Daniel Lee Kolb (born March 29, 1975) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

. Kolb has played for the Texas Rangers,

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

, Milwaukee Brewers, and Pittsburgh Pirates. He bats and throws

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

Career

Kolb was drafted by the Texas Rangers in and made his major league debut with Texas in 1999. He spent that season and the next three being shuttled between the Rangers and their minor league system. Released before the season, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the Milwaukee Brewers, where he became the closer, converting 60 of 67 save opportunities in 2003 and 2004 and making the 2004 NL All-Star team. Before the 2005 season, the Atlanta Braves returned closer

John Smoltz John Andrew Smoltz (born May 15, 1967), nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves. An eight-time A ...

to his original starter role to compensate for several losses in their pitching rotation. The Braves traded pitchers

José Capellán José Francisco Capellán (January 13, 1981 – April 7, 2015) was a Dominican professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball from 2004 to 2008 for the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers and Colorado Rockies. ...

and Alec Zumwalt to the Brewers for Kolb to replace Smoltz in the bullpen. However, Kolb endured a poor season with the Braves, going 3-8 with a 5.93 ERA while recording only 11 saves before being replaced in the closer role by

Chris Reitsma Christopher Michael Reitsma (born December 31, 1977) is a Canadian American former right-handed professional baseball pitcher. He played seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from until , with the Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, and Sea ...

. He admitted following the '05 season that the pressure of replacing a legend like Smoltz played a big part in his ineffectiveness. At the 2005 Major League Baseball Winter Meetings, Kolb was traded back to Milwaukee in exchange for reliever

Wes Obermueller Wesley Mitchell Obermueller (born December 22, 1976) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He began his career in the Kansas City Royals organization when he was selected in the 2nd round of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft. Obermuelle ...

. He signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the Brewers on January 4, 2006 to serve as a setup man to

Derrick Turnbow Thomas Derrick Turnbow (born January 25, 1978) is an American former professional baseball right-handed relief pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Anaheim Angels and Milwaukee Brewers. Early career Turnbow was born in Uni ...

. He finished the year with a 2-2 record and a 4.84

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

in 53 games. He declared free agency on November 1, 2006 and signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates on February 3, . On March 29, he was told he would not be added to the major league roster to start the season. On June 12, the Pirates recalled Kolb from Triple-A Indianapolis. Kolb was designated for assignment and was released from the Pirates after he declined the option to go to the minor leagues. Kolb signed a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training with the Boston Red Sox on January 22, 2008. He was released on April 26, 2008. Kolb graduated from Walnut High School in Walnut, Illinois.

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolb, Dan 1975 births Living people Baseball players from Illinois Major League Baseball pitchers Texas Rangers players Milwaukee Brewers players Atlanta Braves players Pittsburgh Pirates players National League All-Stars Gulf Coast Rangers players Charleston RiverDogs players Charlotte Rangers players Tulsa Drillers players Oklahoma RedHawks players Indianapolis Indians players Pawtucket Red Sox players Illinois State Redbirds baseball players People from Sterling, Illinois

Career

See also

References

External links