Selma originally came up with the New York Mets in 1965, and even put in a nice year for them in 1968 when he started 23 games, tossing three shutouts and posting a very nice 2.75 earned run average over 170.1 innings during the “year of the pitcher” at the age of 24.
But as bum-luck would have it, he was left available for the expansion draft, and the San Diego Padres selected him as the 5th pick.
He pitched well in their inaugural season of 1969, but the Padres turned around and traded him to the Chicago Cubs, where he would end up in an historic pennant race against his former club, pitching well for Chicago, going 10-8 with two shutouts and a 3.63 ERA over 25 starts and 36 appearances.
By the time 1974 rolled around, he just came off four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, appearing mainly out of the ‘pen with occasional starts, before starting the season in California, where he went 2-2 in a relief roll before making his way to Milwaukee, where he got hit hard in two appearances, giving up five earned runs over just 2.1 innings pitched.
He’d finish his career with a record 42-54, with a 3.62 earned run average and 681 strikeouts over 307 appearances and 840.2 innings pitched, with six shutouts and 31 saves.
