Houston Colt .45's 11 Chicago Cubs 2

April 10, 1962

The Offensive Star:		The Pitching Star:
1962 Topps # 354		1989 Smokey '62 Colt .45's Retro # 7

We're not saying that the Colts were world-beaters in their inaugural year, but this game, like the rest of this three-game series, like most of the rest of the season, really, certainly served notice that the Colts might be tougher to beat than some might have thought. After all of Paul Richards' whining and moaning about the cards being stacked against him in the expansion draft process, this win, and the two that followed, must have been seen as a surprise to observers of the 1962 National League. The Houston Colt .45's, at times, were simply surprisingly good. After Bobby Shantz on this day notched the team's first

strikeout, victory, and complete game, after Bob Aspromonte had the first hit, and scored the first run, after Roman Mejias hit the team's first homer, then added another, for the team's first great RBI day, Hal Woodeshick and Turk Farrell would follow on the next day with the team's first shutout. And then Dean Stone, on the third day, would chip in with the team's first complete-game shutout. It has to be one of the greatest expansion debuts in sports history: all the milestones taken care of in one glorious three-game series that left the Colts tied with the eventual pennant-winning San Francisco Giants for first place in the ten-team National League.

Such heights couldn't last--and they didn't. Mejias' offensive outburst especially, would become a rare thing for the club. But if the team homered fewer times and had a lower slugging percentage than any NL rival, it also struck out less than any other and finished fourth in the league in triples, paced by Al Spanger's nine. And Houston pitchers more than held their own against the league, in some ways even dominating it. The '62 Colts became the first team other than the Dodgers to notch more than 1000 strikeouts in a season. The staff was the stingiest in the league in home runs allowed, third in the league in opposing walks, and were fringe-middle of the pack in shutouts and hits allowed. It was Dick Farrell who said--perhaps after the West Coast swing in June that saw Jim Golden beat Don Drysdale, Farrell himself beat Johnny Podres, and Bob Bruce beat Juan Marichal-- "we're no picnic."

From Robert Reed's Colt .45's: A Six Gun Salute, on the end of the game:

In the bottom of the ninth, after a single by Banks, manager Harry Craft was perched on the dugout steps ready to lift an obviously fading Shantz and bring on Turk Farrell, but the diminutive Pennsylvanian struck out George Altman and got Ron Santo to fly out to Mejias to end the game. After a hero's welcome back to

the jubilant Colt .45 dugout and a standing ovation from the loud Houston crowd, Shantz sat in a hot but happy Houston clubhouse where he was asked whether he realized the historical significance of his five-hit performance. "I had been reminded," he said with a smile, that this was an historic occasion."

Starting Pitchers Who Won their Team's Inaugural Game in the Expansion Era

Date	Winning Pitcher	Expansion Team	Notes	Losing Team	Losing Pitcher
April 11, 1961	Eli Grba	Los Angeles Angels 7	CG	Baltimore Orioles 2	Milt Pappas
April 10, 1962	Bobby Shantz	Houston Colt .45's 11	CG, 5H	Chicago Cubs 2	Don Cardwell
April   8, 1969	Dick Selma	San Diego Padres 2	CG, 1R	Houston Astros 1	Don Wilson
April   8, 1969	Marty Pattin	Seattle Pilots 4	5 IP, 8H	California Angels 3	Jim McGlothlin
April   5, 1993	Charlie Hough	Florida Marlins 6	6 IP, 4K	Los Angeles Dodgers 3	Orel Hershiser

Chicago Cubs AB R H RBI Lou Brock, CF 3 0 0 1 Ken Hubbs, 2B 4 0 0 0 Billy Williams, LF 4 0 1 0 Ernie Banks, 1B 4 1 2 1 George Altman, RF 4 0 0 0 Ron Santo, 3B 3 0 0 0 Elder White, SS 1 0 0 0 Andre Rodgers, PH/SS 1 0 0 0 Cuno Barragan, C 3 0 1 0 Don Cardwell, P 1 0 0 0 Dave Gerard, P 0 0 0 0 Moe Morhardt, PH 1 0 0 0 Barney Schultz, P 0 0 0 0 Jack Warner, P 0 0 0 0 Jim McKnight, PH 1 1 1 0 Al Lary, P 0 0 0 0 Chicago totals 30 2 5 2

Houston Colt .45's AB R H RBI Bob Aspromonte, 3B 4 3 3 0 Al Spangler, CF 3 3 2 1 Roman Mejias, RF 5 3 3 6 Norm Larker, 1B 4 1 1 1 Jim Pendleton, LF 4 0 1 1 Hal Smith, C 4 1 2 1 Joey Amalfitano, 2B 3 0 1 1 Don Buddin, SS 3 0 0 0 Bobby Shantz, P 4 0 0 0               Houston totals 34 11 13 11

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago Cubs	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	5	0
Houston Colt .45's	1	0	4	0	0	0	3	3	X	11	13	2