Today on
the blog, we go and add J.R. Richard to my future custom "Classic
Baseball" set, which I hope to release in five series in the near future
as a "monster" WTHBALLS set on high-end card stock:
Just
a wonderful image of the fire-balling Astros ace flashing that great
smile as he tortured National League batters with his overpowering
stuff.
Richard was just becoming the great formidable pitcher mowing down N.L. batters around the time this photo was taken.
From 1976 to 1979, Richard was down-right nasty, striking out 200
or more batters, including 300+ in both 1978 and 1979 (leading the N.L.
in K's each time), as well as posting 18 or more wins and 3+ shutouts
each season.
1980 was shaping up to be more of the same, as Richard was 10-4 with a 1.90 E.R.A. and 119 K's through only 113.2 innings.
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.
Though he tried a comeback once he recovered, the stroke caused
enough damage to prevent him from ever playing in another Major League
game.
A tragic end to one of the most promising careers in the Majors at the time.
It would have been incredible to see Richard team up with new
Astros pitcher Nolan Ryan and see how many K's they could have racked
up.
That would have been some 1-2 punch to watch through the 1980s, but sadly we did not have the pleasure.
Rest in Peace J.R.
