Surviving Houston Colt .45s Down to Last 37
By
Darrell Pittman
Thanks to our caring, giving friend and colleague, Darrell Pittman of Astros Daily, The Pecan Park Eagle is both proud and humbled tonight to report that 38 players from our 1962-64 Houston MLB franchise days – and at a time in which the club played as the Colt .45s – have survived long enough to see the rising and setting of the sun on this day, Wednesday, December 6, 2017. At age 92, lefty Bobby Shantz, the guy that threw the first pitch in official franchise game history, also recording the first regular season club win in the process, is the oldest. 71 year old Larry Dierker, who broke into things as the starting pitcher for the Colt .45s on his 18th birthday in 1964, striking out Willie Mays as part of the work he did that day, is the youngest member of the club.
How fitting! Thanks to this happy surprise gift from Professor Pittman, we may now all take the time here to soak in all these familiar and less familiar names of the guys who laid the foundation for our Houston monument of baseball achievement, one that wouldn’t see the penthouse finished and lighting up until 2017, with our deepest reflections of thanks and appreciation.
And that’s what the comment section is really intended for in this instance.
Thanks to you too, Darrell Pittman. And thank you, Houston Colt .45s, for making the older edges of being a lifelong fan a little easier on the slide into our elder years a whole lot smoother – and one that comes with an unforgettable supply of smiles and happy memories.
~ Bill McCurdy, Publisher, The Pecan Park Eagle
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Surviving Members of the Original Houston Colt .45s
By Darrell Pittman
Rank by Age | Player | Houston Years | Birth date | Age in 2017 |
1 | Bobby Shantz | 1962 | 9/26/1925 | 92 |
2 | Don Larsen | 1964-65 | 8/7/1929 | 88 |
3 | Bob Lillis | 1962-67 | 6/2/1930 | 87 |
4 | Román Mejias | 1962 | 8/9/1930 | 87 |
5 | Dean Stone | 1962 | 9/1/1930 | 87 |
6 | Hal Smith | 1962-63 | 12/7/1930 | 87 |
7 | Don Taussig | 1962 | 2/19/1932 | 85 |
8 | Eddie Kasko | 1964-65 | 6/27/1932 | 85 |
9 | Carroll Hardy | 1963-64 | 5/18/1933 | 84 |
10 | Dave Roberts | 1962, 1964 | 6/30/1933 | 84 |
11 | Al Spangler | 1962-65 | 7/8/1933 | 84 |
12 | Jim Owens | 1964-67 | 1/16/1934 | 83 |
13 | Joey Amalfitano | 1962 | 1/23/1934 | 83 |
14 | J C Hartman | 1962-63 | 4/15/1934 | 83 |
15 | Don Bradey | 1964 | 10/4/1934 | 83 |
16 | Jim Golden | 1962-63 | 3/20/1936 | 81 |
17 | Joe Gaines | 1964-66 | 11/22/1936 | 81 |
18 | Carl Warwick | 1962-63 | 2/27/1937 | 80 |
19 | Claude Raymond | 1964-67 | 5/7/1937 | 80 |
20 | Jim Campbell | 1962-63 | 6/24/1937 | 80 |
21 | Jim Dickson | 1963 | 4/20/1938 | 79 |
22 | Bob Aspromonte | 1962-68 | 6/19/1938 | 79 |
23 | Mike White | 1963-65 | 12/18/1938 | 79 |
24 | Dave Giusti | 1962, 1964-68 | 11/27/1939 | 78 |
Ernie Fazio * | 1962-63 | |||
25 | Jim Wynn | 1963-73 | 3/12/1942 | 75 |
26 | Danny Coombs | 1963-69 | 3/23/1942 | 75 |
27 | Conrad Cardinal | 1963 | 3/30/1942 | 75 |
28 | Aaron Pointer | 1963, 1966-67 | 4/19/1942 | 75 |
29 | Jerry Grote | 1963-64 | 10/6/1942 | 75 |
30 | Larry Yellen | 1963-64 | 1/4/1943 | 74 |
31 | Joe Morgan | 1963-71, 1980 | 9/19/1943 | 74 |
32 | Brock Davis | 1963-64, 1966 | 10/19/1943 | 74 |
33 | Rusty Staub | 1963-68 | 4/1/1944 | 73 |
34 | Sonny Jackson | 1963-67 | 7/9/1944 | 73 |
35 | John Paciorek | 1963 | 2/11/1945 | 72 |
36 | Steve Hertz | 1964 | 2/26/1945 | 72 |
37 | Larry Dierker | 1964-76 | 9/22/1946 | 71 |
* Note: Players for the Houston Club when it was known as the Colt .45s were on the roster at some time during the three original National League entry seasons of 1962, 1963, or 1964. Players in the table which are shown with Houston beyond 1964 are simply those who continued with the club after their named changed to “Astros” in 1965. Pure “Astro” players who only joined the club after the name change are not included in this list.
* Fazio Note: After publishing this column yesterday, 12/06/17, we have learned today, again, via Darrell Pittman, that Ernie Fazio passed away on 12/01/17 from complications resulting from Dementia and Parkinson’s Disease. The fact of his death at this moment has even yet to reach Baseball Reference.com. Here’s a link to the obituary that Mr. Darrell Pittman once again has supplied to us:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/eastbaytimes/obituary.aspx?n=ernie-fazio&pid=187451279
We also plan to run the Fazio obituary as a separate reprint column in The Pecan Park Eagle jsut as soo as I can get to it.
Rest in Peace, Ernie Fazio!
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Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle