Date: SUN 04/08/01
Section: SPORTS 2
Page: 23
Edition: 2 STAR
It is time to retire J.R. Richard's number 50.
Let's review a few of J.R.'s accomplishments. In 1976, he became the second Astros pitcher to ever win 20 games, and he won 18 in each of the next three seasons. In 1978, he became the first NL righthander to strike out 300 batters. In 1979, he repeated that feat while winning the ERA title.
He held opposing batters to the lowest batting average in the league in 1976, 1978 and 1979. Selected as the All-Star starter in 1980, he was leading the league in wins, strikeouts, ERA and shutouts when he was stricken by a career-ending stroke on July 30. When stricken, he was clearly the most dominating pitcher in the NL, with a fastball exceeding 100 mph and a slider that zipped in at 92 mph.
This information comes from the Web site mentioned in a Chronicle story that is leading the effort to have J.R.'s jersey retired - www.AstrosDaily.com. There is a wonderfully complete tribute to J.R. at that site, including a recent telephone interview with him.
I was in high school when J.R. broke in with the Astros. I now describe J.R. to my son as a righthanded version of Randy Johnson. So tall that he seemed to hand the ball to the catcher. And wild enough that you never knew if he meant that ball to almost hit you. He was simply nasty. Batters didn't like facing Nolan Ryan, but they feared facing J.R. Richard.
From a macabre point of view, if J.R. had not survived his stroke in 1980, he probably would have joined Jim Umbricht and Don Wilson as Astros who died while in uniform and have had their numbers retired. But God smiled on J.R., and he is still with us. Let's honor him for what he brought to this city and its baseball team. J.R. Richard deserves to have his number 50 retired.
Steve Cutchen
Houston