Nelson, who barely played the previous two seasons, so much so that he wasn’t even in the 1972 Topps set, went on to post one of the lowest WHIP’s in MLB history in 1972 with a 0.871 mark.
He’d post a record of 11-6 over 34 appearances, 19 of them starts, with six shutouts and two saves while striking out 120 batters while walking only 31.
His 3.87 strikeouts to walks ratio also led the American League, while also finishing the season with a stellar 2.08 earned run average.
However he quickly fell to earth the following year, now pitching for the Cincinnati Reds, appearing in only 14 games while going 3-2 with a decent 3.46 ERA, throwing only 54.2 innings.
He’d pitch parts of the 1974 and 1976 seasons, spending all of 1975 in the Minors, finishing up his nine year Big League career with three games for the Royals out of the bullpen during the Bicentennial year.
All told, he finished with a career 29-32 record, with a very nice 3.06 ERA over 135 appearances and 636.1 innings, with seven shutouts and four saves.
Half of his career 20 complete games and all but one of his career shutouts were during that magic run of 1972 when he had it running on all cylinders.
