#574 Hal Kolstad

Wisconsin native Hal Kolstad was a baseball letter-man at San Jose State University and was signed by the Red Sox in 1957. He moved up the Sox' minor league ladder as a starter putting up double digit wins (and about the same number of losses for the most part) but generally good numbers otherwise.

Baseball Reference (as well as the card's cartoon) point out that Kolstad had a notable 1958 season in the Midwest League, leading the league in strikeouts with 250 and beating Juan Marichal who had 246.

He earned a spot on the staff for 1962 and appeared in 27 games including a pair of starts. Both ended up being no decisions. In his 25 relief appearances he earned a couple of saves and two losses and posted a 5.43 ERA for the season. He was again with Boston in '63 as the season opened but he made a couple of round trips to the AA level. He lost both decisions that season as well and his ERA in 7 games was a brutal 13.09 in 11 innings. He was farmed out in July and never pitched in the majors again.

Kolstad finished up his baseball playing days with a season in the Red Sox system and, after a trade, a final year with the Angels' AAA club. His big league career totals show an 0-4 record with a earned run average of 6.59.

I found a Ron Kolstad also listed among San Jose States list of baseball athletes. That may be a relative. Hal Kolstad's grandson Ryan played for both San Jose State and Concordia University in Oregon.