MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
CAME TO TOWN!
The new expansion team of the National League was named THE
HOUSTON
COLT .45s.
A new stadium (COLT STADIUM) was built south of Downtown Houston.
Next door, a fantastic new DOMED STADIUM was taking shape that
would
be the team's home starting in 1965. It would be called the
Eighth
Wonder of the World, because it would be the first indoor,
air-conditioned
baseball stadium.
But from 1962 through 1964, fans braved the heat and mosquitoes
in
COLT STADIUM to watch their new hometown baseball heroes THE COLT .45s
battle the superstars of the baseball world: Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax,
Stan Musial, Don Drysdale and many others.
ROMAN MEJIAS is not a familiar name to many sports fans nowadays.
But for me and many other Houston youngsters in 1962,
ROMAN MEJIAS was the home run king of baseball!
According to the statisticians, the Colts may
never
have had a winning season;
but in the hearts of their loyal fans, the Colt .45s
were always Number One!
This Web Page Updated:
E-mail
me
with
your
comments
or
suggestions!
Astros 2005 player
photos: Part
1 Part
2 Team
Photo
Astros
World
Series
placard Ticket
to World Series Game 3
Ticket
to
World
Series
Game
5
in
Houston
(unused)
Astros NL
Championship
Ring (Souvenir Replica)
2012
was
the
50th
Anniversary of the Houston Colt .45s!
The Houston Astros wore
the Houston Colt .45s uniform
for the games on April 10, April 20 and Sept. 21!
Photos from
the 2012 Colt .45s uniform games (click on Slide Show)
Houston
Chronicle article on 50th Anniversary
Recap of the 4/10/12 game
THE SIX-GUN CONTROVERSY
At first, MLB required the Astros to REMOVE THE SIX-GUN
from the Colt .45s logo! (Read the article
showing photo of mutilated jersey)
But then they relented, and the original logo was used! (Read the
article)
Correct Colts jersey
which was distributed to fans at 9/21/12 game
Photo from
press conference announcing 50th Anniversary events, showing the retro
uniforms
ROMAN
MEJIAS - Home Run King of the Colt .45s
Roman Mejias
was the STAR PLAYER of the 1962 Houston Colt .45s and I have a separate
page devoted to him.
JIM CAMPBELL - Catcher for the Colt .45s
(1962-1964)
Book - "A SIXGUN SALUTE: An Illustrated
History
of the Colt .45s"
by Robert Reed (Lone Star Books,
1999
ISBN 0884152839)
If you are a Colt .45s fan, you MUST have this book in your
collection!
Front
Cover / Back
Cover
Page
with player autographs
/ Page
with
author autograph
1962 Book "The National League" includes chapters
on the two new expansion teams:
THE HOUSTON COLT .45s and the NY Mets
Front
cover
of
book
The
complete
chapter on the Houston Colts' first season (1962)
SCANS FROM
A 1962 HOUSTON COLT .45s SCRAPBOOK
(newspaper clippings)
THE
HOUSTON
BUFFS
(BUFFALOS)
(Dixie
League
team
-
forerunner
of
the
Houston
Colt
.45s)
LOGOS
/ PATCHES / DECALS:
"TEXAS WITH CROSSED GUNS" LOGO:
"SMOKING GUN" LOGO:
OTHER DESIGNS:
PLAYER
PHOTOS:
1961 DRAFT PHOTOS
.....from the front office of the Houston Colt
.45s....each photo is from the player's former team and was apparently
sent to the Houston Colt .45s after the 1961 draft to stock the 1962
expansion club.....all of the photos have a biography which goes with
the photo....the biography generally states that the player was picked
up in the player pool for $75,000 and gives a capsule career history,
written and statistical...most of the bio sheets are two pages long,
some just one...a couple of the minor league pictures have just a few
lines of type on the bio sheet and are 6 1/2 x 8 1/2...I believe all of
the others are 8x10.
1962 JKW player page showing the Colt
.45s players signed to the new club
Page
1
Larger scan
Page
2 Larger scan
- 1962 Colts player photos:
- Autographed Colts player photos (circa 1964):
- Another group of autographed Colts and Astros photos:
- A group of Buffs, Colts and Astros team photos: Part
1 Part
2
- Amateur snapshots of Colt .45s players (during 1964 season):
HOUSTON ASTROS RIDE THE ROCKET!
1 2
3 3a 4 5
6a 7 7a
7b
PAUL
RICHARDS
-
STORY
AND
PHOTOS
courtesy
of
his
nephew,
Paul
Bolton
Paul Richards was the biggest thing to ever to come
out of Waxahachie, Texas, so many of the locals named their kids after
him. My cousins & Texas relatives are mostly all named
Paul. Paul's only daughter is named Paula. There's probably more
"Paul's" or "Paula's" that were from Waxahachie than anywhere else on
earth!
As kids Paul R. & my Dad (Stanley Bolton) loved
hopping the freight train (right besides Paul Richards ball park were
the train tracks).
They were too poor to be able to travel by bus or car so hopping the
train going to neighboring towns in Texas was an exciting way to escape
for them. They would bring their gloves & bats with
them and start baseball games in other little towns around Waxahachie.
Paul R. & my Dad & my Grandmother all lived
together til Paul was signed to a baseball contract in '32 I believe.
He helped my Dad get signed to the Philadelphia Athletics in 1936 (I
still have his original 1936 contract for $200 a month
pay).
My Dad also scouted for Houston during the Colt .45
years. In fact he scouted for many of the teams Paul
managed.
If there's one thing I could add........ according
to my Paul R. & my Dad:
Back then it was ONLY about LOVE of the game. NEVER about money.
Baseball came first, money came second. To them getting their
meals/rooms paid was plenty of payment. They LOVED the game that
much. Being able to have their shoes shined was a big deal to
them and they felt special. Money was NEVER a priority in their lives.
My how things have changed !! I miss the "old-school" game.
Paul Richards and his
nephew, Paul Bolton at Comiskey Park (1955 or 1956)
Paul
Richards
booklet
"Signals:
The
Secret
Language
of
Baseball"
(a
"Fingertip
Movies"
booklet
sponsored
by
Gillette)
Stanley
Bolton's business card as a scout for the Houston Colt .45s
1962
COLT
.45s
JERSEY
#25:
ROMAN
MEJIAS
(?)
(Photos courtesy of Andrew Caparelli / B&E Collectibles
Inc.)
View 1
View 2
View 3
View 4
View 5
View 6
BASEBALL
CARDS:
VISIT GLYNN LIGON'S SITE
"HOUSTON COLT .45s BASEBALL CARDS" (http://www.houstoncolt45s.com/)
Glynn has done a great job of presenting his complete collection
of the Topps and Fleer cards, plus many other varieties of Colt .45s
cards.
He also provides some interesting Colts trivia and humor!
Cover
of Surf booklet with photos of all Colt & Astro cards from 1962 to
1986
4
Autographed Colts cards
1962 CARDS:
Topps 1962 Colts - Part
1 Part
2
Rare Topps 1962 Card # 598 "Rookie Parade - Outfielders" with Ed
Olivares of the Houston Colts: FRONT
BACK
This is the highest number from 1962, which was Topps largest
set. (Thanks to Glynn Ligon for providing these images)
Colts
First
Year
Plaque
-
showing
all
1962
Topps
cards Larger copy of First Year
Plaque
First Year Poster
(alternate design)
1962 Colts Card Set (Forest Service 1989) Part
1 Part
2 Part
3 Part
4
(For some unknown reason, this commemorative set
does not include Roman Mejias!)
1962 Jello Cards: Norm
Larker
1962 Bazooka Cards: Norm
Larker
1962 APBA Cards
Envelope
1963 CARDS:
TOPPS:
Topps 1963 Colts - Part
1 Part
2
Topps 1963 Colts Team Card - Front
/
Back
1963
Topps
Peeloff
Card
-
Dick
Farrell
FLEER:
Fleer
1963 Colts cards: Aspromonte, Farrell, Spangler
POST:
Price
List of 1963 Post Cereal Cards
1963 Post Cereal Cards:
185 - Al Spangler
186 - Roman Mejias
187 - Bob Aspromonte
188 - Norm Larker
189 - Johnny Temple
190 - Carl Warwick
191 - Bob Lillis
192 - Dick Farrell
Lot
of 5 1963 Post Cereal
Cards: Spangler, Mejias, Temple, Lillis, Farrell
JELLO:
BAZOOKA:
PEPSI:
Pepsi 1963 Colts Card Set:
1964 and other CARDS:
Topps 1964 Colts - Part
1 Part
2 Part
3
Exhibit Cards:
Bob
Aspromonte Both
sides
of
card
(stats
on
back) 2nd
copy
of
Aspromonte
card
Dick
Farrell
Both
sides
of
card
(stats
on
back) 2nd copy of Farrell card
Another copy of Farrell card
Pete
Runnels
Both
sides
of
card
(stats
on
back)
Oversize Postcards: Glenn
Vaughan - Front Back
Topps
Baseball
Bucks: Dick Farrell and Dick Gernert
Bob
Aspromonte
sticker
(2.75
x
1.75
inches)
Ken Johnson
punch-out card
Dick Farrell punch-out
card
Dick Farrell -
J.D. Murphy postcard
Rusty Staub stamp
STRAT-O-MATIC CARDS: These cards were used to play games
based
on the statistics of each player.
- Strat-O-Matic
NL
Team
roster
sheet
- Colts
cards
-
group
1
(Staub,
Temple,
Wynn,
Spangler)
- Colts
cards
-
group
2
(Warwick,
Goss,
Runnels,
Nottebart)
- Colts
cards
-
group
3
(Bateman,
Fazio,
Lillis,
Farrell)
- Colts
cards
-
group
4
(Woodeshick,
Brown,
Bruce,
Aspromonte)
- Colts
cards
-
group
5
(McMahon,
Johnson,
Umbricht,
Campbell)
Colts
1964 APBA card set
1964
Big
League
Manager
Cards
DON NOTTEBART ADVERTISING CARD (Automotive Shop): View
1 / View
2
DON NOTTEBART
Autographed Postcard
2nd copy of postcard
WALT BOND
Postcard Back of
postcard - autographed
CARL
WARWICK
PERFORMANCE
CARD
2003 Fleer "Jewish Baseball Players" Series: Steve
Hertz Larry
Yellen
1978 TCMA gum cards: 13
card
team set of the Houston Astros/Colt 45s in the 60's. The players
are---Claude Reymond---Al Spangler---Eddie Kasko---Harry Craft---Ernie
Fazio---Robert Lillis---Dick Farrell---Don Nottebart---Ron Brand---Hal
Woodeshick---Lee Maye---Mike White---and Don Larsen.
TCMA Colts/Astros Cards: Group 1: Front
of cards Back
of cards
TCMA Colts/Astros Cards: Group 2:
Front
of
cards
Back
of cards
Ernie
Fazio autographed TCMA card
Al
Spangler
TCMA
card
9 more TCMA
cards
TOPPS GIANT CARDS (1964):
Giant card of Ken
Johnson (#2)
Giant
card
of
Nellie
Fox
(#13)
Closeup
of
Nellie
Fox
card
Another copy of this card
Giant
card of Dick Farrell (#22) Back of
card Another copy of this
card
1965 Rookie card -
Joe Morgan and Sonny Jackson (in Colts uniforms)
John Paciorek "One Year Winners" (OYW) card
STAMPS:
Colts Player
Stamps
Another 4
stamps
Another 4 stamps
Another
4
stamps
and
logo
stamp
Colts Logo Stamp
Colts/Mets
Logo Stamps
1964
Bazooka stamp - Hal Woodeshick
1969
Souvenir Stamp Album
COINS:
SALADA TEA / JUNKET PUDDING COINS
In 1962, these coins were issued with Salada tea, and
Junket pudding. They are plastic with paper photo inserts. The 1962
coin
set has a total of 221 coins, 261 if you count the
variations.
Plastic shields were available to display a complete team set of 10
coins.
The 10 Colts featured are: Al Heist, Al Spangler, Don Taussig, Don
Buddin,
Bob Lillis, Joe Amalfitano, Norm Larker, Dick Farrell, Bobby Shantz and
Hal Smith.
5
Colts
coins: Buddin, Amalfitano, Larker, Heist, Spangler
Individual coins: Spangler
/
Taussig
/
Heist
5 more
Colts coins
SHIRRIFF COINS (1962: like the Salada coins, but issued only in
Canada
with bags of potato chips)
1964 TOPPS COINS
#163
Bob
Aspromonte
STAND-UP CARDS (TOPPS):
Bob
Aspromonte
Hal Woodeshick
Dick
Farrell
SOUND
FILES and VIDEOS:
- YouTube: "Postcards from Texas"
feature on the Houston Colt .45s: Part
1 Part 2
GAME
TICKETS
/
PARKING
PASSES
/
LINEUP
CARDS:
- Colt
45
Opening
Day Ticket (April 10, 1962 vs. Cubs) - Front
UNUSED
Opening
Day
ticket
-
Front
- Colt
45
Opening
Day Ticket (April 10, 1962 vs. Cubs) - Back
UNUSED
Opening
Day
ticket
-
Back
- Colt
45
Opening
Day
Ticket
(Undated
&
no
opponent
named)
- Colt
45 Ticket Stub (April 21, 1962 vs. Phillies)
Green
ticket:
Front
/
Back
- Colt 45 Ticket
Stub (April 24, 1962 vs. Cardinals)
- Colt
45 Ticket Stub (April 29, 1962)
- Colt
45
Ticket
-
May
11,
1962
(Giants)
- Colt 45
Ticket - May
21,
1962
(Mets)
- LINEUP CARD (June 29, 1962 - Reds) Front
Back
(with
Colt
Stadium
Ground
Rules)
- Colt
45
Ticket
-
July
16,
1962
(Season
Ticket) Parking
Pass
- Colt 45 Ticket
Stub - July 19, 1962 (Phillies)
- Colt
45 Ticket
Stub
- August
18, 1962 (Cubs)
- Colt
45 Ticket - Sept. 9, 1962 (Season Tickets & Parking Pass)
- Colt 45
Ticket Stub
-
May 18,
1963
- Colt 45
Ticket Stub - July 2, 1963 (Reds - Pete Rose rookie year)
- Colt 45 Ticket Stub
- July 5, 1964
- Colt 45
Ticket Stub
-
August
14, 1964
- Colt 45 Ticket Stub -
September 25, 1964
- Colt
45 Ticket - October 2, 1964 (Dodgers)
PROGRAMS,
PRESS RELEASES & STATIONERY:
1961:
- Detail Views: 1
/
2
/
3
/
4
- January 10, 1961: 1st Annual Major League Baseball Dinner
Program
1962:
- Colts Player Questionnaire (as
completed by Darrell Brandon):
- January 9, 1962: 2nd Annual Major
League
Baseball
Dinner
Program
This event was co-sponsored by the Houston Colt .45s.
On the front cover is a rendering of 2 full tickets showing "Opening
Day
1962 Houston vs. Chicago - April 10, 1962 1:30 PM." Honored
guests at this function and pictured in this program were STAN MUSIAL,
MICKEY MANTLE, WARREN SPAHN, WARREN GILES, BART SHIRLEY, AND LEFTY
GOMEZ.
On the inside back cover are head shots of the following Colt .45
players
and front office personnel: PAUL RICHARDS, HARRY CRAFT, BOB ASPROMONTE,
DON BUDDIN, AL SPANGLER, JOE AMALFITANO, NORM LARKER, JERRY NELSON,
DICK
FARRELL, JIM UMBRIGHT, AND HAL SMITH.
Part
1 / Part
2 / Part
3 / Part
4
- Houston Press feature on the
Colt .45s (April 10, 1962):
- 1962 Athletic Assessment Files: 1
/
2
/
3
NOTE: These files belonged to Athletic Laboratories
(Chicago).
Athletic Laboratories were featured in many publications including
Sports
Illustrated. They were famous for their athletic build
reports.
They worked with several major baseball, basketball, football and
hockey
teams. Most of the ability tests were performed when the teams
visited
Chicago.
- Colt .45s Season Ticket
Brochure: Front
/
Back
- Houston Chronicle - 1962 Comics bios of Colts players
The Houston Chronicle newspaper published these six pairs of "Houston
Colt 45's Scrapbook" player bios in the spring of 1962. The weekly
"scrapbook"
featurette, presented in the paper's Sunday color comics section, was
part
of an area-wide effort to promote the city's new Major League Baseball
team. It featured pen-and-ink drawings and short biographies of the new
team's most promising players, and offered a coloring contest for
children
age 6 to 14. The prize for that contest was a "Colt Sixshooter
Membership,"
which included a Colt T-shirt, tickets to four games and a souvenir
"Six
Gun."
Among the players in this set: Dick Farrell (it's mispelled in the
paper),
the team's best pitcher for several years; Bobby Shantz, who came to
Houston
from the Yankees; and Roman Mejias, the Colt .45s' first star slugger.
Set
1:
Golden
and
Buddin
Set
2:
Farrell
and
Spangler
Set
3:
Shantz
and
Amalfitano
Set
4:
Woodeshick
and
Smith
Set
5:
Larker
and
Umbricht
Set
6:
Olivares
and
Mejias
NOTE: Apparently more than just these six sets were
published - a total of 18 player bios have been found (9 sets of 2).
LARGER SCANS OF INDIVIDUAL PLAYER BIOS from this set (thanks to
Billy Selman for the scans):
"BLIND FAITH: BOB ASPROMONTE"
(AMAZING SPORTS STORIES / Fox Sports Network / June 2008)
This
30
minute
television
film
tells
the
story
of
young
Colts
fan
Bill
Bradley
and
his
hero,
Bob
Aspromonte.
Newpaper
article about the film Photo of Bradley and Aspromonte
1963 Grolier Book of Knowledge
Annual (Excerpts) - features 3 pages on the 1962 debut of the Houston
Colts expansion team
COLOR
COVER BOOK
PAGES (3 PAGES ON COLTS' FIRST SEASON)
1963:
1964 and after:
PLAYER
BOOKLETS:
COLLECTIBLES
(mostly as seen on Ebay):
- Colts - Mail Order Souvenir Flyer:
Page
1 Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
- Closeups of individual
souvenirs:
- Header of flyer
- 1 - Pennants
- 2- Caps
- 3 - Cigarette Lighter
- 4 - Autograph Book
- 5 - Sun shades
- 6 - Warmup jacket
- 7 - Boys T-shirt
- 8 - Boys sweatshirt
- 9, 10, 11 - Coin Banks
- 12, 13, 16, 17, 27 - Miniature bat,
autographed ball & holder, pen & pencil set, bobblehead doll
- 14, 15 - Key chain, charm bracelet
- 18 - Colts 1962 Yearbook
- 19 - Boys baseball uniform
- 20 - Scarves
- 21 - Key chain bat
- 22 - Batting helmet
- 23 - Scorebook
- 24 - Picture pak with 12 player photos
- 25 - Sunglasses
- 26 - Pajamas
- 28 - Texas ashtray
- 29 - Glove ashtray
- Order Form
BOBBLEHEADS:
NOTE: For more information about
bobblehead dolls, please visit this website: http://jjpbr.tripod.com/id20.htm
CAPS & CLOTHING:
Other "Retro" Caps:
Shirts, Jerseys & Jackets:
- Dallas area amateur team "The
Colt .45s" and their classic and classy uniforms (thanks to Sean
Millican for these):
PINS & BUTTONS:
PENNANTS:
1962 STADIUM PENNANTS (for display
at stadiums)
Roll of all pennants
Angels - Braves
- Cardinals - Colts
- Cubs - Dodgers
- Giants - Indians
- Mets - Orioles
- Phillies - Reds
- Red Sox - Senators
- Tigers - White
Sox - Yankees
BASEBALLS:
Baseball with original autographs by the 1962 Houston Colts:
2nd baseball autographed by the 1962 Houston Colts:
3rd baseball autographed by the 1962 Houston Colts:
4th baseball autographed by
the 1962 Houston Colts (courtesy Jim Campbell)
5th baseball autographed by the 1962 Houston Colts:
6th baseball autographed by the 1962
Houston Colts (courtesy Justin Richards):
1962 Colts Facsimile Autograph Baseball - This souvenir item
was available for purchase by fans at Colt Stadium in 1962.
Thanks to Bob Marks for providing these detail photos of the ball that
he purchased at the stadium:
Another 1962 facsimile ball - photos by Chris Hays
(in memory of his grandfather
Johnny "Papa Johnny" Warren, original owner of the ball):
Another 1962 facsimile autograph ball: View
1 - View
2
Baseball with autographs
(facsimile?) by the 1963 Houston Colts:
2nd baseball autographed by 1963 Houston
Colts
3rd baseball autographed by 1963 Houston
Colts
Baseball in holder with original
autographs by the 1963-64 Houston Colts:
Baseball with original autographs
by the 1964 Houston Colts:
Another 1964 autographed ball:
Colts
Retro Baseball
OTHER ITEMS:
COLT
STADIUM:
- Colt Stadium Replica (given away at Astros game 7-28-06):
ARCHEOLOGICAL
FIND:
THE
WOODEN
BASE
OF
HOME
PLATE
FROM
COLT
STADIUM
(DISCOVERED IN 1976 BY GEORGE HODAK)
George Hodak's story: "2
friends and I were going to go on a tour of the Astrodome. We asked the
parking lot attendant where Colt 45 stadium was located and he pointed
to some weeds in one corner of the lot. We parked and went in. We could
quickly tell where the dugouts had been because some concrete was still
there. From the position of the dugouts, we located the mound, walked
off 60 feet 6 inches and saw a small amount of wood in the ground. We
were astounded to find it was home plate. It's actually the wood base, about 4 inches
thick. We pried it out
of the ground with a hand ax. We cut it out, took some photos, and got
out quick. We were not sure of the response we would get if someone
found us in there. For all purposes, the stadium had been dismantled
and was nothing but overgrown weeds. I wrote the Astros and asked some
history, but they did not seem concerned. I have the plate, I have photos, a ticket
stub from the previous night's game and 2 witnesses that were with
me on that date."
PHOTOS:
THE
ASTRODOME
(and
Minute
Maid
Park):
- Astrodome Replica (given away at Astros game 8-12-06):
- Minute Maid Park Replica (given away at Astros game 9-3-06):
"Cranks, Rooters and Fans" Memorabilia Store hosted
a Colt .45s exhibit July - Sept 2006:
COLTS
MEMORABILIA
ON
DISPLAY
AT
THE
HOUSTON
SPORTS
MUSEUM
(formerly located in the Fingers Furniture Store on I-45 south of
downtown
Houston - closed as of April 2009)
NOTE
ABOUT
COLT
.45s
MERCHANDISE
AND
MEMORABILIA:
I get many inquiries about where to purchase Colt .45s
merchandise. The photos contained in this website
have been gleaned from many sources, including my own collection, eBay
auctions, and around the Internet. I am not a
merchant and I do not offer any of these items for
sale. If you are looking for Colts memorabilia,
a good place to start is by doing a search on eBay. Here are a
few web links I have found that offer Colt .45s
merchandise. I am not affiliated with them in
any way, and although they appear to be reputable merchants, I do not
endorse them or vouch for their integrity. Order at your own risk.
http://www.dugout-memories.com/coophous.html
ebay searches: Colts
T-shirts Colts
Caps Colts
Jerseys Houston
Colt
.45s
LINKS:
- ANNUAL ROSTERS (from Baseball
Almanac):
Back to the
Thompsonian
Institution
THE HOUSTON ASTROS
