By special request, today's blog post has a 1981 corrected card for former Houston Astros great J.R. Richard, who was ripped off an All-Star banner given that he was the N.L.'s starting pitcher for the 1980 Midsummer Classic:
I
will never forget the disappointment as a twelve-year-old kid when I
came to realize that Topps broke for their tradition of giving an
All-Star designation to the starters of the previous season's game.
With
Richard, it was ridiculous since the man pitched the first two innings
of the game, allowing only one hit and two walks without a run, striking
out three.
Adding
insult to tragic injury, Richard suffered a career-ending and almost
life-ending stroke shortly after the All-Star game, so you'd think
they'd bestow this one honor in light of the tragedy.
At
the time, Richard was on his way to another monster season, with a 10-4
record and 1.90 ERA over 17 starts, with 119 strikeouts after leading
the N.L. in both 1978 and 1979 with 300+ each year.
But on July 30th, 1980, while playing a game of catch before a
game, Richard suffered a stroke that ended his career in an instant,
requiring emergency surgery to remove a life-threatening blood clot in
his neck.
Just terrible.
His final numbers are indicative of what we could have expected
well into the 1980's had he not been cut down at the age of 30: a 107-71
record with 1493 strikeouts and a 3.15 ERA in 238 games and 1606
innings.
It really would have been something to see Richard and Nolan Ryan team up to rack-up incredible numbers together.
One of the ultimate "what could have been" stories in baseball during my childhood for sure…