Today on the blog we have a 1971 "dedicated rookie" for former
Houston Astros pitcher Ken Forsch, who made him Big League debut with
four starts during the 1970 season:
Forsch went 1-2 with a 5.63 earned run average in his debut, pitching 24 innings and striking out 13, completing one game.
He
had a very good sophomore season in 1971, going 8-8 with a 2.53 ERA
over 33 appearances, 23 of those starts, tossing two shutouts and
putting in 188.1 innings of work.
He'll go on to put in a 16
year Major League career, with a stretch as a reliever between 1974 and
1978 before returning to a starting role in 1979.
In 1981 he'd find himself playing for the California Angels, where he would play the final five years of his career.
Overall,
he finished his career with a record of 114-113, with a 3.37 ERA over
521 appearances, 241 of them starts, with 70 complete games, 18
shutouts, 51 saves and 1047 strikeouts over 2127.1 innings pitched,
making two All-Star teams and tossing a no-hitter on April 7th of 1979,
joining his brother Bob, who also threw a no-hitter just about a year
earlier with the St. Louis Cardinals.