[2] He compiled a .223 batting average with four home runs before he was converted to a pitcher with the Cards' low A affiliate, the Lewiston Broncs, in 1970.

Making his major league debut in the first game of a doubleheader at Riverfront Stadium, he lost a pitchers' duel with Tom Carroll and the Cincinnati Reds.

[3] He shut out the Atlanta Braves in his second start to earn his first major league victory,[4] but perhaps his most memorable pitching performance of the season came on September 30 against the Montreal Expos.

In the second to last game of the Cardinals' season, needing a win to remain tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates atop the National League East, Forsch carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning.

He pitched his first career no-hitter on April 16, 1978 against the Philadelphia Phillies[6] with the help of a questionable ruling by official scorer Neal Russo of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on a Ken Reitz error off the bat of Garry Maddox.

After a May 11 three hit shutout against the Los Angeles Dodgers improved his record to 6–2,[8] Forsch went 5–15 with a 4.07 ERA the rest of the way to end the season at 11–17.

[9] He got the game one start in the 1982 National League Championship Series, and held the Atlanta Braves to three hits while striking out six.

One of the few bright spots for his club came on September 26, 1983, when Forsch pitched his second career no-hitter, this time against the Montreal Expos.

The Cards ended up winning the division by three games, and defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1985 National League Championship Series.

Forsch made headlines during the 1987 National League Championship Series, which pitted the Cards against the San Francisco Giants.

In 1971, while Forsch was playing at Cedar Rapids, he struck up a conversation with Mollie Jane Knaau at a local restaurant.

[21] Less than a week before his death, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game Seven of the 2011 World Series at Busch Stadium in St.