The Houston Colt .45s were a young franchise, but they had a baseball veteran, Paul Richards, in charge of personnel. And he loaded the team's Double-A team in San Antonio with young talent in 1964. The best was second baseman Joe Morgan, who overcame an 0-for-45 start at the plate and went on to finish second in the league in hitting (.323), lead the league in doubles (42) and earn the league's most valuable player award. Chris Zachary, who went 16-6, was the pitcher of the year, shortstop Sonny Jackson led the league in singles (135) and first baseman Chuck Harrison led the league in homers (40) and total bases (297). Dave Adlesh broke a league record by catching 130 straight games. The Bullets also had veteran relief pitcher Don Bradey, signed by Richards to boost the young pitchers' confidence by closing out games. Bradey, a 31-year-old career minor-leaguer, made 46 appearances for the Bullets, going 12-5 with a 2.86 ERA. The manager was Lou Fitzgerald, another of Richards' hires. Fitzgerald was a low-key boss, but one who knew how to motivate players. Morgan credited him with saving his career, as Fitzgerald told the young star (Morgan was 20 at the time) during his early slump that he was his second baseman, no questions asked, for the entire season. The Bullets were near the top of the standings for the first half of the season and moved into first place to stay on July 4. In the playoffs, they whipped El Paso 3-1 and avenged their loss to Tulsa in the '63 finals, winning 3-1.