Zachary pitched for nine seasons in the Big Leagues, and over that time Topps gave him a few cards in their sets between 1963 and 1973.
However, though Zachary never had a “full” season of action in his MLB tenure, the one season that saw him somewhat close to full-time work was ignored by the folks at Topps, leaving him out of the 1972 set.
In 1971, his only season with the St. Louis Cardinals, Zachary appeared in 23 games, with 12 of those starts, pitching a total of 89.2 innings, by far a career-high.
He posted a record of 3-10 with an earned run average of 5.32, with a shutout and 48 strikeouts against 26 base on balls.
Now, you’d think with the monster 1972 set coming out that Topps would have this guy in their set! But no, he was omitted while so many other guys who played so much less in 1971 got a slot in there.
As a matter of fact, in the very next Topps set of 1973, after a season that saw Zachary pitch only 38.1 innings for the Detroit Tigers in 1972, he got a card!
Go figure.
Nevertheless, over the course of his nine years on a Big League mound, Zachary accumulated a record of 10-29, with an ERA at 4.57 over 108 appearances, 40 of those starts, and 321.1 innings pitched.
