1960 Major League Baseball expansion draft

1960 Major League Baseball expansion draft
General information
SportBaseball
DateDecember 14, 1960
LocationBoston, Massachusetts
Overview
61 total selections
LeagueAmerican League[a]
Expansion teams
Expansion season1961
First selectionEli Grba (Los Angeles Angels)

The 1960 Major League Baseball expansion draft was held by Major League Baseball on December 14, 1960, to fill the rosters of the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators.[b]

The Angels and Senators were new franchises due to enter the American League (AL) the following season as part of the 1961 Major League Baseball expansion. The Angels became the AL's first team to be based on the West Coast of the United States, while the Senators took the place of the league's original Washington Senators franchise, which had moved to Minneapolis–Saint Paul as the Minnesota Twins after the 1960 season.

The draft, held in Boston,[2] site of AL headquarters, had been scheduled for Tuesday, December 13, 1960, but had to be postponed one day due to a heavy snowstorm that struck the New England region.[3]

Ground rules

As with all major-league expansion drafts prior to 1992, only players from the admitting league were eligible for selection. Each existing American League club had to make available for the draft seven players on their active rosters on August 31, 1960, and eight others from their 40-man rosters. The expansion clubs paid $75,000 ($797,160 in 2024) for each of 28 players they drafted with a maximum of seven players drafted from each existing club, not including minor-league selections. They were required to take at least ten pitchers, two catchers, six infielders, and four outfielders. The clubs also had the option of drafting one non-roster player for $25,000 ($265,720 in 2024) from each established franchise.

Hasty expansion sowed draft confusion

1961 American League expansion teams

Reacting belatedly to the National League's July 1960 announcement that it would expand to New York and Houston to begin play in April 1962 (twenty months later), the American League suddenly declared in October 1960 it would add two new teams as well—and that the AL's expansion teams would take the field in only six months, in time for the 1961 season.

Playing catch-up to the National League, under a much tighter deadline with no ownership groups, management or stadia yet in place, the American League was forced to wait until November 17, 1960, to officially award an expansion franchise to Washington, D.C., to replace the recently relocated Twins.[4] Because it also intended to enter the Los Angeles metropolitan market, then controlled by Walter O'Malley, principal owner of the Dodgers, the American League was compelled to negotiate an indemnification agreement with O'Malley before the Los Angeles franchise could be granted. Finally, on December 6, 1960—one week before the expansion draft was expected to be held—the Angels franchise was officially created and awarded to a group led by Gene Autry.[4]

Because the new teams had not had the time to assemble a scouting department, they were forced to lean on scouting reports from National League franchises to select their full complement of new players. The Angels were aided by the San Francisco Giants, and the Senators by the Pittsburgh Pirates.[3] The league's chaotic, eleventh-hour approach to expansion resulted, on the day of the draft, in the new teams' noncompliance with rules that governed the maximum number of players each new club could select from each of the eight established teams. As a result, several post-draft trades, ordered by American League president Joe Cronin, were necessary to rectify the problem.[3][4]

Results

Key
‡ All-Star
Pick Player Position Selected from Selected by
1 Eli Grba Pitcher New York Yankees Los Angeles Angels
2 Bobby Shantz‡ Pitcher New York Yankees Washington Senators
3 Duke Maas Pitcher New York Yankees Los Angeles Angels
4 Dave Sisler Pitcher Detroit Tigers Washington Senators
5 Jerry Casale Pitcher Boston Red Sox Los Angeles Angels
6 Johnny Klippstein Pitcher Cleveland Indians Washington Senators
7 Tex Clevenger Pitcher Minnesota Twins Los Angeles Angels
8 Pete Burnside Pitcher Detroit Tigers Washington Senators
9 Bob Sprout Pitcher Detroit Tigers Los Angeles Angels
10 Carl Mathias Pitcher Cleveland Indians Washington Senators
11 Aubrey Gatewood Pitcher Detroit Tigers Los Angeles Angels
12 Ed Hobaugh Pitcher Chicago White Sox Washington Senators
13 Ken McBride‡ Pitcher Chicago White Sox Los Angeles Angels
14 Hal Woodeshick‡ Pitcher Minnesota Twins Washington Senators
15 Ned Garver‡ Pitcher Kansas City Athletics Los Angeles Angels
16 Tom Sturdivant Pitcher Boston Red Sox Washington Senators
17 Ron Moeller Pitcher Baltimore Orioles Los Angeles Angels
18 Héctor Maestri Pitcher Minnesota Twins Washington Senators
19 Bob Davis Pitcher Kansas City Athletics Los Angeles Angels
20 Rudy Hernández Pitcher Minnesota Twins Washington Senators
21 Ed Sadowski Catcher Boston Red Sox Los Angeles Angels
22 Pete Daley Catcher Kansas City Athletics Washington Senators
23 Buck Rodgers Catcher Detroit Tigers Los Angeles Angels
24 Dutch Dotterer Catcher Kansas City Athletics Washington Senators
25 Eddie Yost‡ Third baseman Detroit Tigers Los Angeles Angels
26 Coot Veal Shortstop Detroit Tigers Washington Senators
27 Ken Aspromonte Second baseman Cleveland Indians Los Angeles Angels
28 Dale Long‡ First baseman New York Yankees Washington Senators
29 Ken Hamlin Shortstop Kansas City Athletics Los Angeles Angels
30 Jim Mahoney Shortstop Boston Red Sox Washington Senators
31 Gene Leek Third baseman Cleveland Indians Los Angeles Angels
32 Bob Johnson Shortstop Kansas City Athletics Washington Senators
33 Jim Fregosi‡ Shortstop Boston Red Sox Los Angeles Angels
34 Billy Klaus Second baseman Baltimore Orioles Washington Senators
35 Bob Cerv‡ First baseman/Outfielder New York Yankees Los Angeles Angels
36 Johnny Schaive Second baseman Minnesota Twins Washington Senators
37 Ken Hunt Outfielder New York Yankees Los Angeles Angels
38 Willie Tasby Outfielder Boston Red Sox Washington Senators
39 Jim McAnany Outfielder Chicago White Sox Los Angeles Angels
40 Gene Woodling‡ Outfielder Baltimore Orioles Washington Senators
41 Earl Averill Jr. Outfielder/Catcher Chicago White Sox Los Angeles Angels
42 Marty Keough Outfielder Cleveland Indians Washington Senators
43 Faye Throneberry Outfielder Minnesota Twins Los Angeles Angels
44 Chuck Hinton‡ Outfielder Baltimore Orioles Washington Senators
45 Ted Kluszewski‡ First baseman Chicago White Sox Los Angeles Angels
46 Gene Green Catcher Baltimore Orioles Washington Senators
47 Donald Ross[c] Infielder Baltimore Orioles Los Angeles Angels
48 Bud Zipfel First baseman New York Yankees Washington Senators
49 Julio Bécquer First baseman Minnesota Twins Los Angeles Angels
50 Jim King Outfielder Cleveland Indians Washington Senators
51 Dean Chance‡ Pitcher Baltimore Orioles Los Angeles Angels
52 Joe Hicks Outfielder Chicago White Sox Washington Senators
53 Fred Newman Pitcher Boston Red Sox Los Angeles Angels
54 Chet Boak Second baseman Kansas City Athletics Washington Senators
55 Red Wilson Catcher Cleveland Indians Los Angeles Angels
56 Dick Donovan‡ Pitcher Chicago White Sox Washington Senators
57 Steve Bilko First baseman Detroit Tigers Los Angeles Angels
58 Leo Burke Third baseman Baltimore Orioles Washington Senators
59 Albie Pearson‡ Outfielder Baltimore Orioles Los Angeles Angels
60 Haywood Sullivan Catcher Boston Red Sox Washington Senators
61 Joe McClain Pitcher Minnesota Twins Washington Senators

See also

  • Continental League, a proposed third major league that had planned to begin play in the 1961 season

Notes

  1. ^ This draft was limited to American League teams; while the American League and National League are commonly referred to collectively as Major League Baseball, across many decades, Major League Baseball has only existed as a legal entity since 2000.[1]
  2. ^ The Washington Senators competed in the American League through the 1971 season, then relocated to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and were renamed the Texas Rangers.
  3. ^ Donald Ross selected by the Angels, born in 1938,[5] only played in the minor leagues and should not be confused with Don Ross (1914–1996) who played in the major leagues between 1938 and 1946.

References

  1. ^ Nowlin, Bill. "Did MLB Exist Before the Year 2000?". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved December 2, 2025.
  2. ^ "To Pick 20: Senators, Angels To Pick 20 Each In Boston Draft". Holyoke Transcript-Telegram. Holyoke, Massachusetts. AP. December 14, 1960. p. 44. Retrieved December 2, 2025 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c Ringolsby, Tracy (November 8, 1992). "First Expansion Draft a Slap-Dash Affair". chicagotribune.com. Scripps Howard News Service. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Thompson, Eric; McCue, Andy (2011). "Mis-Management 101: The American League Expansion for 1961". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved December 5, 2025.
  5. ^ "Donald Ross". Baseball Reference. Retrieved December 2, 2025.
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