The rest of his world collapsed shortly after that.īetween a divorce and some bad investments, he lost more than $1 million. Richard rehabilitated but wasn’t the same. I guess I was going in and out.”ĭoctors would tell Richard that he suffered three strokes that night. “I remember having cold towels on my forehead,” he said. His next memory fast-forwards to seeing doctors and nurses tending to him in the hospital hours later. “I remember I heard a high pitch tone ringing in my left ear,” he said. Richard has vague memories of what transpired that night. He was rushed to a hospital, where doctors performed emergency surgery to remove a blood clot in his arm. On July 30, while practicing before a game against the Cubs, the 30-year-old Richard collapsed on the Astrodome field. Sportswriters, fans, and team management at the time viewed him as petulant and bitter. They said I was unhappy, pouting about Nolan Ryan.” “I had been complaining to the Houston Astros staff for a month or two about not feeling well,” Richard told me last week. Richard continued to complain of pain, even though there was nothing specific he could tell trainers or doctors.Īnother checkup and a battery of tests again turned up nothing. A team doctor gave Richard a clean bill of health, and he was put back in the rotation. He didn’t make a July 15 start against the Phillies in the Astrodome, telling coaches that his stomach was upset. A kinder, gentler Richard might not have been ignored. Richards has always maintained that what happened next - or didn’t happen in some instances - was a direct reaction to those comments. Richard was having a great season, winning 10 of his first 14 starts with a 1.89 ERA, but it didn’t matter.
With those comments, Richard had dashed any goodwill he had created. This is where Richards’ life began to unravel. Richards argued that he was worth more than Ryan. Richard complained, publicly and privately, about what he perceived to be a snub. McMullen, desperate to win a pennant, then signed future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan and made him baseball’s first $1 million player. It’s not clear if anyone ever put a radar gun on Richard’s pitches, but it’s believed his fastball hit 105 mph.Īfter those three great years, Richard was re-signed by then-Astros owner John McMullen before the 1980 season for $850,000. The next year, he struck out a Koufax-like 313. In Richard’s three best seasons, the 6-foot-8, 240-pound right-hander averaged 18 wins, 261 strikeouts and had a 2.88 ERA. God, as it turns out, was willing to go to great lengths to get J.R. God wouldn’t do things to hurt you, but he will do things to get your attention.” “That’s where I really met God and turned my life around. A few years later, he was out of baseball, out of money and living under a freeway bridge.īut if given the chance, Richard told me last week, he wouldn’t change a thing. Richard was one of the most dangerous pitchers in the mid- to late-1970s, blasting hitters out of the box. Richard began not with a stroke, as you may have read, but with hubris. The heroic rise and slow, painful fall of Houston Astros pitching legend J.R. File photo / Houston Post Show More Show Less Richard was taken off the Astrodome field on a stretcher after suffering a stroke before a Jgame. Richard Focus On Sport, Contributor / Getty Images Show More Show Less 6 of6 J.R. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** J.R. Richard played for the Astros from 1971-80. Richard #50 of the Houston Astros pitches against the New York Mets during a Major League Baseball game circa 1975 at Shea Stadium in the Queens borough of New York City.
Tom Reel, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Show More Show Less 5 of6 NEW YORK - CIRCA 1975: Pitcher J.R. Richard as Houston Astros players Jose Altuve and Brett Wallace sign autographs with Richard and broadcaster Bill Brown at the Academy Sports and Outdoors store at 1604 near Gold Canyon on January 24, 2013. file Show More Show Less 4 of6 Brooke Crowl gets to chat with J.R. Richard's imposing presence on the mound - he stood 6-8 and weighed 230 - helped make him one of the top pitchers in the game in the late '70s. Tom Reel, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Show More Show Less 3 of6 James Rodney ( J. Richard Rich Pilling, Contributor / MLB Photos via Getty Images Show More Show Less 2 of6 Carter Herrera gets some bunny ears from J.R. (Photo by Rich Pilling/MLB Photos via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** J.R. Richard played for the Astros from 1971-1980. Richard #50 of the Houston Astros poses for a photo.
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