The Continental League of Professional Baseball Clubs was a proposed third major league for baseball in the United States and Canada. The league was announced in 1959 and scheduled to begin play in the 1961 season. Unlike predecessor competitors such as the Players' League and the Federal League, it sought membership within organized baseball's existing organization and acceptance within Major League Baseball as any attempt at outsider leagues could be quashed by them per a 1922 Supreme Court case declaring MLB exempt from federal antitrust laws. The league disbanded in August 1960 without playing a single game as a concession by William A. Shea as part of his negotiations with Major League Baseball to expand to incorporate at least eight new teams.
Elio Chacón Rodríguez was a Major League Baseball second baseman and shortstop who played in the National League from 1960 to 1962. He was the seventh baseball player from Venezuela to play in the majors.
Robert Clayton Shantz is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1949 through 1964, and won the 1952 American League Most Valuable Player Award as a member of the Philadelphia Athletics. A three-time All-Star, Shantz won eight consecutive Gold Glove Awards and won a World Series championship with the 1958 New York Yankees. He remains the last living Philadelphia Athletics player and the oldest living MLB MVP.
John Alvin Bateman was an American professional baseball catcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Colt .45s / Astros, Montreal Expos, and Philadelphia Phillies. Bateman batted and threw right-handed. During his playing days, he stood 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall, weighing 210 pounds (95 kg).
Robert Thomas Aspromonte is an American former professional baseball player and business entrepreneur. He played as a third baseman in Major League Baseball in 1956 and then from 1960 to 1971, most prominently as a member of the newly formed Houston Colt .45s expansion team where, he became the regular third baseman for the first seven seasons of the young franchise. As well as being the first-ever batter for Houston, he was also the last Brooklyn Dodger to appear in a major league game. He also played for the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets.
Harry Francis Craft was an American Major League Baseball player and manager. Born in Ellisville, Mississippi, he was a center fielder for the Cincinnati Reds from 1937 to 1942. Craft attended Mississippi College, threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 185 pounds (84 kg).
The Houston Buffaloes, Houston Buffalos, or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team, and were the first minor league team to be affiliated with a Major League franchise, which was the St. Louis Cardinals. The club was founded in 1888, and played in the Texas League at various levels throughout the majority of its existence. Most recently, from 1959 through 1961, the team played in the Triple-A American Association as the top affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Buffaloes derived their nickname from Buffalo Bayou, the principal waterway through Houston to the Houston Ship Channel, outlet to the Gulf of Mexico. The team's last home was Buffalo Stadium, built in 1928. Before that, they played at West End Park from 1905–1928, and at Herald Park prior to that.
Harold Joseph Woodeshick was an American left-handed pitcher who spent eleven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians (1958), the original modern Washington Senators franchise (1959–60), the expansion Washington Senators club (1961), Houston Colt .45s / Astros (1962–65), and St. Louis Cardinals (1965–67). He was the first closer in the history of the Astros' franchise. He was also a member of the Cardinals' 1967 World Series Championship team. He was nicknamed "The Switchman" for his ability to "turn out the lights" on opposing batters.
Román Mejías Gómez was a Cuban professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1955 and from 1957–1964 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Colt .45s and Boston Red Sox. He also played one season in Japan, in 1966, for the Sankei Atoms. Listed as standing 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighing 175 pounds (79 kg), he threw and batted right-handed.
Albert Donald Spangler is a retired American Major League Baseball outfielder and coach. Spangler appeared in 912 games in the majors between 1959 and 1971 for the Milwaukee Braves, Houston Colt .45s / Astros, Los Angeles / California Angels, and Chicago Cubs. Born in Philadelphia, he threw and batted left-handed, and was listed as 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 175 pounds (79 kg).
The 1962 New York Mets season was the first regular season for the Mets, as the National League returned to New York City for the first time since 1957. They went 40–120 (.250) and finished tenth and last in the National League, 60+1⁄2 games behind the NL Champion San Francisco Giants, who had once called New York home. The Mets were the latest team to be 60+ games behind in a division before the 2018 Baltimore Orioles finished 61 games behind the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox. The Mets' 120 losses are the most by any MLB team in one season since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders. Since then, the 2003 Detroit Tigers, 2018 Orioles, and 2023 Oakland Athletics have come the closest to matching this mark, at 43–119 (.265), 47–115 (.290), and 50–112 respectively. The Mets' starting pitchers also recorded a new major league low of just 23 wins all season.
James Edward Golden is an American former pitcher in Major League Baseball, a right-hander who appeared in 69 games over all or parts of four seasons (1960–1963) for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Colt .45s. Golden batted left-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg) in his playing days.
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.
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, 36+1⁄2 games behind the league champion San Francisco Giants.
The 1960 MLB expansion draft was held by Major League Baseball on December 14, 1960, to fill the rosters of the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators. The Angels and Senators were new franchises that would enter the American League (AL) the following season as part of the 1961 Major League Baseball expansion. The Angels represented the AL's first team to be based on the West Coast of the United States, while the Senators would take the place of the league's original Washington Senators franchise that had moved to Minneapolis–Saint Paul as the Minnesota Twins after the 1960 season.
Donald Franklin Taussig 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 1958 San Francisco Giants, 1961 St. Louis Cardinals, and 1962 Houston Colt .45s. He threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 180 pounds (82 kg).
John Weekly was an American professional baseball player whose career extended from 1956 through 1965. The outfielder appeared in 53 Major League games for the Houston Colt .45s from 1962 to 1964. Weekly batted and threw right-handed; he stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 200 pounds (91 kg).
James Robert Campbell is an American former professional baseball player, a catcher who played 82 games in the Major Leagues for the Houston Colt .45s during 1962 and 1963. He threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 190 pounds (86 kg).
The 1961 Major League Baseball expansion resulted in the formation of two new Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises in the American League (AL). A new club was started in Washington, D.C., and took the existing name of the Senators, as the previous team of the same name moved to Minnesota for the start of the 1961 season and became the Twins. The second new franchise was granted to an ownership group led by Gene Autry for a team in Los Angeles who named themselves the Angels. The two new teams each paid a fee of $2.1 million and became the 17th and 18th franchises in MLB.
The 1962 Major League Baseball expansion was the formation of two new Major League Baseball (MLB) teams for the 1962 season. The Houston Colt .45s and the New York Mets were added to the National League (NL), becoming the 19th and 20th teams in MLB's two leagues. The Colt .45s were the first major league team in Houston while the Mets filled the void left when the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers of the NL moved to California after the 1957 season.
