Lee Richmond | |||
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Pitcher / Outfielder | |||
Born: Sheffield, Ohio |
May 5, 1857|||
Died: October 1, 1929 Toledo, Ohio |
(aged 72)|||
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MLB debut | |||
September 27, 1879, for the Boston Red Stockings | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
October 4, 1886, for the Cincinnati Red Stockings | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Win–loss record | 75–100 | ||
Earned run average | 3.06 | ||
Strikeouts | 552 | ||
Batting average | .257 | ||
Home runs | 3 | ||
Runs batted in | 113 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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John Lee Richmond (May 5, 1857 – October 1, 1929) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Boston Red Stockings, Worcester Worcesters, Providence Grays, and , and is best known for pitching the first perfect game. After retiring from baseball, he became a teacher.
Richmond was born in Sheffield, Ohio, in 1857. He was the son and grandson of Baptist ministers and he had eight siblings, all of them older. He went to the college preparatory academy affiliated with Oberlin College. He started attending Brown University in 1876 and was an outfielder and pitcher on the school's baseball team. He was also class president and he played on the football team.
On June 2, 1879, Richmond was paid $10 to pitch for Worcester of the National Baseball Association in an exhibition game against the . He pitched a seven-inning no-hitter and signed with Worcester after the game. On July 28, he pitched a no-hitter against Springfield.
Worcester joined the National League in 1880, and Richmond signed with the team for $2,400 that season. Before a game against Cleveland on June 12, Richmond was up all night taking part in college graduation events, and he went to bed at 6:30 AM. He caught the 11:30 AM train for Worcester so he could pitch in the afternoon contest and then pitched a perfect game to beat Cleveland, 1–0. According to the Chicago Tribune, "The Clevelands were utterly helpless before Richmond's puzzling curves, retiring in every inning in one, two, three order, without a base hit. The Worcesters played a perfect fielding game." Cleveland pitcher Jim McCormick allowed three hits, and the only run was scored on a double error by second baseman Fred Dunlap.
Richmond graduated from Brown University four days after the perfect game, and he finished the year with a win–loss record of 32–32, a 2.15 earned run average, and 243 strikeouts in 590.2 innings pitched. He was the first left-handed pitcher to win 30 games in a season.