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Full Name: Robert Clinton Richardson Primary Position: 2B
Height/Weight: 5'9"/170 First Game: August 5, 1955
Birthdate: August 19, 1935 Final Game: October 2, 1966
Birthplace: Sumter, South Carolina MLB Experience: 12 years
Bat/Throw: Right/Right

Biography[]

Robert Clinton Richardson (born August 19 1935 in Sumter, South Carolina) is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees from 1955 through 1966. He batted and threw right-handed.


Debuting on August 5, 1955, Richardson is often considered one of the most underrated Yankees of all time. He racked 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, while forming a top double play combination with shortstop (and roommate) Tony Kubek.

His career statistics also include 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. His 209 hits led the American League, and he stole 11 bases in 161 games. He made the AL All-Star team once again that year, won his second Gold Glove, and came in second 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 two years by power hitters. He was among the top three players in the league in at bats per strikeout eight times during his career, and led the league three times, all later on in his career. He topped out in his last year, striking out just once for every 21.8 at bats.

He also led the league in at bats three times, and would come to be known as a workhorse, 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 two or three feet higher would have won the Series for the San Francisco Giants.

He was named World Series MVP in 1960 when he helped the Yankees against the Pittsburgh Pirates, although 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 RBIs, and also racked up 2 doubles and 2 triples in the 7-game series. To this day, Richardson remains the only World Series MVP selected from the losing team.

In the 1964 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, he tied a World Series record with 13 hits. However, with his Yankees losing 7-5 in Game 7, and batting against Cardinal ace Bob Gibson, he had the dubious distinction of also making the final out of the Series, popping out to second base counterpart Dal Maxvill.

Career 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)

Statistics[]

Batting Stats[]

Year Team G AB R H HR RBI AVG OBP SLG 2B 3B BB SO HBP SH SB IBB GDP
1955 NY A 11 26 2 4 0 3 .154 .214 .154 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 1
1956 NY A 5 7 1 1 0 0 .143 .143 .143 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
1957 NY A 97 305 36 78 0 19 .256 .274 .298 11 1 9 26 0 3 1 3 9
1958 NY A 73 182 18 45 0 14 .247 .276 .302 6 2 8 5 0 3 1 0 1
1959 NY A 134 469 53 141 2 33 .301 .335 .377 18 6 26 20 0 10 5 3 3
1960 NY A 150 460 45 116 1 26 .252 .303 .298 12 3 35 19 0 9 6 6 7
1961 NY A 162 662 80 173 3 49 .261 .295 .316 17 5 30 23 2 10 9 1 15
1962 NY A 161 692 99 209 8 59 .302 .337 .406 38 5 37 24 1 20 11 1 13
1963 NY A 151 630 72 167 3 48 .265 .294 .330 20 6 25 22 2 8 15 0 8
1964 NY A 159 679 90 181 4 50 .267 .294 .333 25 4 28 36 0 16 11 1 15
1965 NY A 160 664 76 164 6 47 .247 .287 .322 28 2 37 39 1 9 7 4 11
1966 NY A 149 610 71 153 7 42 .251 .280 .330 21 3 25 28 1 9 6 1 17
Total 1412 5386 643 1432 34 390 .266 .299 .335 196 37 262 243 7 98 73 20 100

Fielding Stats[]

Year Team POS G GS INN PO A ERR DP TP PB SB CS PkO AVG
1955 NY A 2B 6 0 0 12 7 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 .864
1955 NY A SS 4 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1956 NY A 2B 5 0 0 15 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1957 NY A 2B 93 83 733.2 206 223 9 60 1 0 0 0 0 .979
1958 NY A SS 2 1 9 3 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .875
1958 NY A 2B 51 42 378.2 104 110 6 35 0 0 0 0 0 .973
1958 NY A 3B 13 9 79.1 8 27 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 .972
1959 NY A 3B 12 0 25.1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1959 NY A 2B 109 107 949.2 256 292 17 85 0 0 0 0 0 .970
1959 NY A SS 14 13 109 11 41 5 9 0 0 0 0 0 .912
1960 NY A 2B 140 133 1123 312 337 18 103 0 0 0 0 0 .973
1960 NY A 3B 12 5 56 6 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1961 NY A 2B 161 160 1405.1 413 376 18 136 0 0 0 0 0 .978
1962 NY A 2B 161 161 1440.1 378 451 15 116 0 0 0 0 0 .982
1963 NY A 2B 150 150 1337 335 424 12 105 0 0 0 0 0 .984
1964 NY A 2B 157 156 1429.2 400 410 15 108 0 0 0 0 0 .982
1964 NY A SS 1 0 5 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1965 NY A 2B 158 157 1403.2 372 403 15 121 1 0 0 0 0 .981
1966 NY A 2B 147 144 1270.1 322 408 15 91 0 0 0 0 0 .980
1966 NY A 3B 2 1 8 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
Total 2B 1338 1293 11471.1 3125 3445 143 963 2 0 0 0 0 .979
Total 3B 39 15 168.2 16 45 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 .984
Total SS 21 14 123 18 50 6 11 0 0 0 0 0 .919

Transactions[]

Trivia[]

  • Bobby Richardson (as well as Hideki Matsui) holds the record for the most RBI's in a single World Series game (6).
  • 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, and he batted at a .305 clip in World Series play.

External links[]


See also[]

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