[Tiger Fan]

The 1962 Mets and Colt 45's will likely find the going as rough as the 1961 newcomers did.

The Mets have a little talent offensively, led by 41 year old Stan Musial and 35 year old free agent pickup Richie Ashburn. However, they have absolutely no experience in the starting rotation. The Houston club looks terrible and could well lose 125 games.

Here are the opening day rosters:
NEW YORK METS
C Dick Brown 27 - 2nd rd pick in 1957 signed as FA by Mets. .268 in 517 career games
1B Stan Musial 41 - likely final year for future Hall of Famer.
2B Jim Gilliam 33 - 2nd rd pick in 1952. .261 in over 700 games of MLB service
SS Jose Valdivielso 27 -Red 5th rd pick in 1955 has just 13 games of MLB experience
3B Dick Gray 30 - Cards 3rd rd pick in 1958 has played just 3 games in majors
LF Willie Davis 21 - 2nd rd pick in 1960 hit just .208 in 58 games with Milwaukee
CF Richie Ashburn 35- signed a 3.7 million free agent contract with Mets.
RF Jim Piersall 32- 1st rd pick in 1950 could never crack Pirates OF. .268 in 148 career games

C Billy Bryan 23 - SF 3rd rd pick in 1961 has no major league experience
1B Harry Agganis 32 - 2nd rd pick in 1954 played just one full season with Cubs
2B Jim Finigan 33 - FA pickup from Milwaukee, was a 2nd rd pick in 1954.
3B Cliff Cook 25 - played 45 games with Giants last year, was a 4th rd pick in 1959
OF Don Taussig 30 - 5th rd pick in 1958 played 12 major league games with Cubs last year
OF Albie Pearson 27 - Dodgers gave up on 2nd rd pick from 1958, .247 in 196 career games
OF Lou Johnson 27 - Phillies made a mistake taking him in rd 1 of 1960 draft. No MLB exp.

SP Bo Belinsky 25 - 0-0 career Mets 1st rd pick in ammy draft
SP Chris Short 24 - 0-0 SF 1st rd pick in 1959. Giants may regret losing him in exp. draft.
SP Whammy Douglass 27 - 0-0 1st rd pick in 1957 pitched just 2 innings in majors
SP Jack Kralick 26- 0-0 2nd rd pick in 1959 pitched 4 innings for Braves last year
SP Dave Ricketts 28 - 0-0 3rd rd pick of Cubs in 1959 was injured much of last season
RP Mike Joyce 21 - 0-0 Mets 3rd rd pick in this years ammy draft
RP Nelson Chittum 29 - 11-17 5th rd pick in 1958 has 5.82 career era with 29 saves
RP Fred Green 28 - 4-8 4th rd pick in 1959 was aquired from Det in a spring trade.
RP Ray Ripplemeyer 28 - 0-0 Mets selected him in 6th rd of this years ammy draft
RP Dave Gerard 25 - 0-0 Mets 7th rd pick of this years ammy draft

Player to Watch - 17 year old Ed Kranepool, the Mets second rd pick in the amateur draft will begin his career in Class A.

HOUSTON COLT 45's
C Earl Battey 27 - 1st rd pick of Dodgers in 1955 played just 8 major league games
1B Bob Skinner 30 - Free agent pickup from Cleveland hit .284 in 455 career games
2B Jerry Adair 25 - Braves 3rd rd pick in 1958. .264 in 61 career games
SS Jack Cusick 33 - FA pickup hit .342 in 44 career games over 5 seasons.
3B Larry Raines 32 - FA pickup hit .234 as a starter with Athletics last year
LF Harry Anderson 30 - Another FA pickup from KC. Hit .287 with 15 homers for A's last year
CF Carl Warwick 25 - Cards 5th rd pick a year ago is not ready for majors but Hou has no one else
RF Jackie Jensen 35- 1st rd pick in 1950 who never panned out. Hit .260 in 317 career games

C Chris Cannizzaro 23 - Cards 5th rd pick a year ago may have a decent future in Houston
1B Duke Carmel 24 - 3rd rd pick of Cards in 1959. Doesnt have much upside
2B Marv Breeding 28 - 4th rd pick of Cubs in 1960 will platoon with Adair. No MLB exp.
3B Ted Kazanski 28 - 1 game in majors for the 1953 second rd pick
OF Charlie James 24 - Phillies 3rd rd pick in 1960 no mlb experience
OF Gino Cimoli 32 - 3rd rd pick of Braves in 1956. .194 in 45 career games
OF Tex Nelson 25 - 4th rd pick of Dodgers in 1955, played just 29 mlb games

SP Vinegar Bend Mizell 31 - 9-7 First rd pick in 1952 has been hampered by injuries
SP Ernie Broglio 26 - 1-1 2nd rd pick in 1959 made debut with Giants last year
SP Dick Brodowski 29 - 5-5 Injuries have hurt 2nd rd pick in 1952's career
SP Charlie Rabe 29 - no mlb experience for Braves 3rd rd pick in 1957
SP Denny Lemaster 23 - bright future for Colt 45's first rd pick in this years ammy draft

RP Dennis Bennett 22 - 2nd rd pick of Houston in this years ammy draft
RP Glen Hobbie 25 - 2nd rd pick of Cubs in 1957. No MLB experience.
RP Joe Bonikowski 21 - Houston's 4th rd pick in this years ammy draft
RP Dick Radatz 25 - Houston's 3rd rd pick in this years ammy draft
RP Hal Reniff 23 - Giants fifth rd pick a year ago has no mlb experience.

Player to Watch Ron Fairly. 23 year old drafted out of Reds organization will begin year in AAA and could be in Houston by September.