The Youngest Line-up Ever

On September 27^th, 1963, Houston manager Harry Craft filled out his line-up card for the 160^th time that season. However, unlike any other time he had ever filled out his line-up, his starting nine on this day consisted of nine rookies.

Of the nine rookies, some had long major league careers; while some never could crack a major league roster full time. There was even one Hall-of-Famer playing at Shea Stadium that day and, tragically for one, this game would turn out to be his last. Here is a look at Craft’s starting nine for the Colt .45s and how their careers panned out after this day:

1. Sonny Jackson, SS
This game, one in which Houston dropped 10-3 to the host New York Mets, was Jackson’s major league debut (he was 0-3). Jackson didn’t begin playing full-time in the majors until 1966, where he finished second behind Cincinnati’s Tommy Helms in Rookie of the Year voting. Jackson hit .292 in 1966 and never had a higher batting average then .259 in his 12-year major league career, which he split between Houston and Atlanta. Jackson also recorded a high of 49 stolen bases in his rookie year, another feat he didn’t come close to replicating in his career.

2. Joe Morgan, 2B
Here is the Hall-of-Famer on the list! Morgan debuted just six days before this game as a 19-year-old and would begin a run of 22 consecutive seasons in the major leagues, where he arguably became the greatest second baseman of all-time. Morgan finished his career with 268 home runs, a record for second baseman until Ryne Sandberg broke it. Morgan was elected into Cooperstown in 1990.

3. Jimmy Wynn, CF
Wynn was considered somewhat a veteran in this line-up, having played in 70 games with the Colt .45s in 1963. Wynn was an all-star in 1967, where he really broke out for
Houston, hitting 37 home runs and driving in 107 runs. Wynn was a consistent power force for Houston, hitting at least 20 home runs in every season except for two between 1965-1973. He spent two seasons with the Dodgers in 1974 and 1975, where he made the all-star team in both years. He also spent time with Atlanta, New York (AL) and Milwaukee.

4. Rusty Staub, 1B
Staub signed as a 17-year-old with Houston in 1961, won the Carolina League MVP the following year, and was in the Colt .45s’ opening day lineup. Staub was a two-time all-star in six seasons with Houston before being traded to the expansion Montreal Expos, where he enjoyed three of the best seasons of his career. Rusty’s career also included stops with the Mets (twice), the Tigers (twice, the first time he became the AL’s first full-time DH), and the Rangers.

5. Aaron Pointer, RF
Pointer’s career certainly started off well enough. Like Staub, he signed in 1961 and played with Salisbury in the South Atlantic League. Pointer hit .402, winning the batting title by over 50 points and is still the last professional baseball player to hit .400 over a full season. However, Pointer never contributed for Houston much, playing in 40 games over 3 seasons for the franchise, with a line of .208-2-15. Pointer might be more recognizable to football fans than baseball fans, as he was employed as a referee by the National Football League from 1978-2003.

6. Brock Davis, LF
Davis was another of the many teenagers on Houston’s roster in the 1963 season. He hit .200 in 34 games that season. He also played with the Cubs and Brewers.  His best season with the bat came in his final season, 1972, with Milwaukee, when he hit .318. He suffered a knee injury in spring training the next season and never played another game, although the Padres, Cubs and Indians had acquired his rights in trades until 1975, when he officially retired.

7. Glenn Vaughan, 3B
Vaughan didn’t last after the 1963 season, playing in nine games, where he hit .167. He is the nephew of the Pirate great, Arky Vaughan.

8. Jerry Grote, C
After only three games in 1963, Grote became the Colts’ regular catcher the next season. In 1965 he was traded to the Mets and he spent the next 11 ½ seasons in New York, where he was an all-star twice and won a World Series ring with the ‘Miracle Mets’ of 1969. Grote, one of the better defensive catchers of his team, also was Steve Yeager’s back-up on the pennant-winning Dodger teams of 1973 and 1974. He also spent time with Kansas City and is a member of the Mets Hall of Fame.

9. Jay Dahl, P
Dahl took the loss in his first and, tragically, last game. Dahl was actually a last minute replacement for fellow rookie Larry Yellen, who sat out in observance of Yom Kippur. Dahl developed back problems the following year and didn’t pitch, although he did appear in 11 games as an outfielder with Houston’s Western Carolina League affiliate. In 1965, Dahl started the year 5-0 before he was killed in a car crash at the tender age of 19.

Other rookies who took part in this game were Dave Adlesh, a nineteen-year-old back-up catcher who had one at-bat in the game; Danny Coombs, a 22-year-old who relieved Dahl; Relievers Joe Hoerner, who made his major league debut during the game, and Jim Dickson; plus pinch hitter Mike White, bring the total of rookies in the game for Houston to 14, a number that has never been matched or exceeded in modern day major league baseball history.