Fun facts about Bobby Richardson:
-A native of Sumter, SC, Bobby signed with the Yankees out of high school in 1953.
-He stormed through the minors, hitting .313 in four seasons and earning brief big league callups in 1955 and 1956.
-Became part of a second base platoon at age 21 in 1957, and made the All-Star team despite modest stats of .269/.281/.316 in 54 games in the first half.
-Richardson led all New York players with a .301 average in 1959.
-Had the unique honor of being named MVP of the 1960 World Series despite being on the losing team. He went 11-for-30 (.367) with 8 runs scored, 2 doubles, 2 triples, a home run, and a Series-record 12 RBI in the Fall Classic.
-Bobby won five consecutive Gold Gloves at the keystone from 1961 through 1965.
-He led the American League with 209 hits in 1962, finishing with 99 runs scored, 38 doubles, 8 home runs, 59 RBI, and a .302/.337/.406 batting line, all career highs. He was a surprising runner-up to teammate Mickey Mantle in MVP voting.
-On June 29, 1966, he went 5-for-5 with a home run and a double to help the Yankees eke out a 6-5 win over Boston.
-Bobby was only 30 when he retired at the end of the 1966 season to stay home with his family. He had intended to retire a year sooner, but Tony Kubek was forced to quit due to injuries, and the Yankees didn't want to lose both at once. Richardson finished his 12-year career as a 7-time All-Star, carrying a lifetime average of .266 with 34 home runs and 390 RBI.
-Richardson got into college athletics after retiring, coaching baseball at the University of South Carolina, Coastal Carolina College, and Liberty University between 1970 and 1990.
Interesting... both Koufax & Richardson, two stars of their time, retired early after '66.
ReplyDeleteBobby Richardson was an impossible-to-dislike Yankee. I had two types of friends growing up... Yankee fan friends and the anti-Yankee contingent of friends. But everyone liked Bobby Richerdson.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to imagine two people with more different lifestyles on the same team than Mickey Mantle and Bobby Richardson.
ReplyDeleteWe used to throw the gum from the pack immediately on the sidewalk and it would break like a piece of glass (then melt under the summer sun and be all over the next guys soles!)
ReplyDeleteDevon - Very true. Of course, Koufax was in constant pain, and it seems as if Richardson had just had enough.
ReplyDeleteBob - That's how I feel about Rivera. My college roommate was a Yankee fan, and he always says, "You can't hate Mo!".
Marc - I just started reading The Last Boy, Jane Leavy's recent book about Mantle. Pretty interesting.
Deadbolt - Wow, I can't believe that stuff is even capable of melting.