1962 Major League Baseball expansion

The Colt .45s were the first major league team in Houston while the Mets filled the void left when the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers of the NL moved to California after the 1957 season.

According to authors Andy McCue and Eric Thompson, "The less financially successful clubs in two-team cities were finding it increasingly difficult to compete" by the early 1950s.

[1] In addition, population changes in the United States were leading to many citizens moving away from the Northeast, where many MLB teams were based, to southern and western locations.

[1] New York City sought a replacement NL franchise, and by December 1958 MLB had created an Expansion Committee.

In addition, MLB was facing pressure from the U.S. Congress, which indicated that efforts to prevent future expansion would arouse interest in weakening the sport's exemption from antitrust laws.

The AL initially showed interest in adding a Houston team, but the investors wanted an NL franchise.

[6][7] George Weiss was the president of the team, and seven-time World Series championship-winning manager Casey Stengel was hired to lead the Mets on the field.

All eight original NL teams were required to make 15 players available to be drafted by the Colt .45s and Mets from their regular rosters.

[9] The Colt .45s had the first overall pick in the expansion draft and selected San Francisco Giants infielder Eddie Bressoud.

The Mets' later selections in the draft included Gil Hodges of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Don Zimmer of the Chicago Cubs.

The teams alternated choices through the first 36 picks, before the Colt .45s selected Jim Golden and Joey Amalfitano consecutively.

[17] Houston eventually changed their team nickname to the Astros, and won the 2005 NL pennant; in addition, they played in the National League Championship Series three other times.

[3][22] Four new clubs joined the AL and NL in 1969, in San Diego, Kansas City, Montreal, and Seattle (although the team moved to Milwaukee the following year).