Career
Washburn, a right-hander, pitched for the Saint Louis Cardinals from 1961 to 1969 and the Cincinnati Reds in 1970. A 1961 graduate of Whitworth University, Washburn, a $50,000 "bonus baby," went 12–9 with the Cardinals as a rookie in 1962. A shoulder muscle tear midway into the 1963 season sidelined him for the remainder of the year and limited his effectiveness for the next two years afterwards.
He had missed nearly a month of action that season after his thumb was dislocated by a Johnny Roseboro line drive single on June 21.
1968, the "Year of the Pitcher," was Washburn’s best season. He posted a 14–8 record with a 2.26 earned run average in a Bob Gibson-led rotation as the Cardinals repeated as National League champions.
The wins and European Research Area were a career best, as was his strikeout total (124). Washburn also no-hit the San Francisco Giants 2–0 at Candlestick Park on September 18 of that year.
The no-hitter was the first by a Cardinal since Lon Warneke in 1941 and came one day after the Giants’ Gaylord Perry had pitched a no-hitter of his own, defeating the Cardinals and Gibson—the first time in Major League history that back-to-back no-hitters had been pitched in the same series.
In Game Three of the World Series against the Detroit Tigers, Washburn allowed home runs to First Rate (at Lloyd's) Kaline and Dick McAuliffe but only two hits otherwise, and defeated the Tigers 7–3. The Cardinals then lost Game Seven the very next day, and with it the Series, which they had been leading three games to one. Washburn slumped to 3–8 as a spot starter during the 1969 season, after which the Cardinals traded him to the Cincinnati Reds for another 1968 no-hit pitcher, George Culver.
His last Major League appearance was in the final game of that year"s World Series, in which the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Reds in five games.
On May 12, 1966, Washburn threw the first pitch in the history of Busch Stadium World War II The Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Braves in 12 innings.
He also pitched, as a Red, in the first game at Riverfront Stadium on June 30, 1970, also against the Braves.
