1961 Expansion Draft
From SoSH
July 18, 1960: In response to the Continental League, the National League agreed to add two clubs, one to New York and one to Houston.
October 10, 1961: An expansion draft was held for the Houston Colt .45's and the New York Mets, expansion clubs that would begin play in 1962. Draft's rules were similar to those used by the American League the previous year. However after two players were drafted from each existing NL club at $75,000 each and one more at $50,000, the existing clubs had to make two more players available at $125,000 apiece. The Mets and Astros were not required to draft those extra players; they were only mandated to take between 20 and 28 players.
After two years, due to the new clubs' lack of competitiveness, they were allowed to draft an additional player. They had a choice of four players from each of the older clubs' 40 man rosters, paying $30,000 apiece and only eight players in total could be taken between the two clubs. The draft took place on October 10, 1963 with only two players drafted.
The Colt .45's picked San Francisco Giants shortstop Eddie Bressoud with their first pick. The Mets took catcher Hobie Landrith of the Giants as their first selection.
| Houston Colt .45's | New York Mets | |||||||
| ## | PLAYER | POS | PREVIOUS TEAM | ## | PLAYER | POS | PREVIOUS TEAM | |
| 1 | Eddie Bressoud | SS | San Francisco Giants | 1 | Hobie Landrith | C | San Francisco Giants | |
| 2 | Bob Aspromonte | 3B | Los Angeles Dodgers | 2 | Elio Chacon | 2B | Cincinnati Reds | |
| 3 | Bob Lillis | SS | St. Louis Cardinals | 3 | Roger Craig | P | Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| 4 | Dick Drott | P | Chicago Cubs | 4 | Gus Bell | OF | Cincinnati Reds | |
| 5 | Al Heist | OF | Chicago Cubs | 5 | Joe Christopher | OF | Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| 6 | Roman Mejias | OF | Pittsburgh Pirates | 6 | Felix Mantilla | 2B | Milwaukee Braves | |
| 7 | George Williams | IF | Philadelphia Phillies | 7 | Gil Hodges | 1B | Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| 8 | Jesse Hickman | P | Philadelphia Phillies | 8 | Craig Anderson | P | St. Louis Cardinals | |
| 9 | Merritt Ranew | C | Milwaukee Braves | 9 | Ray Daviault | P | San Francisco Giants | |
| 10 | Don Taussig | OF | St. Louis Cardinals | 10 | John DeMerit | OF | Milwaukee Braves | |
| 11 | Bobby Shantz | P | Pittsburgh Pirates | 11 | Al Jackson | P | Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| 12 | Norm Larker | 1B | Los Angeles Dodgers | 12 | Sammy Drake | 3B | Chicago Cubs | |
| 13 | Sam Jones | P | San Francisco Giants | 13 | Chris Cannizzaro | C | St. Louis Cardinals | |
| 14 | Paul Roof | P | Milwaukee Braves | 14 | Choo Choo Coleman | C | Philadelphia Phillies | |
| 15 | Ken Johnson | P | Cincinnati Reds | 15 | Ed Bouchee | 1B | Chicago Cubs | |
| 16 | Dick Gernert | 1B | Cincinnati Reds | 16 | Bobby Gene Smith | OF | Philadelphia Phillies | |
| 17 | Ed Olivares | 3B | St. Louis Cardinals | 17 | Sherman Jones | P | Cincinnati Reds | |
| 18 | Jim Umbricht | P | Pittsburgh Pirates | 18 | Jim Hickman | OF | St. Louis Cardinals | |
| 19 | Jim Golden | P | Los Angeles Dodgers | 19 | Bob Miller | P | St. Louis Cardinals | |
| 20 | Joe Amalfitano | 2B | San Francisco Giants | 20 | Jay Hook | P | Cincinnati Reds | |
| 21 | Turk Farrell | P | Los Angeles Dodgers | 21 | Don Zimmer | SS | Chicago Cubs | |
| 22 | Hal Smith | C | Pittsburgh Pirates | 22 | Lee Walls | OF | Philadelphia Phillies | |
| 23 | Al Spangler | OF | Milwaukee Braves | |||||
