Hal Gilson

Who is Hal Gilson?

Harold "Hal" Gilson is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros in 1968.

Nicknamed "Lefty", he was originally signed by the Chicago Cubs in 1961 and was traded to the Cardinals on April 7, 1965 with Bobby Pfeil for Bob Humphreys.

He made his big league debut on April 14, 1968 against the team with which he had originally signed, the Cubs. Ernie Banks was the first batter Gilson ever faced - Banks reached base on an error. Overall, Gilson allowed a hit and walked one in two innings in his big league debut, but did not give up a single run. Overall with the Cardinals in 1968, he posted a 4.57 ERA in 13 games.

On June 15, 1968, he was traded by the Cardinals with Dick Simpson to the Astros for Ron Davis. He played in only two games with the Astros, posting an ERA of 7.36.

Overall, Gilson posted an 0-2 record in 15 big league games. In 25⅓ innings, he allowed 34 hits, one home run 15 runs, 14 earned runs, and 12 walks. He finished 7 games, saved 2 and he struck out 20 batters. His ERA was 4.97.

Interestingly, although Gilson finished with an unimpressive ERA, he started off his career not allowing a single run in his first six appearances. His streak was blown when he allowed five runs in 2⅓ innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 21.