Famous Like Me > Actor > R > Bobby Richardson
Profile of Bobby Richardson
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| Name: |
Bobby Richardson |
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| Date of Birth: |
19th August 1935 |
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| Place of Birth: |
Sumter, South Carolina, USA |
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| Profession: |
Actor |
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From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Bobby Richardson (born August 19, 1935 in Sumter, South Carolina) is a former major league baseball second baseman for the New York Yankees from 1955 through 1966. He also played third base and shortstop infrequently. He batted and threw right-handed.
Biography
Debuting on August 5, 1955, Richardson is often considered one of the most underrated Yankees of all time. Racking up 1432 hits in his career, with a lifetime batting average of .266, 34 home runs and 390 RBIs, he also won 5 Gold Gloves at second base.
His impressive career statistics don't end there either. He had 643 runs scored and 73 stolen bases in his 12-year career. He also had 196 doubles and 37 triples all-time.
His best year was probably 1962 when he batted .302 with 8 home runs and 50 runs batted in, while picking up 209 hits (led the league), and 11 stolen bases in 161 games. He made the American League All-Star team once again that year, won his second gold glove, and came in 2nd in the AL MVP voting, just behind teammate Mickey Mantle.
One of the best parts of Richardson's game was his ability to make contact. He only struck out 243 times in his entire 12-year career, usually accomplished today in about 2 years by power hitters. He was in the Top 3 in the league in at bats per strikeout 8 times during his career, and led the league 3 times, all later on in his career. He topped out in his last year striking out just 1 time for every 21.8 at bats.
He also led the league in at bats 3 times, and would come to be known as a workehorse, rarely missing a game. His career high was 692 at bats in 161 games in 1962.
He had an all-time fielding percentage of .979 at second base.
Postseason
Richardson won 3 World Series (1958, 1961, 1962) in the 7 he played in (1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964), all with the Yankees. He made the final out of the 1962 Series, snaring a screaming line drive off the bat of Willie McCovey, that if it were 2 or 3 feet higher would have won the Series for the Giants.
He was named World Series MVP in 1960 when he helped the Yankees against the Pittsburgh Pirates, even though they lost, in a Series in which normally light-hitting second basemen (the other being the Bucs' Bill Mazeroski) shone at the plate. During that Series, he hit .367 with 11 hits in 30 at bats. He had a home run and 12 RBI's, and also racked up 2 doubles and 2 triples in the 7-game series. To this day, Richardson remains the only World Series MVP from the losing team.
Highlights
- 7-time AL All-Star (1957, 1959, 1962-1966)
- World Series MVP in 1960
- Lou Gehrig Memorial Award winner in 1963
- 5-time Gold Glove winner (1961 - 1965)
- Led the league in hits in 1962 (209)
Trivia
- Richardson wore the uniform number 1 (one) for the majority of his career (1958-1966)
- Richardson is a born-again Christian. In the 1980s, he served as a collegiate baseball coach at Liberty University.
- His manager Casey Stengel once made this observation about Richardson, who was better known for his glove than his bat: "Look at him. He don't drink, he don't smoke, he don't chew, he don't stay out too late, and he still don't hit .250!" (His career average was, in fact, .266).
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It uses material from the Wikipedia article Bobby Richardson
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