Paul Richards | |||
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Catcher / Manager | |||
Born: Waxahachie, Texas |
November 21, 1908|||
Died: May 4, 1986 Waxahachie, Texas |
(aged 77)|||
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MLB debut | |||
April 17, 1932, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
September 22, 1946, for the Detroit Tigers | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Batting average | .227 | ||
Home runs | 15 | ||
Runs batted in | 155 | ||
Managerial record | 923–901 | ||
Winning % | .506 | ||
Teams | |||
As Player
As Manager As General Manager |
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Career highlights and awards | |||
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As Player
As Manager
As General Manager
Paul Rapier Richards (November 21, 1908 – May 4, 1986) was an American professional baseball player, manager, scout and executive in Major League Baseball. During his playing career, he was a catcher and right-handed batter with the Brooklyn Dodgers (1932), New York Giants (1933–35), Philadelphia Athletics (1935) and Detroit Tigers (1943–46). After retiring, he became the manager of the Chicago White Sox (1951–54, 1976) and Baltimore Orioles (1955–61). He also served as the General Manager for the Orioles, the Houston Colt .45s and the Atlanta Braves.
Born in Waxahachie, Texas, Richards began his professional baseball career in the minor leagues as an infielder in 1926 at the age of 17. In a baseball oddity, Richards pitched with both hands in a Minor League game on July 23, 1928 for the Muskogee Chiefs of the Class C Western Association against the Topeka Jayhawks. Called to the pitcher's mound from his shortstop position, he pitched both right-handed and left-handed in a brief appearance, including facing a switch-hitter, which briefly resulted in both pitcher and batter switching hands and batter's boxes, respectively, until Richards broke the stalemate by alternating hands with each pitch, regardless of where the batter positioned himself. Later in his minor league career, he became a catcher.