The late Stan Nelson never pitched for anything but small towns and small-time sponsors. Yet he excelled in big-time fast pitch softball tournaments throughout the United States in a career that spanned the 1930s and 1940s. etween 1929-1937, Nelson won 380 games and lost 25 hurling 50 no-hitters. Throughout his career, he was known as a strikeout hurler. In fact, he fanned 38 batters in an 18 inning game in 1933. In 1935, he struck out 37 in a 19 inning game. In 1936, he fanned 19 of 21 batters in a seven inning game. Once in relief of his brother, Pete, he struck out nine batters in a row. Self-taught as a pitcher, Nelson joined his first organized league in 1929 and won 20 games before joining Olson Jewelry in 1930. That year, he won 18 of 19 games including three in the national Diamondball Tournament in Minneapolis. With the formation of the ASA in 1933, Nelson won three games in the national championship in Chicago and had an overall 9-2 record in ASA national championship play. In 1935, he compiled a 25-9 pitching record.By 1936, Nelson pitched fewer games because he was diagnosed with meningitis and by 1940 stopped pitching. He came out of retirement in 1943, however, to help Tobin Packing win the Iowa State Tournament, batting .500 playing first base. He had a lifetime pitching record of 650-50. In 1970, Stan was inducted into the Fort Dodge Hall of Fame. In May of 1991, Nelson passed away at age 81.
