Harold Gust Carlson (May 17, 1892 – May 28, 1930) was a professional baseball

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

in the Major Leagues from 1917 to 1930, for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. Carlson used his curveball exclusively, owing to his lack of speed. He played seven years for the Pirates, going 42–55, went 42–48 in four years with the Phillies, and had a mark of 30–17 with the Cubs in four years. He had his most wins in 1926, with 17 (along with 12 losses). He had a career best 2.23 ERA in 1919. He was a strong hitting pitcher in his 14-year major league career, posting a .223

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(159-for-712) scoring 58 runs, with 5

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and 72 RBI and drawing 24

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

. He had 13 RBI in both 1926 and '27. He was also good fielding his position, recording a .971

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

which was 12 points higher than the league average at his position.

Death

At 3:00 p.m. on May 28, 1930, Carlson was complaining of stomach pains and called a doctor. Approximately 35 minutes after the team physician was called, Carlson died, just as he was being moved to hospital. He was 38 at the time of his death. According to the physician, Carlson died of a stomach hemorrhage. He left behind a wife and a child. Carlson is buried at Arlington Memorial Park Cemetery in Rockford, Illinois.

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* 1892 births 1930 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Illinois Chicago Cubs players Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Sportspeople from Rockford, Illinois Rockford Wolverines players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Rockford Wolves players Rockford Wakes players Grand Rapids Black Sox players Wichita Falls Spudders players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1890s-stub

Death

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