J.R. Richard passes at 71

[gmase]

JR Richard - who had a stroke in the middle of a Cy Young season in 1980 - lived to be 71 and passed away today.
https://www.mlb.com/news/j-r-richard-dies

I was a fan of him and Nolan Ryan. Loved these uniforms:

 

[John_8581]

Mike Krukow was talking about him in the eighth inning of yesterday's Giants-Diamondbacks game. He was primarily a two pitch pitcher. His over 100 mph fastball along with a devastating slider. His 6' 8" frame was instrumental in getting right handed hitters out. After he released the pitched ball, it appeared that he was right on top of them. He looked really close to them. If he threw his slider to right handed batters, they could not hit him. Krukow said that many hitters when they faced the Astros would rather hit against Nolan Ryan than go up against J.R. Richard. Duane Kuiper was one of those players who preferred hitting against Ryan. Then Dave Fleming said, "Ryan threw high 108 mph fastballs up and inside near Kuiper's head." Both Krukow and Fleming laughed at that because it was a "knock" on their broadcast buddy. However, both Ryan and Richard threw nasty stuff and Ryan was the one guy who would fight batters on the field. (Look up the Robin Ventura fight on youtube when Ryan pitched for the Rangers and Ventura was with the White Sox) Then they showed a clip. Richard struck out Roy Smalley, Reggie Jackson, Willie Stargell, Dave Parker, Mike Schmidt and Joe Morgan. A nice tribute.

 

[Little Red Wagon Repairman]

JR Richard - who had a stroke in the middle of a Cy Young season in 1980 - lived to be 71 and passed away today.
https://www.mlb.com/news/j-r-richard-dies

I was a fan of him and Nolan Ryan. Loved these uniforms:
View attachment 901111

This old LA Dodger fan says RIP.

My favorite all-time player is Nolan Ryan. I also had one of those Astros jerseys with the horizontal stripes. I looked like a massively fat slob in the thing but that's how much I liked Nolan Ryan.

 

[gmase]

This old LA Dodger fan says RIP.

My favorite all-time player is Nolan Ryan. I also had one of those Astros jerseys with the horizontal stripes. I looked like a massively fat slob in the thing but that's how much I liked Nolan Ryan.

Nolan was - and still is - my favorite player of all time. I too had an Astro jersey - cheap poly with no blend. Although not ‘a massively fat slob’, I needed my baseball pants altered a bit to accommodate my thick thighs. Dino is my alter ego (less the wild charmed life).

If you had a good friend who liked Jim Kaat, we are in trouble. The Strato games we played between them were classic.

We were talking about Nolan the other day and how his 5700 K’s may never be reached. He was tossing close to 100 mph and could still consistently throw 130+ pitches a game - into his 40’s!

 

[John_8581]

Off-topic.

Nolan was - and still is - my favorite player of all time. I too had an Astro jersey - cheap poly with no blend. Although not ‘a massively fat slob’, I needed my baseball pants altered a bit to accommodate my thick thighs. Dino is my alter ego (less the wild charmed life).

If you had a good friend who liked Jim Kaat, we are in trouble. The Strato games we played between them were classic.

We were talking about Nolan the other day and how his 5700 K’s may never be reached. He was tossing close to 100 mph and could still consistently throw 130+ pitches a game - into his 40’s!

Another record that won't ever be reached. Strikeouts in a season (modern era after 1900)

Nolan Ryan ... California Angels 1973, he came in second in AL Cy Young Award voting (Jim Palmer won it) 21-16 W-L record 2.87 ERA - 383 strikeouts - 326 innings. Strikeouts/9: 10.6. WHIP was 1.227. However, it is insignificant. Ryan would have low hit totals against him but he could walk seven or eight hitters in a game of 160 to 210 pitches.

[Sometimes Ryan's pitch count was close to 225 to 245 pitches if the game went into extra innings.Then he'd be back in four days. Four man pitching staffs back then. Not like the five/six man staffs and "openers" (relievers starting) that they have today.]

Sandy Koufax ... Los Angeles Dodgers 1965, NL Cy Young Award winner, second place in MVP voting (next to Willie Mays) 26-8 W-L record 2.04 ERA - 382 strikeouts - 335.2 innings. Strikeouts/9: 10.2 WHIP was 0.855.

** Number of pitches in a game and over 300+ innings pitched in a season are a thing of the past. **