The Pecan Park Eagle

Joe E. Brown: “I’m gonna miss them Astros!”
Bill Frawley: “Me too, Joe!”

It won’t be long now. The Houston Astros are now less than a month away from closing out their final season as a National League club after 51 seasons as an active member and just about a century of minor league association as long-time farm club of the St. Louis Cardinals and short-time affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.

Now it soon ends – and against the same team against which it all began back on Tuesday, April 10, 1962 against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, April 10, 1962, when Houston was just starting out their big league run at old Colt Stadium as the Colt .45s. Houston won big that day, going 11-2 behind little lefty starter Bobby Shantz as Roman Mejiias led all hitters with 3 hits, 2 homers, and 6 rbi on the day for the locals.

Baseball Almanac Box ScoresHouston Colt .45s 11 – Chicago Cubs 2.
Game played on Tuesday, April 10, 1962 at Colt Stadium
Chicago Cubs ab   r   h rbi Brock cf 3 0 0 1 Hubbs 2b 4 0 0 0 Williams lf 4 0 1 0 Banks 1b 4 1 2 1 Altman rf 4 0 0 0 Santo 3b 3 0 0 0 White ss 1 0 0 0   Rodgers ph,ss 1 0 0 0 Barragan c 3 0 1 0 Cardwell p 1 0 0 0   Gerard p 0 0 0 0   Morhardt ph 1 0 0 0   Schultz p 0 0 0 0   Warner p 0 0 0 0   McKnight ph 1 1 1 0   Lary p 0 0 0 0 Totals 30 2 5 2	Houston Colt .45s ab   r   h rbi Aspromonte 3b 4 3 3 0 Spangler cf 3 3 2 1 Mejias rf 5 3 3 6 Larker 1b 4 1 1 1 Pendleton lf 4 0 1 1 Smith c 4 1 2 1 Amalfitano 2b 3 0 1 1 Buddin ss 3 0 0 0 Shantz p 4 0 0 0 Totals 34 11 13 11
Chicago 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 – 2 5 0 Houston 1 0 4 0 0 0 3 3 x – 11 13 2   Chicago Cubs IP H R ER BB SO Cardwell  L (0-1) 2.2 5 5 5 2 1   Gerard 2.1 1 0 0 1 0   Schultz 1.0 4 3 3 0 1   Warner 1.0 1 0 0 0 0   Lary 1.0 2 3 3 1 0 Tota 8.0 13 11 11 4 2   Houston Colt .45s IP H R ER BB SO Shantz  W (1-0) 9.0 5 2 2 2 4 Totals 9.0 5 2 2 2 4 E–Smith (1), Amalfitano (1).  DP–Chicago 1, Houston 2.  2B–Houston Smith (1,off Cardwell).  3B–Chicago McKnight (1,off Shantz), Houston Spangler (1,off Cardwell).  HR–Chicago Banks (1,7th inning off Shantz 0 on, 1 out), Houston Mejias 2 (2,3rd inning off Cardwell 2 on, 0 out,8th inning off Lary 2 on, 2 out); Smith (1,3rd inning off Cardwell 0 on, 2 out).  SF–Brock (1,off Shantz).  Team LOB–4.  SH–Buddin (1,off Schultz).  HBP–Amalfitano (1,by Schultz).  Team–5.  SB–Aspromonte (1,2nd base off Lary/Barragan).  CS–Amalfitano (1,2nd base by Warner/Barragan).  HBP–Schultz (1,Amalfitano).  U-HP–Dusty Boggess,1B–Stan Landes, 2B–Vinnie Smith, 3B–Mel Steiner.  T–2:32.  A–25,271.
Game played on Tuesday, April 10, 1962 at Colt Stadium
Baseball Almanac Box Score |

Now it all ends at Wrigley Field in Chicago at 1:20 PM on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 against the same frustrated Cubs that once welcomed the Pride of Houston to the NL. They aren’t the same players, of course, but they are the same hapless Cubs.

We are going to miss those Cubs pretty quickly once the Astros move to the American League. next season, but that’s life. As we go along, and if we end up lasting a while on the road to survival, we always end up missing someone who is no longer there. And for the Astros and their fans, the Cubs will surely rank high on that list of lost and/or missing persons.

Maybe we should all pack our bags for Chicago that first week in October and be there to say goodbye to the Cubs and the National League in person. – What do you think?