View source for 1961 Major League Baseball expansion draft

{{Short description|Major League Baseball expansion draft}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox sports draft
| name        = 1961 Major League Baseball expansion draft
| image       = 
| alt         = 
| caption     = 
| logo        = 
| logosize    = 
| sport       = Baseball
| date        = October 10, 1961
| time        = 
| location    = 
| network     = 
| league      = 
| teams       = 
| first       = [[Eddie Bressoud]] ([[Houston Colt .45s]])
| fewest      = 
| most        = 
| overall     = 45 (plus three selections in 1963)
| prev        = [[1960 Major League Baseball expansion draft|1960]]
| next        = [[1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft|1968]]
}}
The '''1961 MLB expansion draft''' was held by [[Major League Baseball]] on October 10, 1961, to fill the rosters of the [[New York Mets]] and the [[Houston Colt .45s]], the new franchises which would enter the league in the 1962 season. The pool of players out of which they could select was limited to the existing [[National League (baseball)|National League]] ballclubs.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mets, Colts Pay $3,650,000 For 45 Players: New York Lands Hodges, Bouchee, Bell and Craig|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=H8VHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=J_8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=1146,4667739&dq=mets+expansion+draft&hl=en|access-date=November 28, 2015|agency=[[Associated Press]] (AP)|newspaper=Meriden Record|date=October 11, 1961|location=Meriden-Wallingford, Connecticut|page=4}}</ref>

Due to the poor performance of the Mets and Colt .45s after two seasons, another draft was held for the teams. The other existing National League clubs made four players from their 40-man roster available at $30,000 apiece. Only eight players could be selected between the two clubs.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9soqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gc0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=891,2117500&dq=jack-fisher+claude-raymond&hl=en |title = The Palm Beach Post - Google News Archive Search |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124124338/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9soqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gc0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=891,2117500&dq=jack-fisher+claude-raymond&hl=en |archive-date=24 January 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==1961 draft==
{{Location map+ | USA
| width   = 400
| caption = 1962 MLB expansion teams
| places  =

{{Location map~ | USA
| lat_deg = 29.69
| lon_deg = -95.41
| mark = Black pog.svg
| label_size = 80
| position = top
| label = '''[[Houston Colt .45s|Colt .45s]]'''}}

{{Location map~ | USA
| lat_deg = 40.83
| lon_deg = -73.94
| mark = Black pog.svg
| label_size = 80
| position = right
| label = '''[[New York Mets|Mets]]'''}}

}}

{|class=wikitable
| style="background-color:#FFCC00; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:2em;" | 
| [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]]
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Regular phase, $75,000 per player
!Pick
!Player
!Position
!Selected by
!Previous team
|-
|1||bgcolor=#FFCC00|[[Eddie Bressoud]]||[[Infielder|IF]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[San Francisco Giants]]
|-
|2||[[Hobie Landrith]]||[[Catcher|C]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[San Francisco Giants]]
|-
|3||[[Bob Aspromonte]]||[[Infielder|IF]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Los Angeles Dodgers]]
|-
|4||[[Elio Chacón]]||[[Infielder|IF]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Cincinnati Reds]]
|-
|5||[[Bob Lillis]]||[[Infielder|IF]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[St. Louis Cardinals]]
|-
|6||[[Roger Craig (baseball)|Roger Craig]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Los Angeles Dodgers]]
|-
|7||[[Dick Drott]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Chicago Cubs]]
|-
|8||bgcolor=#FFCC00|[[Gus Bell]]*||[[Outfielder|OF]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Cincinnati Reds]]
|-
|9||[[Al Heist]]||[[Outfielder|OF]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Chicago Cubs]]
|-
|10||[[Joe Christopher]]||[[Outfielder|OF]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Pittsburgh Pirates]]
|-
|11||[[Román Mejías]]||[[Outfielder|OF]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Pittsburgh Pirates]]
|-
|12||bgcolor=#FFCC00|[[Félix Mantilla (baseball)|Félix Mantilla]]||[[Infielder|IF]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Milwaukee Braves]]
|-
|13||[[George Williams (second baseman)|George Williams]]||[[Infielder|IF]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Philadelphia Phillies]]
|-
|14||bgcolor=#FFCC00|[[Gil Hodges]]*||[[First baseman|1B]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Los Angeles Dodgers]]
|-
|15||[[Jesse Hickman]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Philadelphia Phillies]]
|-
|16||[[Craig Anderson (right-handed pitcher)|Craig Anderson]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[St. Louis Cardinals]]
|-
|17||[[Merritt Ranew]]||[[Catcher|C]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Milwaukee Braves]]
|-
|18||[[Ray Daviault]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[San Francisco Giants]]
|-
|19||[[Don Taussig]]||[[Outfielder|OF]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[St. Louis Cardinals]]
|-
|20||[[John DeMerit]]||[[Outfielder|OF]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Milwaukee Braves]]
|-
|21||bgcolor=#FFCC00|[[Bobby Shantz]]*||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Pittsburgh Pirates]]
|-
|22||[[Al Jackson]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Pittsburgh Pirates]]
|-
|23||bgcolor=#FFCC00|[[Norm Larker]]*||[[First baseman|1B]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Los Angeles Dodgers]]
|-
|24||[[Sammy Drake]]||[[Infielder|IF]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Chicago Cubs]]
|-
|25||bgcolor=#FFCC00|[[Sam Jones (baseball)|Sam Jones]]*||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[San Francisco Giants]]
|-
|26||bgcolor=#FFCC00|[[Chris Cannizzaro]]||[[Catcher|C]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[St. Louis Cardinals]]
|-
|27||[[Paul Roof]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Milwaukee Braves]]
|-
|28||[[Choo-Choo Coleman]]||[[Catcher|C]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Philadelphia Phillies]]
|-
|29||[[Ken Johnson (right-handed pitcher)|Ken Johnson]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Cincinnati Reds]]
|-
|30||[[Ed Bouchee]]||[[First baseman|1B]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Chicago Cubs]]
|-
|31||[[Dick Gernert]]||[[First baseman|1B]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Cincinnati Reds]]
|-
|32||[[Bobby Smith (baseball)|Bob Smith]]||[[Outfielder|OF]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Philadelphia Phillies]]
|}

{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|+Regular phase, $50,000 per player
!Pick
!Player
!Position
!Selected by
!Previous team
|-
|33||[[Ed Olivares]]||[[Infielder|IF]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[St. Louis Cardinals]]
|-
|34||[[Sherman Jones]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Cincinnati Reds]]
|-
|35||[[Jim Umbricht]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Pittsburgh Pirates]]
|-
|36||bgcolor=#FFCC00|[[Jim Hickman (1960s outfielder)|Jim Hickman]]||[[Outfielder|OF]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[St. Louis Cardinals]]
|-
|37||[[Jim Golden]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Los Angeles Dodgers]]
|}

{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|+Premium phase, $125,000 per player
!Pick
!Player
!Position
!Selected by
!Previous team
|-
|38||[[Joe Amalfitano]]||[[Infielder|IF]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[San Francisco Giants]]
|-
|39||[[Jay Hook]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Cincinnati Reds]]
|-
|40||bgcolor=#FFCC00|[[Turk Farrell]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Los Angeles Dodgers]]
|-
|41||[[Bob Miller (1960s pitcher)|Bob Miller]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[St. Louis Cardinals]]
|-
|42||[[Hal Smith (MLB utility player)|Hal Smith]]||[[Catcher|C]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Pittsburgh Pirates]]
|-
|43||bgcolor=#FFCC00|[[Don Zimmer]]*||[[Infielder|IF]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Chicago Cubs]]
|-
|44||[[Al Spangler]]||[[Outfielder|OF]]||[[Houston Colt .45s]]||[[Milwaukee Braves]]
|-
|45||bgcolor=#FFCC00|[[Lee Walls]]*||[[Infielder|IF]]/[[Outfielder|OF]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Philadelphia Phillies]]
|}
''* All-Star only before 1961 expansion draft''

==1963 draft==
{|class=wikitable
| style="background-color:#FFCC00; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:2em;" | 
| [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]]
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Regular phase, $30,000 per player
|-
!Player
!Position
!Selected by
!Previous team
|-
|[https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=haas--001wil Bill Haas]||[[First Baseman|1B]]/[[Outfielder|OF]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[Los Angeles Dodgers]]
|-
|bgcolor=#FFCC00|[[Claude Raymond (baseball)|Claude Raymond]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[Houston Astros|Houston Colt. 45s]]||[[Milwaukee Braves]]
|-
|[[Jack Fisher]]||[[Pitcher|P]]||[[New York Mets]]||[[San Francisco Giants]]
|}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090211121039/http://sportsmogul.com/content/ExpansionDrafts.html Major League Baseball Historical Expansion Drafts]
* [https://www.baseball-reference.com baseball-reference.com]
* [http://seamheads.com/blog/2008/06/06/starting-fresh-the-expansion-of-1962/ Starting Fresh – The Expansion of 1962]
{{Houston Astros}}
{{New York Mets}}
{{MLB Drafts}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1961 Major League Baseball Expansion Draft}}
[[Category:Major League Baseball expansion drafts]]
[[Category:1961 Major League Baseball season|Expansion draft]]
[[Category:New York Mets]]
[[Category:Houston Astros]]
[[Category:October 1961 sports events in the United States|Major League Baseball expansion draft]]