Christenson grew up in suburban Seattle and was selected out of high school as a first round draft pick by the Phillies in 1972. In fact, Christenson was the third pick in the nation just behind Dave Roberts (not to be confused with the current Los Angeles Dodgers manager) and Rick Manning and just ahead of Roy Howell.
Christenson would make his big-league debut with the Phillies early in the 1973 season with a complete game victory over the New York Mets. However, Christenson would not establish himself in the Phillies starting rotation until 1975 joining the likes of future Hall of Famers Steve Carlton and Jim Kaat as well as former AL Cy Young winner Jim Lonborg.
From 1975 through 1978, Christenson would reach double digits in victories earning a career high 19 wins during the 1977 season. Christenson was a core part of those Phillies teams which won 3 consecutive NL East titles but would fall short in the NLCS to both the Big Red Machine and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Christenson did earn a World Series ring with the Phillies in 1980, but injuries limited him to only 14 starts that season. He would start Game 4 of the World Series against the Kansas City Royals but was knocked out in the first inning. Christenson's only post-season victory came in Game 3 of the NLDS during the strike-shortened 1981 season against the Montreal Expos. Alas, the Expos would prevail in 5 games.
Although Christenson was a member of the 1983 NL champion Phillies, injuries kept him out of the post-season and he would retire at the end of the campaign. In 243 career games (220 of them starts), Christenson went 83-71 with a 3.79 ERA striking out 781 batters while walking 395 over 1402.2 innings pitched. Although Christenson batted a paltry .150, he did have some pop in his bat blasting 11 career HRs including 3 in 1977.
Christenson remained in the Philadelphia area involved in the community as an entrepreneur and with charitable causes. R.I.P.
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