Houston Astros: Top 30 players in franchise history
By T.A. Mock
10. J.R. Richard, P, 1971 – 1980
J.R. Richard has one of the saddest stories you could hear in baseball. A stroke prematurely ended his career at age 30 just when he was finally piecing everything together. The way the organization handled his complaints remain a black stain on the organization. However, prior to that, he was one of the most dominant pitchers the league had seen.
Richard was a physical specimen unlike any other the league had seen up to that point. He stood at 6’8″ and weighed about 220 lbs. He had a fastball that could blow the best of hitters away. The only problem with it is he struggled to control it at times and piled up walks at a historic pace.
He began to peak in 1978 where he had his first of back to back 300+ strikeout seasons. He had his best ERA, 2.71, in ’79, though his FIP shows he pitched even better than that. He had two top-five Cy Young finishes and was a true ace before suffering his stroke in 1980. The “what could have been” hurts when it comes to Richard.
Richard was having a legendary season in 1980 in the half season before his stroke. He was outshining Nolan Ryan, that’s how good he was at his zenith. In spite of the shortened career, he will forever go down as one of the foremost and dominant aces in team history.