Posted on 08/05/2021 11:39:17 AM PDT by NohSpinZone
J.R. Richard, the legendary Astros pitcher who played all 10 seasons of his MLB career in Houston, has died, the team announced on Thursday.
The right-handed pitcher, who began his major league playing career in 1971, is the latest passing involving a member of the team's Hall of Fame.
"J.R. will forever be remembered as an intimidating figure on the mound and as one of the greatest pitchers in club history. He stood shoulder to shoulder with club icons Larry Dierker, Joe Niekro and Nolan Ryan, to form a few of the best rotations in club history," the team said in a statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc13.com ...
For a number of years he was their ace. Killer fastball.
RIP
What I remember about him was that he had a severe and undiagnosed medical problem that affected his pitching, which he reported, and was accused of being a slacker. Then the condition damn near killed him.
At one point he was homeless but I think some people from the Astros rallied to help him out. An all-time Astro who really played in the Astrodome.
i believe it was a stroke..i remember that...very strange....
At their heights, a few extra issues made them difficult to hit. The angle of the ball had to be tough, and being so tall, their release point of the ball was probably a foot closer to home plate. At 100+ MPH, that’s a lot extra time and space for the batter to surrender.
Lots of teams probably look back and say, “if only so-and-so hadn’t gotten injured, we would have won the title.” The 1980 Astros are probably unique in that the injury was a near-fatal stroke.
*** At one point he was homeless but I think some people from the Astros rallied to help him out. An all-time Astro who really played in the Astrodome. ***
That all I remembered from the name as he was my brother’s neighbor, then lost it all.
Had he been vaccinated for Covid-19?
He was the best pitcher in baseball when he had a stroke in 1980. No telling what he could have done if that had not happened.
I’m a guy who can barely make contact in a batting cage that throws straight 80mph. The talent of these hitters to be able to hit any pitcher let alone JR Richard, Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson is astounding.
Right, he started in the ASG that year too. He had an ERA under 2.00. Such a shame. Astros probably would have wiped the Phillies out that year with a healthy Richard.
He had a lot of medical problems that cut his career short. He was an amazing pitcher and a decent fellow. RIP, James Rodney.
I watched him pitch in ST. Louis. His slider had to seen to be believed. The Cardinal pitcher was about 5’10” tall, when they would walk past each other it was almost comical.
2nd that!
The most intimidating pitcher I ever saw. With a super fast fastball and just enough wildness, when he pitched in the Astros rotation was the day a lot of opposing teams’ players took the day off.
LOL Someone poasted a Randy Johnson video once called “One baseball, one bird”.
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