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1961 Major League Baseball expansion draft

Major League Baseball expansion draft

Field	Value
name	1961 Major League Baseball expansion draft
sport	Baseball
date	October 10, 1961
location	Cincinnati, Ohio
league	National League
expansion_teams	Houston Colt .45s
New York Mets
expansion_season
first	Eddie Bressoud (Houston Colt .45s)
overall	45
prev	[1960](1960-major-league-baseball-expansion-draft)
next	[1968](1968-major-league-baseball-expansion-draft)

New York Mets The 1961 Major League Baseball 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. These new franchises were set to enter the National League (NL) as part of the 1962 Major League Baseball expansion. Selections in the draft were limited to a pool of players designated by existing NL teams.

Due to the poor performance of the Mets and Colt .45s after two seasons, another draft was held for the teams on October 10, 1963.

1961 draft

	All-Star

Pick	Player	Position	Selected by	Previous team
1	Eddie Bressoud	IF	Houston Colt .45s	San Francisco Giants
2	Hobie Landrith	C	New York Mets	San Francisco Giants
3	Bob Aspromonte	IF	Houston Colt .45s	Los Angeles Dodgers
4	Elio Chacón	IF	New York Mets	Cincinnati Reds
5	Bob Lillis	IF	Houston Colt .45s	St. Louis Cardinals
6	Roger Craig	P	New York Mets	Los Angeles Dodgers
7	Dick Drott	P	Houston Colt .45s	Chicago Cubs
8	Gus Bell*	OF	New York Mets	Cincinnati Reds
9	Al Heist	OF	Houston Colt .45s	Chicago Cubs
10	Joe Christopher	OF	New York Mets	Pittsburgh Pirates
11	Román Mejías	OF	Houston Colt .45s	Pittsburgh Pirates
12	Félix Mantilla	IF	New York Mets	Milwaukee Braves
13	George Williams	IF	Houston Colt .45s	Philadelphia Phillies
14	Gil Hodges*	1B	New York Mets	Los Angeles Dodgers
15	Jesse Hickman	P	Houston Colt .45s	Philadelphia Phillies
16	Craig Anderson	P	New York Mets	St. Louis Cardinals
17	Merritt Ranew	C	Houston Colt .45s	Milwaukee Braves
18	Ray Daviault	P	New York Mets	San Francisco Giants
19	Don Taussig	OF	Houston Colt .45s	St. Louis Cardinals
20	John DeMerit	OF	New York Mets	Milwaukee Braves
21	Bobby Shantz*	P	Houston Colt .45s	Pittsburgh Pirates
22	Al Jackson	P	New York Mets	Pittsburgh Pirates
23	Norm Larker*	1B	Houston Colt .45s	Los Angeles Dodgers
24	Sammy Drake	IF	New York Mets	Chicago Cubs
25	Sam Jones*	P	Houston Colt .45s	San Francisco Giants
26	Chris Cannizzaro	C	New York Mets	St. Louis Cardinals
27	Paul Roof	P	Houston Colt .45s	Milwaukee Braves
28	Choo-Choo Coleman	C	New York Mets	Philadelphia Phillies
29	Ken Johnson	P	Houston Colt .45s	Cincinnati Reds
30	Ed Bouchee	1B	New York Mets	Chicago Cubs
31	Dick Gernert	1B	Houston Colt .45s	Cincinnati Reds
32	Bob Smith	OF	New York Mets	Philadelphia Phillies

Pick	Player	Position	Selected by	Previous team
33	Ed Olivares	IF	Houston Colt .45s	St. Louis Cardinals
34	Sherman Jones	P	New York Mets	Cincinnati Reds
35	Jim Umbricht	P	Houston Colt .45s	Pittsburgh Pirates
36	Jim Hickman	OF	New York Mets	St. Louis Cardinals
37	Jim Golden	P	Houston Colt .45s	Los Angeles Dodgers

Pick	Player	Position	Selected by	Previous team
38	Joe Amalfitano	IF	Houston Colt .45s	San Francisco Giants
39	Jay Hook	P	New York Mets	Cincinnati Reds
40	Turk Farrell	P	Houston Colt .45s	Los Angeles Dodgers
41	Bob Miller	P	New York Mets	St. Louis Cardinals
42	Hal Smith	C	Houston Colt .45s	Pittsburgh Pirates
43	Don Zimmer*	IF	New York Mets	Chicago Cubs
44	Al Spangler	OF	Houston Colt .45s	Milwaukee Braves
45	Lee Walls*	IF/OF	New York Mets	Philadelphia Phillies

** All-Star only before 1961 expansion draft*

1963 draft

	All-Star

Player	Position	Selected by	Previous team
[Bill Haas](https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=haas--001wil)	1B/OF	New York Mets	Los Angeles Dodgers
Claude Raymond	P	Houston Colt. 45s	Milwaukee Braves
Jack Fisher	P	New York Mets	San Francisco Giants

Notes

References

(October 10, 1961). "Bressoud and Landrith 1st Draft Picks". [[Daily News (Red Bluff).
Nowlin, Bill. "Did MLB Exist Before the Year 2000?".
(October 11, 1961). "Mets, Colts Pay $3,650,000 For 45 Players: New York Lands Hodges, Bouchee, Bell and Craig". Meriden Record.
(October 11, 1963). "Mets, Colts Pick Only 3 In Special Restock Draft". [[The Boston Globe]].

Info: Wikipedia Source

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