RIP JR Richard

[Hook'em]

Sad to see JR passed away. He was before my time but I've heard he was incredible to watch pitch. 

[baddog]

55 minutes ago, Hook'em said:

Sad to see JR passed away. He was before my time but I've heard he was incredible to watch pitch. 

Tony Gwenn was the batting champ year in and year out back then and he said JR was the pitcher he least liked batting against. JR was 6’7’’ and could hold 7 baseballs in one hand. I got to see him play and he was awesome. Once he stretched that frame of his towards home plate, it drastically reduced the batter’s reaction time. Sad the way he went out of baseball.

[WOSdrummer99]

1 hour ago, Hook'em said:

Sad to see JR passed away. He was before my time but I've heard he was incredible to watch pitch. 

Same here. Prayers for his family and friends. 

 

As a kid I saw JR once. Not on the mound like you'd expect though. We went thru the area between the zoo and 59. It used to be nothing but roses and flower shops. As my dad stopped at an intersection, he looked over and said, "That homeless man sure does looks like JR Richard. Naw it cant be." I looked and saw him, but didn't think he looked like the guy on my baseball cards. About a year later, it was all over the news. Some guy working for the Astros recognized JR on the street. Got him fed and cleaned up. And gave him a job with the Astros.

My pops loved to tell that story.