Ruth Richard
| Ruth Richard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| All-American Girls Professional Baseball League | |||
| Catcher | |||
|
Born: September 20, 1928 Argus, Pennsylvania |
|||
|
|||
| debut | |||
| 1947 | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| 1954 | |||
| Teams | |||
|
|||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
|
|||
Ruth Richard [Richie] (born September 20, 1928) is a former female catcher who played from 1947 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 4", 134 lb., she batted left-handed and threw right-handed.
Richard spent eight seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A six-time All-Star, she also was a member of four champion teams. Richard made a transition from outfield to catcher, which enabled her to utilize her strong throwing arm more effectively, and she responded by gunning down more baserunners than any catcher in the league. Basically a line-drive hitter, she posted a .241 career batting average in 725 games, driving in 287 runs while scoring 237. As a catcher, she committed only 134 errors in 3,407 total chances for a .961 career fielding average.
A native of Argus, Pennsylvania, Richard grew up on a family farm in the Ridge Valley Creek area and played softball for the Sellersville-Perkasie high school team. After graduating in 1946, she attended an AAGPBL tryout held in Allenton. She impressed by her throwing arm, range and potential.
In 1947 she was allocated to the Grand Rapids Chicks, a team managed by former big leaguer Johnny Rawlings. That season the league moved its spring training camp to Havana, Cuba, and Richard was one of the two hundred girls who made the trip. The Chicks won the league title in 1947, with Richard patrolling 47 games at right field and making three appearances as relief pitcher.
...
Wikipedia