Kenneth Roth Forsch (born September 8, 1946) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB) as a right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

from to , most prominently as a member of the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

where he helped the franchise win its first-ever National League Western Division title and postseason berth in . A two-time All-Star player, Forsch pitched a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

for the Astros on April 7, 1979. He ended his baseball career playing for the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ...

Career

Forsch was born in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

where he graduated from

Hiram Johnson High School Hiram W. Johnson High School is a secondary school in the Sacramento City Unified School District, in the Tahoe Park South area of Sacramento, California, United States. Notable alumni * Henry Andrade, hurdler * Bryan Barber, motion picture ...

and later attended the

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering ...

where he played for the

Oregon State Beavers baseball The Oregon State Beavers baseball team represents Oregon State University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team participates in the Pac-12 Conference. They are currently coached by Mitch Canham and assistant coaches Ryan Gipson, Darwin Ba ...

team through the 1967–1968 seasons. He was selected by the

in the 18th round (399th overall) of the

1968 Major League Baseball draft The 1968 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft took place prior to the 1968 MLB season. The draft saw the New York Mets take shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, whi ...

. He made his major league debut on September 7, 1970 at the age of 23. Forsch was selected to the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

in 1976 and 1981. On April 7,

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

, Forsch no-hit the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

6–0 at the

Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...

. His brother Bob Forsch, who also pitched for the Astros, hurled two no-hitters while with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, making them the only set of brothers to pitch no-hitters in MLB history. During his 16-year career, Forsch compiled 114 wins, 1,047

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is den ...

s, and a 3.37

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

References

External links

Ken Forsch
at Baseball Almanac
Ken Forsch
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) :
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forsch, Ken 1946 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American League All-Stars American people of Russian descent Baseball players from Sacramento, California Calgary Cannons players California Angels players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Columbus Astros players Florida Instructional League Astros players Greensboro Patriots players Houston Astros players Los Angeles Angels executives Major League Baseball pitchers National League All-Stars Oklahoma City 89ers players Oregon State Beavers baseball players Peninsula Astros players Sacramento City Panthers baseball players Tiburones de La Guaira players Williamsport Astros players

Career

See also

References

External links