September 27, 1963, 60 years ago: The Houston Colt .45s, an expansion team at the end of their 2nd season, 35 games out of 1st place, try something. After all, what have they got to lose? Three more games, at most.
In their 3rd-from-last game of the season, against their fellow 1962 expansion team, the New York Mets, at Colt Stadium -- a 32,000-seat, single-decked, mosquito-infested temporary stadium with no protection from the brutal Texas Sun, used as a stopgap facility until the Astrodome can be built next-door Manager Harry Craft tries what becomes known as the "Baby Colts" experiment. For the 1st time in major league history, and it remains the only time, Craft started a lineup made up entirely of players who had made their major league debuts that season.
Colt Stadium
Here's his starting lineup:
Shortstop, Number 29, Roland "Sonny" Jackson, 19 years, 80 days.
2nd Base, 12, Joe Morgan, 19 years, 8 days.
Center Field, 18, Jimmy Wynn, 21 years, 200 days.
1st Base, 10, Daniel "Rusty" Staub, 19 years, 179 days.
Right Field, 17, Aaron Pointer, 19 years, 160 days.
Left Field, 29, Brock Davis, 19 years, 344 days.
3rd Base, 4, Glenn Vaughan, 19 years, 223 days.
Catcher, 8, Jerry Grote, 20 years, 356 days.
Pitcher, 42, Jay Dahl, 17 years, 295 days.
Joe Morgan, 1963
So, 7 out of the 9 starters were still teenagers, and the starting pitcher wasn't even 18 years old.
In the 3rd inning, Craft relieved Dahl with Danny Coombs (Number 41; 21 years, 188 days). The next inning, he sent John Weekly (26; 26, 105) to pinch-hit for Coombs. In the 4th, he sent Joe Hoerner (44; 26, 319) out to pitch.
For the 6th, he moved Vaughan to shortstop, and sent Ernie Fazio (11; 21, 245) to 3rd base, replacing Jackson in the leadoff spot in the batting order. Later that inning, he sent Mike White (16; 24, 283) to pinch-hit for Hoerner.
In the 7th, his new pitcher was Jim Dickson (34; 25, 160), and he sent Dave Adlesh (24; 20, 74) to replace Grote as catcher. In the 8th, he sent Carl Warwick (20; 26, 212) to pinch-hit for Dickson. In the 9th, he sent Dick Drott (36) in to pitch.
Jackson, Dahl, Coombs, Hoerner were making their major league debuts. Pointer's debut had come 5 days earlier; Morgan, Grote and White, 6 days; Vaughan, 7 days; Wynn had debuted on July 10; Dickson on July 2; Adlesh on May 12; and Staub and Davis had both debuted on April 9. Fazio and Weekly had debuted in 1962; Warwick, in 1961. Drott debuted back in 1957, and, at 27 years and 188 days, was the oldest Houston player in the game. It wasn't his 1st major league game, but it turned out to be his last.
Rusty Staub, 1963
Did it work? No: The Mets scored 3 runs in the 2nd inning, and 5 in the 3rd, on their way to a 10-3 win. The Mets even sent their own teenager into the game: Ed Kranepool, 18 years and 322 days old, was a defensive replacement for Tim Harkness at 1st base.
This game would turn out to be Dahl's only major league appearance. The native of Colton, California, outside San Bernardino, developed a back injury that made pitching impossible for the entire 1964 season. He only appeared in 11 games, all as an outfielder, for the Statesville Colts in the Western Carolinas League. In 1965, he started 7 games for the Durham Bulls of the Carolina League, then went 5-0 for the Salisbury Astros of the Western Carolina League. He seemed to be on the way back up.
On June 20, 1965, with the Colt .45s having moved into the Astrodome, next-door to Colt Stadium, and changed their name to the Houston Astros, Dahl was the winning pitcher as Salisbury beat Gastonia, 7-3. That night, the players were invited to a steak dinner at the home of the team's owner, G.M. Hamilton. Dahl and a teammate, Gary Marshall, left the dinner in Marshall's Pontiac GTO. They picked up Marshall's girlfriend, Patricia Ann Troutman, and went to see a movie.
As Marshall drove Troutman home, at 11:24 PM, he hit a patch of sand on Lincolnton Road in Salisbury, skidded for 185 feet, and crashed into a tree. Troutman died instantly. Dahl died about 3 hours later, on June 21. Marshall was blinded. He went home to Kansas, later moved to Dallas, became a minister, tending to the newly blinded, and lived until 2008.
As of September 27, 2022, Jay Dahl remains the last player under age 18 to appear in a major league game; and, at 19 years and 197 days, the youngest former major league player to die.
Some of the Baby Colts fared better. Morgan would make the Baseball Hall of Fame, winning 3 Pennants, 2 World Series and 2 National League Most Valuable Player awards with the Cincinnati Reds; come back to the Astros, and help them to 2 Playoff berths; and win another Pennant with the Philadelphia Phillies. Staub would become a star with the Astros, the Montreal Expos, the Mets, and the Detroit Tigers, collecting 2,716 hits, and become a beloved broadcaster with the Mets.
Warwick would win a World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964, and Hoerner would do so in 1967. There is some appropriateness to this, as, before the Colts, the Cardinals had a farm team there, the Houston Buffaloes. Grote would be the starting catcher on the Met teams that won the 1969 World Series and, with Staub as a teammate, the 1973 Pennant. Wynn, "the Toy Cannon," would hit 291 home runs, 228 of them as an Astro, making him the franchise's all-time leader until Jeff Bagwell came along.
There was one more rookie of note for the '63 Astros: One of their broadcasters was in his 1st season in the major leagues, after 2 seasons with the Pacific Coast League's Hawaii Islanders. He would remain with the Astros through 1970, moving to the Philadelphia Phillies, and building a Hall of Fame career with them that would last for the rest of his life. His name was Harry Kalas.
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The next day, of the previous day's players, the only ones the Astros sent out were Vaughan, Morgan, Staub, Wynn and Fazio. And they won, 6-1. And then, the next day...
September 29, 1963, 60 years ago: John Paciorek becomes the greatest hitter in the history of baseball.
What's that? You've never heard of John Paciorek? Do you know of any other hitter with a 1.000 lifetime batting average?
John Francis Paciorek was born on February 11, 1945 in Detroit. His brother Tom, 1 year younger, would be a major league outfielder, playing from 1970 to 1987, appearing in the 1974 World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the 1983 American League Championship Series with the Chicago White Sox, and even making the 1981 All-Star Game with the Seattle Mariners.
His brother Jim, 15 years younger, would be a major league 1st baseman and outfielder, playing 48 games for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1987, and then playing in Japan until 1993.
John did not play in even 48 games in the major leagues. He played in one.
In this season finale, Craft again started Morgan at 2nd base, batting 2nd; Wynn in left field, batting 3rd; and Staub at 1st base, batting 4th. Batting 7th, playing right field, wearing uniform Number 22, and making his major league debut, was John Paciorek, 18 years and 230 days old.
There seemed little reason to call him up: He played most of the season for the Modesto Colts of the Class A California League, and batted only .219, although he showed some power, with 9 home runs and 49 RBIs. Still, there was no indication that he was going to become a historic figure in baseball, even briefly.
''It's funny, but I can't remember a whole lot about the game,'' he told The New York Times in 1983, in an article for the game's 20th Anniversary. ''It was around 120 degrees in Colt Stadium for a Sunday afternoon game, I remember that. Paul Richards was the general manager, and Harry Craft was the manager, but I don't remember who asked me to play."
In the bottom of the 2nd inning, batting against Met pitcher Larry Bearnarth, Paciorek drew a walk. So had Bob Aspromonte, who thus moved to 2nd base. John Bateman then tripled them home, giving the Colts a 2-0 lead.
But the Mets took a 4-2 lead. The Colts made them pay for that, beginning the bottom of the 4th with 6 straight singles: By Staub, Aspromonte, Ivan Murrell, Paciorek, Bateman and Al Spangler. This was followed by an RBI sacrifice fly by one of the few veterans on the team, although a Texas native, Pete Runnels; a strikeout by Morgan, and an RBI single by Wynn. The Colts led, 7-4.
There was more to come in the 5th. With Ed Bauta now pitching for the Mets, Aspromonte led off with a triple, and Paciorek singled him home. He would be singled home by Bob Lillis. Tracy Stallard, who had given up Roger Maris' 61st home run of the 1961 season, was brought in to pitch, but he walked the bases loaded, and then he walked Wynn and then Staub to force runs in. The Colts led, 11-4.
Paciorek came up again in the 6th, batting against Grover Powell. He drew a walk, and scored on another single by Lillis. Again against Powell, he led off the 8th with a single. The Colts won, 13-4.
Paciorek was 3-for-3, with 2 walks, 4 runs scored, and 3 RBIs. It was, arguably, the greatest debut in the history of Major League baseball.
But that debut would also be his finale. He had a bad back, and it plagued him through the 1964 season. In 49 minor-league games, he batted just .135. He had spinal fusion surgery, and, as a result, missed the rest of the season, and all of the next. In that 1965 season, the Colts moved into the Astrodome, and changed their name to the Houston Astros.
In 1966, he played 77 minor-league games in the Astro organization, and batted just .193. In 1967, he played only 32, batting .104, and the Astros released him.
He got a second chance in 1968, being signed by the Cleveland Indians. In 95 minor-league games, he hit 20 home runs. In 1969, he played for the Waterbury Indians of the Class AA Eastern League, but was only batting .214 through 29 games, when he tore his Achilles tendon. They released him, and, not yet 23 years old, he had played his last professional game.
While recovering from his back surgery, he had studied physical education at the University of Houston. Having been released, he was able to complete his degree. He married twice, had 4 sons and 4 daughters, became a phys ed teacher, and wrote 2 books about baseball instruction.
Ironically, while his minor-league career was little more than a disaster, his major league career was perfect. His 3 hits in 3 at-bats gave him a "lifetime" batting average of 1.000. Top that, Ty Cobb. Since all 3 hits were singles, that 3 total bases, so he had a slugging percentage of 1.000. Top that, Barry Bonds. His 2 walks meant that he reached base in 5 out of 5 plate appearances, so he had an on-base percentage of 1.000. Top that, Ted Williams. This means that he had an OPS of 2.000. Top that, Babe Ruth. And he had an OPS+ of 495. Top that, anybody.
Oh, yes, his fielding: He had 2 chances in the field, and had 2 putouts. So his fielding average in right field was 1.000. Top that, Roberto Clemente. His baserunning? He did not attempt to steal any bases, so I can't say, "Top that, Rickey Henderson." But he didn't get picked off or thrown out at any bases, either.
Oh, you want to know what his WAR was? Well, it was only 0.2. After all, it was just 5 plate appearances.
There have been 22 other players who picked up at least 3 hits without making an out in their MLB debut. But each of those 22 also played in more big league games, and watched their batting averages drop.
Through the 2021 season, 83 players had a major league "career" that saw them go 1-for-1, while 10 went 2-for-2. John Paciorek is the only one, so far, who has gone 3-for-3.
"It's kind of a dubious honor," Paciorek said. But I guess I’m immortalized. I did something no one else has ever done."
Like Jay Dahl in 1965, John Weekly died in a car crash, in 1974. Dick Drott died in 1985, Harry Craft in 1995, Joe Hoerner in 1996, Glenn Vaughan in 2004, Dave Adlesh in 2016, Ernie Fazio in 2017, Rusty Staub in 2018, Jimmy Wynn and Joe Morgan in 2020.
As of September 27, 2023, the following are still alive: Carl Warwick is 86, Jim Dickson is 85, Mike White is 84, Aaron Pointer and Danny Coombs are 81, Jerry Grote is 80, Brock Davis and Sonny Jackson are 79; John Paciorek is 78.
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Another game from September 29, 1963 is worth mentioning: The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Dal Maxvill doubled home the winning run in the bottom of the 14th inning.
It was the last game for retiring Cardinal legend Stan Musial, and his Number 6 was retired. In the bottom of the 6th, the 42-year-old Stan the Man singled Curt Flood home. It was the 3,630th hit of his career, a National League record. In one of the neatest coincidences in sports history, he got exactly 1,815 hits in home games, and 1,815 hits in away games.
The single went between 1st and 2nd base, past the Reds' diving 2nd baseman, soon to be named the NL Rookie of the Year, and just 5 months old when Stan made his major league debut on September 17, 1941, 22 years and 12 days earlier. His name was Pete Rose. In 1981, Pete surpassed Stan as the NL's all-time hit leader. In 1985, he surpassed Ty Cobb as the major leagues' all-time hit leader. In 1989... um, let's move on.
Also, Hockey Hall-of-Famer Dave Andreychuk was born on this day, in Hamilton, Ontario. He scored 640 goals in his career, and won the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004.
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