I realize his 1974 card has a very similar picture, maybe even from the same game, but it’s such a classic follow-through I had to use it for the In-Action card.
For Blass, he was coming off of a World Championship winning effort in the 1971 Series against the Baltimore Orioles, as well as a 15-8 record with a 2.85 earned run average when this card would have come out.
In 1972 he would have his best season as a big league pitcher, going 19-8 with a 2.49 ERA over 33 appearances, 32 of which were starts.
That would give him a lifetime 100-67 record at this point, but then without reason the floor went out from under him, as he could not control his pitches, to the point where his career was over after only 23 starts in 1973 and one single start in 1974.
To put things in perspective, Blass walked 84 batters in 1972 over 249.2 innings pitched., yet in 1973 he walked the exact same amount of batters, but in only 88.2 innings.
Without reason, Blass’ career was over and he was still only 32 years old, barely one season from a second place finish in the National League Cy Young Award.