Hal Gilson

A lanky, side-arming southpaw, Hal “Lefty” Gilson’s major league career consisted of 15 regular season appearances in 1968 after a seven-year climb through the minor leagues. One of two Black hurlers on the Opening Day roster of the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, Gilson bore a surname that prompted double-takes – the Cards’ other pitcher of color was reigning World Series MVP Bob Gibson.

Gilson set a Cardinals rookie record by holding opponents scoreless in his first six outings, then lost his touch. Dealt to the Houston Astros, he was relegated to Triple-A for much of that season’s balance and was largely ineffective. Released the following spring, Gilson walked away from the sport.

Harold Gilson (he had no middle name) was born on February 9, 1942, in Los Angeles, California. He was the second child of Spencer and Alma (née Smith) Gilson. Previously married, Spencer was a native of Indiana raised in a Colorado orphanage. The U.S. Census identified him in 1930 as a serviceman in a used car dealership; a decade later, he was janitoring at a southern California Packard dealer.1

By the time Harold was nine, his parents had divorced, and he was living with his mother and older sister Charlotte in Palo Alto, California.2  Employed as a cook at a Stanford University fraternity house, Alma earned brief national notice in 1949 when some frat boys decided to protest a new milk packaging law by bringing a cow into her kitchen. According to a local newspaper, Life magazine sent a photographer to cover the story.3  

Gilson had yet to reach his 12th birthday when his name first appeared in print. The Oakland Tribune noted a no-hitter he crafted in a local Catholic Youth Organization league.4 At 15, Gilson was a Babe Ruth League All-Star. In the fall of 1957, he entered Berkeley High, the alma mater of major league standouts Augie Galan, Billy Martin, and Chick Hafey. As a freshman, Gilson starred at as a center on the junior varsity basketball team.5 As a sophomore, he pitched in a combined no-hitter for the varsity baseball team and finished the season hitting .500, tops for the Northern Alameda County Athletic League (NACAL) pennant winners.6 He spent the following summer playing right field and pitching for an American Legion team talented enough to take on semipro opponents.7

Grown to 6-feet-3 by his junior year, Gilson became a force on the hardwood, hauling in double-digit rebounds and scoring with an “uncanny southpaw twisting jump shot.”8 He was an All-Berkeley Area first team selection and the region’s Berkeley Gazette Player of the Year as a senior. Despite having to sit out four games for poor grades, he led the team in both scoring and rebounding.9 In March 1960, he was named to the third team All-East Bay basketball team behind, among others, future NBA All-Star Paul Silas.10

Gilson’s accomplishments on the diamond were equally impressive. As a junior, he ran off a string of 21 scoreless innings on the way to an All-NACAL second team selection.11 In American Legion play, Gilson, a “curve-balling southpaw” who towered over his teammates, authored a one-hitter, fanned 17 batters while throwing a two-hitter, and was voted to the All-Bay Area all-star team.12 As a senior, Gilson was the NACAL’s “most feared hurler.”13 The NACAL leader in strikeouts, he was named to the All-NACAL first team alongside future major-leaguer Ron Theobald.14

After graduation, Gilson enrolled at San Jose City College, where he was a starting forward on the school’s basketball team.  Gilson was the top rebounder and a double-digit scorer for the Jaguars, who earned (but later had to relinquish) the 1960-61 Coast Conference crown and fell one win short of taking the California junior college title.15

The following spring, Gilson pitched for the San Jose City baseball team. Routinely registering double-digit strikeouts as a starter, he was named a Coast Conference first team All-Star.16 After the college season, Gilson signed a $21,000 bonus contract with Chicago Cubs scout Ray Perry and reported to the St. Cloud (Minnesota) Rox of the Class C Northern League.17

Gilson’s debut for St. Cloud was a disaster. He recorded only three outs in a start against Duluth-Superior in which he surrendered four first-inning runs on three hits and seven walks. A third-inning rally started by center fielder Lou Brock took Gilson off the hook, though the Rox ultimately suffered the loss anyway. One of the batters that Gilson faced that day was 19-year-old Bill Freehan, a $100,000 bonus baby out of the University of Michigan who’d made his pro debut three days earlier.18 Gilson’s first victory came two weeks later, on July 10 against the Eau Claire (Wisconsin) Braves, a team that had another future major-league All-Star behind the plate: Rico Carty.19

Undeterred by Gilson’s rocky first year with St. Cloud (1-4 record, 10.36 ERA and 45 walks in 33 innings), the Cubs assigned him to their Arizona Winter League entry. By sending Gilson to the second-year developmental league alongside Brock and several other Rox teammates bound for the major leagues, the Cubs made clear that they viewed Gilson as a top-tier prospect.20 They sent him to the AWL after the next two seasons as well.21

Back with St. Cloud for the 1962 season, Gilson continued to struggle in a starting role. In June, manager George Freese moved Gilson, by then carrying a 1-8 record, to the bullpen. There he quickly earned a pair of saves and notched four wins over four weeks, turning into what the St. Cloud Times called a “workhorse.” He finished the season with a career-high 116 walks but cut his ratio of walks per nine innings by more than one-third from 1961 and shrank his ERA by nearly half.

In September 1962, Gilson married the former Alphia Ewell Neal of Oakland, a high school track and field standout whom he met at a fraternity party.22 The couple had the first of three daughters, Sheryl, the following year, followed by Angela in 1964 and Monica in 1966.23

The newlywed got a taste of competing against major-league talent a few months later when he faced Bay Area products Rudy May, Joe Morgan, Willie Stargell, and Tommy Harper, in an Oakland benefit game held to raise funds to fight cerebral palsy.24 Over the next few years, Gilson took part in a variety of charity fundraising events, including exhibition baseball games that pitted major-leaguers against minor-leaguers and a bowling tournament.25

Gilson was promoted to the Class A Wenatchee (Washington) Chiefs of the Northwest League after spring training in 1963 but didn’t last a month. He fanned 13 in 14 innings over four relief appearances, but allowed 10 earned runs, the loudest of which came on a 12th-inning, walk-off solo home run by Jim Campanis.26 Shifted to the Cubs’ Pioneer League affiliate in Pocatello, Idaho, which coincidentally went by the same name, Gilson went back to a starting role. He led the last-place Chiefs in wins, with eight, and fanned 175 over 168 innings, but surrendered league-highs in runs (148) and hits (205). Along the way, Gilson had some extraordinary outings in which he showed off both his pitching and hitting prowess. In June, he stopped a 12-game team losing streak with a 10-strikeout win over the Boise Braves in which he homered. Just shy of six weeks later, he ended a nine-game skid with a win over the Idaho Falls Yankees in which he fanned 16 and drove in the winning run.27

“A sound AA prospect,” according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Gilson spent his next spring training with the Double-A Fort Worth Cats. However, it was back to Wenatchee for the start of the 1964 season.28 Given bullpen duty to start the season, he was lugging an unimpressive 5.00 ERA when manager Joe Macko inserted him into the starting rotation in late June. Gilson responded by holding the first-place Eugene Emeralds to three hits over nine innings in an extra-inning win.29 He managed only a 7-12 record, but his 3.46 ERA put him in the top 10 among league qualifiers.30

Gilson’s performance earned him an invitation to spring training in 1965 with the Cubs’ Pacific Coast League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Bees. As happened the year before, though, he began the regular season elsewhere. On April 8, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals along with third baseman Bobby Pfeil for reliever Bob Humphreys.31 Assigned to Double-A Tulsa, Gilson earned a complete-game win in his first appearance, then developed into a key member of manager Vern Rapp’s “crackerjack relief staff.”32 He finished the season 11-4 for the first-place Oilers with a 1.75 ERA that would have led the league had he collected four more outs.33 Two of Gilson’s victories came in relief outings where he held opponents scoreless for seven or more innings.34

The start of the 1966 season found Gilson back with the Oilers, who had been elevated to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. But after allowing 19 earned runs in 19 innings, he was shipped off to the Arkansas Travelers, the Cardinals’ new Texas League affiliate, based in Little Rock. Austin’s Mike Lum rudely greeted Gilson with a grand slam in his Travelers debut, but a sterling 1.62 ERA in six starts earned Gilson a ticket back to T-Town just a few weeks later.35 Tulsa manager Charlie Metro put Gilson in his bullpen, but the southpaw couldn’t replicate his strong showing of the previous year. He ended up with a 5.00 ERA and a WHIP over 1.6. Looking back, Gilson admitted he had problems keeping his pitches low in the strike zone.36

One of several middling St. Louis prospects left exposed to the Rule V draft that off-season, Gilson went unselected.37 He headed south to play winter ball for Cinco Estrellas (Five Stars) in the Nicaraguan Winter League, going 7-7 there in 101 innings, with a top-10 ERA of 2.38.38

Metro left Tulsa in the offseason for greener pastures, replaced by rookie manager Warren Spahn, lured off his 2,800-acre cattle ranch located 100 miles to the south in Hartshorne, Oklahoma Tulsa owner A. Ray Smith told reporters, “the Oilers and Tulsa are mighty lucky to have Spahn as our manager.”39 Gilson, by then 25, would soon feel the same way. Spahn returned him to a starting role, and together with the Oilers coaching staff, helped the lefty work both sides of the plate more effectively. Spahn and company also tweaked Gilson’s follow-through to boost his pitch speed and improve his command.

By early July, Gilson had almost a third of the team’s wins and a 2.24 ERA – he was “the stopper of the Tulsa staff,” according to The Sporting News.40 Gilson ended the season with a team-high 15 wins, was second in strikeouts to 21-year-old Mike Torrez,  and was named a second-team PCL All-Star.41

Two of Gilson’s August outings were particularly noteworthy:

• On August 8, he secured his 14th win with a 14-strikeout five-hitter against the Hawaii Islanders.42
• Four days later, he relieved Spahn in the last game that the 46-year-old future Hall of Famer pitched as a professional.43

Gilson was called up by the first-place Cardinals after the Oilers’ season ended but never made it into a game as the team cruised to the NL pennant.44 He was ineligible to play in the 1967 World Series, but earned a $100 share of the team’s bonus money from its victory over the Boston Red Sox in seven games.45

Gilson once again headed south for the winter of 1967-68, playing for Tigres del Licey in the Dominican Winter League. The team, led at first by Pittsburgh Pirates player-coach Hal Smith and then by Pirates outfielder Manny Mota, failed to reach .500, but Gilson pitched well.46 Through mid-January, he had a 2.56 ERA with a 4-3 record that included a shutout of second-place Escogido.47

The defending World Series champions entered 1968 with three southpaws: Steve Carlton, Larry Jaster, and Joe Hoerner. However, St. Louis manager Red Schoendienst considered only Hoerner a dedicated reliever. After making clear that he needed another portsider in his bullpen, Schoendienst told the Tulsa World that “Gilson will get a long look in spring training.” He added, “If it looks like he can have a good year like he did here, he might be our man.”48 Indeed, the 6-foot-5, 195-pound Gilson earned a spot on the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster. He was “the best of [five] newcomers” according to the Hartford Courant.49

Gilson got the news that he would be a Cardinal on April 5, but it was anything but a happy day. The previous afternoon, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated while standing on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee. Gilson’s wife, Alphia, and three daughters joined him in St. Louis on April 6, a day in which thousands of federal troops patrolled American streets in response to widespread rioting over Dr. King’s murder. Alphia had driven over 2,000 miles from Berkeley to be with her husband for the season opener. Unsure whether Gilson would break camp with St. Louis or be sent back down to Triple-A, she had waited in Tulsa until they knew for sure.50

Major League Baseball delayed Opening Day until after Dr. King’s funeral, allowing the grieving nation to mourn. Four games into the season, on April 14, Gilson made his major league debut, in relief at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. Brought in to start the bottom of the seventh-inning with the Cardinals trailing, 7-5, Gilson’s first batter was 12-time All-Star and two-time NL MVP Ernie Banks. Banks had already hit a three-run home run off starter Dick Hughes in the first inning to give Chicago the lead.

The game was frightful for the Cardinals outfielders, who botched a few catches in a steady wind that right fielder Roger Maris said “was making the ball do all kinds of tricks.”51 Banks lofted a fly ball off Gilson that center fielder Curt Flood muffed, but was thrown out trying to reach third base, with Flood relaying the ball to shortstop Dal Maxvill. That was the first of Flood’s league-leading 11 assists that he notched on the way to his sixth consecutive NL outfield Gold Glove.52 Gilson was the victim of another outfield faux pas in the eighth when Brock dropped a line drive in left field. Nonetheless, he navigated his way through two innings without surrendering a run.

In his next appearance, five days later, Gilson earned a 10-out save to preserve the first of Torrez’s 185 career wins, striking out Ron Santo to end the game.

Gilson was unscored upon through his first five outings, spanning 9⅓ innings. That streak continued – albeit technically – in Philadelphia on May 19. Brought in to protect a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth with two runners on, Gilson allowed a walk-off double to Gary Sutherland.  He was not responsible for either baserunner; thus, he had begun his career with no runs allowed through his first six appearances. Since 1901, four Cardinal hurlers had begun their career with four such outings, most recently Ron Willis in 1966. Gilson was the first to reach six.53

It was mostly downhill from there for Gilson. He allowed earned runs in each of his next four outings, taking the loss in two of them. He did pick up a save for Hoerner in a 12-inning win over the Atlanta Braves on June 13.54 Two days later, though, Gilson became a former Cardinal. He was dealt at the trading deadline from first-place St. Louis to the last-place Houston Astros, along with reserve outfielder Dick Simpson, in exchange for another outfielder, Ron Davis.55

Gilson was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City in the Pacific Coast League, then called up to Houston in mid-July when Wade Blasingame was sidelined.56 Roughed up for three runs and five hits in the second of two outings, Gilson was sent back down to Oklahoma City on July 30 to make room for Larry Dierker, who was returning from military reserve duty.57 Gilson didn’t know it at the time, but his major league career was over. He finished with an 0-2 record, two saves, a 4.97 ERA, and 20 strikeouts over 25⅓ innings. The last batter that Gilson retired was Willie Mays, getting the future Hall of Famer to ground out at Candlestick Park.

Gilson finished out the season as a starter for the last-place 89ers, going 3-9 with a 5.89 ERA. On August 17, he earned his final victory as a professional, tossing a three-hit shutout at his former team, the first-place Tulsa Oilers.58

The following spring, Gilson posted three strong innings of relief in Oklahoma City’s exhibition opener. A few days later, though (March 29), he was pounded in a start against the Denver Bears andwas released the next day.59

With that, Gilson left the professional ranks. He soon hooked up with a northern California semipro team as a starting pitcher. In the summer of 1969, Gilson ran a training program at the University of California at Berkeley for Jim Padgett, his former basketball coach at San Jose City College.60 Padgett had moved across the Bay to take over the prestigious Cal Bears program.

After 1973, there is scant mention of Gilson in surviving newspapers. That January, he attended a testimonial dinner in Berkeley for local baseball organizer Clarence Hustead. In March, he was given honorable mention in a list of the East Bay’s top hoopsters over the previous quarter-century.61 In early 2004, Gilson, by then approaching his 62nd birthday, was selling Cadillacs for a car dealer in Phoenix. Seven years later, the Arizona Republic listed Gilson as having shot a hole-in-one at a public golf course in south Phoenix.62

Hal Gilson died on June 20, 2022, in Scottsdale, Arizona. His remains were cremated. As of 2026, his widow Alphia and three daughters resided in northern California.

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Cassidy Lent, director of the Baseball Hall of Fame library, for providing a copy of the library’s Hal Gilson clippings file, and Brian Flaspohler, president of SABR’s Bob Broeg St. Louis chapter, for uncovering details about Gilson’s life after baseball.

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and David Bilmes and checked for accuracy by SABR’s fact-checking team.

Photo credit: Hal Gilson, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources listed in the Notes, the author consulted websites familysearch.com, familytreenow.com, Baseball-Reference.com, retrosheet.org, statscrew.com, and stathead.com.

Notes

1 1910 US Census, Pueblo, Colorado, 3rd Ward, Supervisor’s District 3, Enumeration District 164, April 23, 1910, Sheet 8B; 1920 US Census, Los Angeles, California, Supervisor’s District 17, Enumeration District 305, April 7, 1930, Sheet 2A; 1940 US Census, Los Angeles, California, Supervisor’s District 14, Enumeration District 60-484, April 12, 1940, Sheet 4A.

2 1950 US Census, Palo Alto, California, Enumeration District 43-98C, April 27, 1950, Sheet 81. Harold’s father remained in Los Angeles and was remarried by the time of the 1950 US Census. 1950 US Census, Los Angeles, California, April 11, 1950, Enumeration District 66-1851, Sheet 13.

3 Frances Moffat, “Look Who’s Here!” Palo Alto (California) Times, April 21, 1949: 10. The author’s review of Life issues from that period failed to uncover any published photographs of the gag.

4 “St. Mary’s Grabs CYO Baseball Lead,” Oakland Tribune, April 19, 1953: 56.

5 Berkeley Gazette, August 24, 1957: VISTA-3; “Cold Jackets Drop First to Tech, 48-31,” Berkeley Gazette, December 7, 1957: 9.

6 “Gilson, Pace Pitch No-Hit Game in 6-2 Win Over MD,” Berkeley Gazette, March 19, 1958: 13; “Buckley Best BHS Batter With .471,” Berkeley Gazette, June 21, 1958: 8; “Berkeley Flips E. C. – Flies Flag!” Richmond (California) Independent, May 16, 1958: 9.

7 “Post 7 Wins Pair of Doubleheaders,” Berkeley Gazette, August 8, 1958: 13; “Berkeley Nine Romps,” Berkeley Gazette, September 9, 1958: 12.

8 See, for example Gordon Raddue, “Ells May Be Forced to Forfeit One Game!” Richmond Independent, February 11, 1959: 26; Johnny Rodrigues, “Jackets Riddle 145s, 80 to 60,” Berkeley Gazette, February 18, 1959: 15.

9 Johnny Rodrigues, “Weiss, Chavez Head All-Area,” Berkeley Gazette, March 20, 1959: 15; “Parker, Gilson Top Gazette’s All-Area,” Berkeley Gazette, March 15, 1960: 10; “Lanky, Green Berkeley High Hoopsters Open,” Berkeley Gazette, November 18, 1959: 13. Incredulous that Gilson’s officially listed weight was just 190 pounds, an anonymous Richmond Independent sportswriter wrote “if he’s an ounce less than 200 we’ll have [Independent sports columnist and future Oakland Tribune sports editor] Bob Valli pour chocolate syrup on Squaw Peak and eat the whole thing.” “Oilers Cap Loop Slate Tomorrow,” Richmond Independent, February 18, 1960: 26.

10 Alan McAllaster, “Two Warriors on Star Cage Team,” Oakland Tribune, March 16, 1960: 56.

11 Johnny Rodrigues, “Under EC Protest — Jackets Beat Flavin Again,” Berkeley Gazette, May 13, 1959: 25; “All-Loop Picks,” Richmond Independent, May 30, 1959: 5.

12 Jim Hanchett, “Top Legion Nines Set for State Tourney,” Long Beach (California) Press-Telegram, August 5, 1959: 37; “Berkeley Legion in State Ball,” Berkeley Gazette, August 6, 1959: 12; “Berkeley Nabs District 10 Legion Title,” Oakland Tribune, July 20, 1959: 37; “Berkeley Legion Wins First Two,” Berkeley Gazette, June 8, 1959: 13.

13 “Oilers Capture Lead in NACAL,” Richmond Independent, April 30, 1960: 7.

14 Theobald and Gilson were Berkeley High teammates as juniors, after which Theobald transferred to rival Harry Ells High in nearby Richmond. Johnny Rodrigues, “Gilson Hurls BHS To Share of Second,” Berkeley Gazette, June 1, 1960: 14; “Jet Pitcher ACAL’s Best,” Alameda (California) Times Star, June 4, 1960: 9; “2 Jets, 1 Hornet on All-NACAL Squad,” Alameda Times Star, June 7, 1960: 9.

15 The Jaguars had their conference title stripped away months winning it after they were found to have used an ineligible player “Honor Cagers,” San Jose News, March 22, 1961: 55; Bob McGraw, “Fullerton Annexes State Jr. College Basketball Crown,” Santa Barbara News-Press, March 12, 1961: B-2; Johnny Rodrigues, “The Prep Beat,” Berkeley Gazette, May 23, 1961: 13.

16 Gilson twice reached 15 punchouts in a game, against Monterey Peninsula and Menlo Colleges. “Diablo’s Bill Chappell on All-Star Baseball Squad,” Oakland Tribune, May 26, 1961: 42; “Jaguar Baseballers Two-Time Monterey,” San Jose Mercury, April 16, 1961: 27; “Menlo Plays Best Game, But Loses,” Redwood City (California) Tribune, May 9, 1961: 10.

17 “Cubs Ink Gilson,” Berkeley Gazette, May 30, 1961: 10. A scout who largely covered the west coast for the Cubs from 1961 to 1967 and for a few years afterwards for the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, Perry is crediting with signing a number of future major leaguers off California college campuses. Among them were John Boccabella (Santa Clara), Curt Motton (Santa Rosa Community College and Cal-Berkeley), Pat Jacquez (San Joaquin Delta College and Santa Clara) and Rich Nye (Cal-Berkeley). Seven years later, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch put Gilson’s signing bonus at $15,000. Neal Russo, “Wife Makes Gilson Run,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 26, 1968: 1E.

18 “Family Night Opens Big Rox Weekend,” St. Cloud (Minnesota) Times, June 24, 1961: 10; “Dukes Knock Off Aberdeen To Hold 3rd,” St. Cloud Times, June 21, 1961: 28.

19 “St. Cloud Edges Eau Claire, 3-2,” Grand Forks (North Dakota) Herald, July 11, 1961: 15.

20 Other future major leaguers who played alongside Gilson during the 1961 AWL season included Billy Ott, Ron Campbell and Tony Balsamo. Joe Long, “Long Look At Sports,” St. Cloud Times, November 1, 1961: 28; Bob Rockafield, “Baltimore Orioles Win, Increase Lead,” (Phoenix) Arizona Republic, November 6, 1961: 28.

21 Gilson’s Baseball-Reference page makes no mention of his playing in the AWL in 1962 or 1963 but does include his 1964 statistics. 

22 Russo, “Wife Makes Gilson Run.”

23 “Licenses Issued,” Oakland Tribune, September 16, 1962: 40; “Cradle Roll,” Berkeley Gazette, August 19, 1965: 5; Neal Russo, “Greenie Gilson Ringing Gong as Card Relief Ace,” unknown newspaper article from 1968 in Gilson’s Baseball Hall of Fame file.

24 Stargell and Harper were major leaguers at the time, with Morgan and May yet to make their major league debuts. “’Minors’ Beat NBC Stars,” Oakland Tribune, January 7, 1963: 28; “Fitzpatrick Pair Shine in Majors Win Over Minors,” Concord (California) Transcript, January 8, 1963: 5.

25 See, for example “Majors Win Dimes Game,” Alameda Times Star, February 3, 1964: 9; “Minor All-Stars Defeat Majors By 7 to 4 Score,” Alameda Times Star, February 7, 1966: 10; “Guest Keglers,” Richmond Independent, February 18, 1969: 18. Morgan, Pumpsie Green and Chris Cannizzaro were a few of the East Bay major leaguers who played alongside Gilson in those March of Dimes games.

26 Joe Much, “Dodger Power Levels Wenatchee in Twin,” Salem (Oregon) Capital Journal, May 9, 1963: 35.

27 Ray Giffin, “Chiefs Down Braves, 9-6, Behind Gilson,” (Boise) Idaho Statesman, June 9, 1963: 13; “Chiefs Pound Yanks, 12-6 In Pioneer Tilt,” Idaho Statesman, August 17, 1963: 10.

28 Frank Luksa, “Cats Face Salt Lake in Opener,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, March 26, 1964: 5-1.

29 Paul Harvey III, “Wenatchee Checks Emeralds,” Eugene (Oregon) Register-Guard, June 21, 1964: 16.

30 “Northwest League,” The Sporting News, September 26, 1964: 34.

31 Retrosheet.org and Baseball-Reference.com both mistakenly list this trade as taking place one day earlier. Ray Herbat, “Bees Edge Portland, 5-4, As Hurler Hits Homer,” Salt Lake Tribune, April 9, 1965: 4B.

32 John Ferguson, “Oilers’ Gilson Stymies Sonics, 2-1,” Tulsa World, April 20, 1965: 18; John Ferguson, “Rapp Glad He’s Back,” Tulsa World, August 22, 1965: Sports-3.

33 “Baseball Goes On For Several Oilers,” Tulsa World, September 12, 1965: Sports-7.

34 The latter game was a 15-inning marathon, with the league’s ultimate winningest pitcher, Ken Nixon, absorbing a complete-game loss for the Austin Braves. Wayne Mason, “Oilers Topple Sun Kings, 5-2,” Tulsa World, May 30, 1965: 17; “Oilers Topple Austin in 15th,” Tulsa World, July 14, 1965: 22.

35 “Oiler Reliever Gilson Shipped to Little Rock,” Tulsa World, June 10, 1966: 35; “Lum Blasts Grand Slam For Victory,” Austin (Texas) American, June 16, 1966: 75.

36 John Ferguson, “Oilers Bring in a Gusher: Spahn Hill Protégé Gilson,” The Sporting News, July 1, 1967: 35.

37 Fellow Travelers John Cumberland and Clint Stark were selected in the minor league portion of the draft, by the Toledo Mud Hens and Jacksonville Suns, respectively. Neal Russo, “Stallard and Mahaffey Among Cards’ Hurler Who’ll Be Available in Draft,” The Sporting News, November 5, 1966: 36.

38 “Nicaraguan Nifties,” The Sporting News, January 14, 1967: 43.

39 John Ferguson, “Spahn Assumes Oilers’ Command,” Tulsa World, February 26, 1967: Sports-1.

40 Ferguson, “Oilers Bring in a Gusher: Spahn Hill Protégé Gilson.”

41 “Portland’s Lipon Named PCL’s Manager of Year,” The Sporting News, September 30, 1967: 30.

42 In that game, Gilson hung a golden sombrero (four strikeouts) on Willie Kirkland. John Ferguson, “Gilson Hurls Oilers Past Hawaii,” Tulsa World, August 9, 1967: 24.

43 Spahn brought in Gilson and moved to the coaching lines after two innings. Spahn made two previous appearances for the Oilers in 1967: a mop-up appearance at the end of an August 2 rout administered by the Seattle Angels and a no-decision in a Ladies’ Day start at home on August 7 against the Hawaii Islanders. Volney Meese, “89ers ‘Use’ Spahn for 3-2 Victory,” (Oklahoma City) Daily Oklahoman, August 13, 1967: Sports-1.

44 John Ferguson, “Oilers End Typically: Doubly Washed Out,” Tulsa World, September 5, 1967: 30.

45 Torrez, who made three appearances down the stretch for the Cardinals, and Wayne Granger, another late season callup who rode the bench as Gilson did, also received $100 shares. “How Each Club Cut It Up,” Meriden (Connecticut) Morning Record, October 31, 1967: 8.

46 Turk Pierce, “Sports Whirled,” East Liverpool (Ohio) Evening Review, December 29, 1957: 12; Fernando Vicioso, “Escogido Challenges Champ Estrellas in Finals,” The Sporting News, February 17, 1968: 39.

47 “Dominican Dandies,” The Sporting News, January 20, 1968: 39; Fernando Vicioso, “Dominican Doings,” The Sporting News, February 3, 1968: 39.

48 Terrell Lester, “Cards’ Boss Accepts Whirlwind of Success,” Tulsa World, January 25, 1968: 56.

49 Newcomers defined as additions to the roster since the World Series. Others in addition to Gilson were Torrez and veteran position players Dick Simpson, Johnny Edwards and Dick Schofield. Arm Tenderness Will Cost Cards’ Dick Hughes His First ’68 Start,” St. Joseph (Missouri) Gazette, April 8, 1968: 8; Bill Lee, “Tigers, Cards Picked to Win Pennants,” Hartford Courant, April 7, 1968: 1C.

50 “No Tulsa Traffic for Mrs. Gilson,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 9, 1968: 2C.

51 Neal Russo, “Goofs Cost Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 15, 1968: 1C.

52 Until 2011, the award was given to three outfielders irrespective of their specific position.

53 Gilson’s mark stood until the 1972 season, when Ray Bare wasn’t charged with a run in his first seven games. As of the start of the 2026 season, Kevin Siegrist holds the modern franchise record, having allowed no runs in the first nine games of his career, which began in 2013 and Brad Ziegler holds the modern major league record with 29 scoreless outings to start his career with the 2008 Oakland A’s.

54 The save was not without some drama. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that afterwards, Hoerner, the game-winner, tore into Gilson for almost walking one of the two batters that he faced with the game on the line. Gilson had entered the game in the 12th after Hoerner had issued a one-out walk of his own, then allowed a single that put the tying run on first base. Neal Russo, “Schofield’s HR in 12th Sends Birds Flying,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 14, 1968: 1C.

55 Joe Heiling, “Astros Obtain Simpson, Gilson in Davis Trade,” Houston Post, June 16, 1968: 6-2.

56 “Baseball,” Cincinnati Post, July 17, 1968: 25.

57 “Astronotes,” Houston Chronicle, July 31, 1968: 4-7.

58 John Ferguson, “Oklahoma City Pins 2 Losses on Oilers,” Tulsa World, August 18, 1968: Sports-1.

59 Volney Meece, “89ers Blanked in Opener,” Daily Oklahoman, March 26, 1969: 11; Volney Meece, “Denver Halts 89er Skein in 11-2 Romp,” Daily Oklahoman, March 30, 1969: 55; Volney Meece, “Mayberry’s Slam, Lampard’s Homer Fuel 89ers, 10-7,” Daily Oklahoman, March 31, 1969: 19.

60 “Braves Display Awsome [sic] Power,” San Rafael (California) Independent-Journal, May 26, 1969: 34; Nick Peters, “Nick’s Notebook,” Berkeley Gazette, May 10, 1969: 9.

61 Husted was credited by the Berkeley Gazette with helping launch Gilson’s major league career as well as those of Billy Martin, Ron Theobald, Billy Williams and Charlie Beamon. Lari Blumenfeld, “Banquet for ‘Father’ of Berkeley Little League Ball: Sports Greats, Unknowns to Pay Honor to Hustead,” Berkeley Gazette, January 24, 1973: 14; “Pickers Say No To Bill Russell,” Oakland Tribune, March 28, 1973: 44.

62 Arizona Republic, January 16, 2004: AC16 “Holes in One,” Arizona Republic, April 13, 2011: C8.