Former MLB pitcher J.R. Richards has passed away, at age 71

[Deus Irae]

For those who aren't old enough to know him, J.R. was a tremendous pitcher for the 1970's Houston Astros. He combined with Nolan Ryan for a while, making one of the best power pitching duos in MLB history. His career was cut short by a stroke.



J.R. Richard Tribute








Godspeed, J.R., and may you always rest in peace.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Dude was unhittable

 

[jimnance]

How good was he? Before the stroke,in his prime,he was on the short list of the 15 best pitchers Ive ever seen-that goes back to 1960.
Koufax and Pedro are the 2 best. After that not necessarily in order: Gibson, Seaver,Clemens,Maddux, Carlton,Kershaw,Big Unit,Schilling,Palmer,
JR Richard, Jose Ferdandez, Scherzer and Marichal.
Thats how good Richard was at his peak.
Kinda like Jose Ferdandez,it ended too soon.

 

[jimnance]

DeGrom is pretty close to being on that list already. Another year or two,he knocks a few off.

 

[Joker]

not about to argue with you JM...but I too saw all those pitchers...most of them in person. I don't think anyone was as totally dominant in his era than Gibson was in the late 60's...and BTW I saw Koufax in his prime and the Dodgers had another starter named Don Drysdale that made other teams WANT to face Koufax instead. People don't even know who I'm talking about because we tend to recency bias

 

[Seacoast Fan]

not about to argue with you JM...but I too saw all those pitchers...most of them in person. I don't think anyone was as totally dominant in his era than Gibson was in the late 60's...and BTW I saw Koufax in his prime and the Dodgers had another starter named Don Drysdale that made other teams WANT to face Koufax instead. People don't even know who I'm talking about because we tend to recency bias

I have always said, if I had to put together a staff for a 5 or 7 game series, Gibson would be on it. Never saw Koufax pitch and honestly not sure I would elevate Gibson above him … but few pitchers could glower at a hitter and then punch him out better than Gibson.

 

[jlu52]

All the pitchers named were/are among the best ever. Bob Gibson kept the Red Sox from winning it all in 1967, and MLB lowered the mound after Gibson's 1.12 ERA in 1968, as he was the poster man for pitcher's dominance at the time.
I do think that Pedro Martinez from 1997 through 2000 was as dominant as anyone I've ever seen. Before Pedro's shoulder
gave out, he was as unhittable as anyone ever was.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I have always said, if I had to put together a staff for a 5 or 7 game series, Gibson would be on it. Never saw Koufax pitch and honestly not sure I would elevate Gibson above him … but few pitchers could glower at a hitter and then punch him out better than Gibson.

Debating between who is best from a group including Koufax, Gibson, Pedro, Randy Johnson, Maddox, Richard, etc in their primes is impossible.

Every single one of those guys are unhittable when they are dealing.

They are all in the GOAT discussion.

 

[patman12]

R.I.P.

 

[Dingleberry]

I had one of those rainbow Astros jerseys as a kid because of JR Richard. He and Nolan Ryan made it easy to choose the Astros as my NL team back then. Well, the tacky colorful jersey didn't hurt either. Looked cool to a young fool.

RIP to the best pitcher I ever saw in person.

 

[RedSleevesPinkStripes]

Before my time but I was watching MLB Ultimate Lineup the other day and they had a segment on him. You could tell from the clips the guy just had incredible/dominant talent, like a taller Bob Gibson. RIP

 

[everlong]

People probably forget but he went from unhittable, had the stroke, was homeless living under a bridge, did construction and became a minister. He stays healthy and he's in the hall.

 

[jimnance]

not about to argue with you JM...but I too saw all those pitchers...most of them in person. I don't think anyone was as totally dominant in his era than Gibson was in the late 60's...and BTW I saw Koufax in his prime and the Dodgers had another starter named Don Drysdale that made other teams WANT to face Koufax instead. People don't even know who I'm talking about because we tend to recency bias

Koufax dominated early-mid60's, Gibson was more late 60's. I was at Fenway Game 7 '67 WS- so I know all about Gibson. Totally dominating. I think Koufax was better all-around but Gibson eas awesome and Intimidating. He scared rhe shiit out of hitters. Same with Drysdale. Those 2 loved to knock hitters on their assses and drilling them with high 90's heat. Plus Gibson LOOKED scary. Always had a mean look on his face like he wanted to kill you.

 

[jimnance]

People probably forget but he went from unhittable, had the stroke, was homeless living under a bridge, did construction and became a minister. He stays healthy and he's in the hall.

Damn life can be strange.

 

[jimnance]

All the pitchers named were/are among the best ever. Bob Gibson kept the Red Sox from winning it all in 1967, and MLB lowered the mound after Gibson's 1.12 ERA in 1968, as he was the poster man for pitcher's dominance at the time.
I do think that Pedro Martinez from 1997 through 2000 was as dominant as anyone I've ever seen. Before Pedro's shoulder
gave out, he was as unhittable as anyone ever was.

A while back somebody- maybe mlb.com or espn- cant remember- did a comprehensive study of all the greatest pitchers in history. The 2 best and most dominant stretches by anyone was a virtual tie between Pedro 1997-2000 and Koufax 1960-1965.( Might be off by a year) Nobody else was close. Both guys are average-size humans 5'11" and 6' respectively. Both threw very hard. But both had incredible command and devastating secondary pitches.
But as far as striking fear in a hitter, Gibson, Drysdale, Ryan and RandyJ.

 

[captain stone]

Before my time but I was watching MLB Ultimate Lineup the other day and they had a segment on him. You could tell from the clips the guy just had incredible/dominant talent, like a taller Bob Gibson. RIP

And a right-handed Randy Johnson.

 

[captain stone]

Koufax dominated early-mid60's, Gibson was more late 60's. I was at Fenway Game 7 '67 WS- so I know all about Gibson. Totally dominating. I think Koufax was better all-around but Gibson eas awesome and Intimidating. He scared rhe shiit out of hitters. Same with Drysdale. Those 2 loved to knock hitters on their assses and drilling them with high 90's heat. Plus Gibson LOOKED scary. Always had a mean look on his face like he wanted to kill you.

If Lonborg didn't have to pitch game 162, can you imagine the matchups between him & Gibson for WS games 1, 3 & 7?