Changes: Bobby Richardson

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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

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

Transactions

Signed as an amateur free agent by New York Yankees (June 12, 1953).

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 link

Bobby Richardson on Baseball Reference site

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