Seven former Pittsburgh Pirates born on this date, including one of their top relief pitchers ever. Before we get into them, current Pirates reliever Sam Howard turns 29 today. He will get his bio when he’s a former player.
Eric Bedard, pitcher for the 2012 Pirates. He was a sixth round draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles in 1999, selected out of Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. It’s a school that has produced ten draft picks since 1970 (none since 2000) and Bedard is the only one to make the majors. Despite the college experience, he started his career in the Gulf Coast League in 1999, where he put up a 1.86 ERA in 29 innings. He spent the entire 2000 season in Low-A with Delmarva of the South Atlantic League, where he has a 9-4, 3.57 record and 131 strikeouts in 111 innings. He missed a small part of the 2001 season, but did well when healthy, putting up a 2.15 ERA over 17 starts in High-A with Frederick of the Carolina League. He had 130 strikeouts that year in 96.1 innings. Bedard missed the end of 2002 due to Tommy John surgery. Before he got hurt, he did outstanding at Double-A Bowie of the Eastern League, posting a 1.97 ERA in 68.2 innings, with 66 strikeouts. He also had a brief trip to the majors that year, where he made two early season relief appearances, which amounted to him facing a total of four batters. His comeback in 2003 was limited to 19.1 rehab innings due to the timing of his surgery and the recovery period. Healthy in 2004, Bedard spent the season in the majors (except two Triple-A starts), going 6-10, 4.59 in 137.1 innings, with 121 strikeouts. He made 24 starts for the Orioles in 2005, compiling a 6-8, 4.00 record and 125 strikeouts in 141.2 innings.
Bedard established himself as a top pitcher in 2006, going 15-11, 3.76 in 33 starts and 196.1 innings, finishing with 171 strikeouts. The next year he finished fifth in the American League Cy Young voting by going 13-5, 3.16 in 182 innings. He set a career high with 221 strikeouts that year, which placed him third in the American League. Bedard made 230 starts during his career, but only pitched one complete game. It came during the 2007 season and saw him throw a two-hit shutout over the Texas Rangers, while racking up 15 strikeouts. He was traded to the Seattle Mariners for five players prior to the 2008 season and it did not go well for his new team. They gave up Adam Jones, who was just 22 years old at the time, and he spent the next 11 seasons in Baltimore picking up 32.5 WAR. The rest of the group didn’t amount to much (Chris Tillman had 8.7 WAR in ten years for the Orioles), but Bedard was limited by injuries during his four years in Seattle. He made a total of 46 starts for the Mariners, going 15-14, 3.31, while missing the entire 2010 season due to a shoulder injury.
Bedard’s first season with the Mariners was going well until his shoulder began to bother him. Through his start on July 4th (his last of the season), he went 6-4, 3.67 in 81 innings, with 72 strikeouts. The 2009 season basically went the same, making 15 starts for the second straight year before his season ended in July due to shoulder surgery. That year he went 5-3, 2.82 in 83 innings, with 90 strikeouts. Bedard signed with the Mariners as a free agent for 2010, taking a low salary deal with lots of incentives, but his season was limited to brief minor league time and another surgery that ended his season early. The re-signed him to a minor league deal in 2011 and he was healthy for almost the entire season. He went 5-9, 3.62 in 24 starts in 2011, with 125 strikeouts in 129.1 innings, splitting the season between the Mariners (16 starts) and Boston Red Sox, who acquired him in a July 31st trade that included seven players and three teams. The Pirates signed him as a free agent in early December of 2011. He went 7-14, 5.01, with 118 strikeouts in 125.2 innings over 24 starts, before being released in late August. He would go on to pitch two more seasons in the majors before retiring, going 4-12, 4.59 in 151 innings for the 2013 Houston Astros, and 4-6, 4.76 in 75.2 innings for the 2014 Tampa Bay Rays. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 2015, but a Spring Training injury led to him retiring after his third rehab start in the minors in June. Bedard posted a 71-82, 3.99 record in 11 seasons in the majors, throwing a total of 1,303.2 innings, while picking up 1,246 strikeouts.
Kent Tekulve, pitcher for the 1974-85 Pirates. Since his time ended with the Pirates in 1985, he has been sitting in second place on the team’s all-time list of games pitched and saves, trailing only Elroy Face in both categories. Tekulve signed with the Pirates as an amateur free agent in 1969 after a tryout at Forbes Field. It took him seven seasons and 255 minor league appearances before he established himself as a big leaguer. He was a starter during the 1969 season, posting a 1.70 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 53 innings with Geneva of the short-season New York-Penn League. He moved up to the Class-A Carolina League the next year and switched to relief with Salem. Tekulve pitched well, posting a 1.94 ERA in 41 appearances, with 75 strikeouts in 79 innings. Despite those stats, he remained with Salem in 1971 and saw a slip in his performance, putting up a 3.48 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 75 innings. He also pitched three scoreless innings for Double-A Waterbury of the Eastern League. In 1972, he pitched most of the year back in Double-A, as the Pirates affiliate moved to Sherbrooke of the Eastern League. Tekulve went 7-6, 2.63, with nine saves in 31 games and 72 innings. He also made nine appearances that year with Triple-A Charleston of the International League, where he had a 4.09 ERA in 22 innings.
Despite making it to Triple-A for a stretch, he was back in Sherbrooke for the 1973 season, though it appears that he was ready for the higher level. Tekulve went 12-4, 1.53 with 18 saves over 57 appearances and 94 innings that season. He spent the 1974 season in Charleston, where he went 6-3, 2.25 in 35 appearances and 60 innings. From May 20th until June 10th, he made eight appearances with the Pirates, giving up six runs in nine innings, then didn’t pitch again later in the year when the Pirates were competing for a division title. After his brief stint with the Pirates in 1974, Tekulve was next recalled in late June 1975, and this time he stayed in the majors for good, though that almost didn’t happen with the Pirates. After the 1974 season, the Pirates dropped him from the 40-man roster, which made him eligible for the Rule 5 draft. As it turned out, he was ready for the majors in 1975. He pitched 56 innings over 34 games that season with the Pirates, posting a 2.25 ERA and five saves. That performance helped the Pirates to the playoffs, where he pitched twice in the NLCS against the Cincinnati Reds. During his first full season in the majors in 1976, Tekulve went 5-3, 2.45 in 102.2 innings over 64 appearances. He picked up nine saves and he had a 1.13 WHIP. That was followed by a 10-1 record in 1977, when he recorded seven saves. He had a 3.06 ERA in 103 innings, and he pitched 72 times.
In 1978, Tekulve set team records with 91 appearances and 31 saves. He pitched 135.1 innings, posting a 2.33 ERA with eight wins. Those numbers earned him votes for the MVP (13th place finish) and Cy Young Award (fifth place). The Pirates won their fifth World Series title in 1979 and Tekulve was a big part of that team. He topped his games pitched record, appearing on the mound 94 times. He tied his saves record with 31, while also winning ten games and posting a 2.75 ERA in 134.1 innings. He pitched twice in the NLCS and five times in the World Series, saving three games, including recording the final out of game seven. He finished fifth in the Cy Young voting again, and he had an eighth place finish in the MVP race.
In 1980, Tekulve posted his highest single season ERA with the Pirates, but managed to make the only All-Star appearance of his career. It wasn’t exactly a bad year though. His 3.39 mark in 93 innings and 78 appearances was still better than the team average that year. He had an 8-12 win/loss record with an odd split, starting the year 5-0, then going 3-12 over the final four months. During the strike-shortened 1981 season, Tekulve lost his closer job, but he pitched well. He had a 2.49 ERA and three saves in 65 innings over 45 games. He had another big season in 1982, leading the National League with 85 games pitched. He won 12 games that year, saved another 20, and he threw 128.2 innings, while posting a 2.87 ERA. He was at his best during the 1983 season, putting up a career low 1.64 ERA in 99 innings, while recording seven wins and 18 saves in 76 appearances. Tekulve was strong once again in 1984, putting up a 2.66 ERA in 88 innings over 72 appearances. He had 13 saves that season. He remained with the Pirates until April 20, 1985, when he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for reliever Al Holland and a minor league pitcher named Frankie Griffin. Tekulve played another four seasons before retiring in 1989.
While he was rarely used in the closing role with the Phillies, Tekulve was still used often. In his four seasons in Philadelphia, he had a 3.01 ERA in 291 appearances and 367.1 innings. After three appearances with the 1985 Pirates, he went 4-10, 2.99, with 14 saves in 72.1 innings over 58 appearances with the Phillies. In 1986, Tekulve had an 11-5, 2.54 record in 110 innings, with four saves and 73 appearances. That was followed by a 6-4, 3.09 record in 1987, when he led the league with 90 appearances, while throwing 105 innings. He made 70 appearances in 1988, going 3-7, 3.60 in 80 innings. Tekulve became a free agent after the 1988 season and signed with the Cincinnati Reds at the end of Spring Training in 1989. His last season in the majors was rough, with a 5.02 ERA in 52 innings over 37 games. He pitched 1,050 games in his 16-year career, all in relief, and he was second on the all-time list for games pitched to Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm when he retired. While with the Pirates he pitched 722 games, saving 158, winning 70 and throwing a total of 1,017.1 innings with a 2.68 ERA. He had a career 2.85 ERA in 1,436.2 innings, with 184 saves.
Larry Elliot, outfielder for the 1962-63 Pirates. He was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates in 1958. During his first two seasons of pro ball he led his team in homers. In 1958 he finished with 16 home runs for the D-level Clinton Pirates of the Midwest League. He also hit .291 that year in 124 games, with 87 runs, 18 doubles, 82 RBIs and 105 walks, though it came with an extremely high for the time total of 129 strikeouts. He then hit 25 homers for the Wilson Tobs of the Class-B Carolina League. That year he batted .265 in 132 games, with 78 runs, 20 doubles, 85 RBIs and 85 walks. He spent almost all of the 1960 season with Savannah of the Class-A South Atlantic League, where his saw a decline in the power. He hit .257 in 119 games, with 20 doubles, nine triples, nine homers and 52 walks, which led to a .753 OPS (97 points lower than his 1959 mark). He also went 0-for-9 in five games for Salt Lake City of the Pacific Coast League in 1960. In 1961, he played his first full season at Triple-A ( Columbus of the International League), hitting .257 with 25 doubles, 16 homers, 67 RBIs and 52 walks in 134 games. The next season he started the year with the Pirates, but was returned to Columbus after just ten at-bats. In his final at-bat with the Pirates, Elliot hit a pinch-hit two-run homer. He spent the rest of the season in the minors, where he batted .235 with 73 runs, 23 homers, 78 RBIs and 76 walks. He finished third among Pirates minor leaguers in homers that year, trailing Bob Bailey (28 homers) and a 22-year-old named Willie Stargell, who hit 27 homers that year.
Elliot made the Opening Day roster again in 1963, but was sent to the minors after just four pinch-hit appearances over the first 17 games, with three of those at-bats resulting in strikeouts. In December of 1963, his contract was purchased by the New York Mets. The Mets were bad at that time and they offered him a much better opportunity than he could get in Pittsburgh. In 1964, he played 80 games, hitting .228 with 27 runs, eight doubles, nine homers, 22 RBIs and 28 walks, while seeing most of his playing time in center field. He spent the entire 1965 season in the minors with San Diego of the Pacific Coast League, where he batted .247 with 26 doubles, 14 homers and 48 RBIs in 137 games. He returned to the Mets in 1966, where he hit .246 with 14 doubles, five homers and 32 RBIs in 65 games. He was traded to the Kansas City A’s early in the 1967 season, but never appeared in the majors after 1966. Elliot remained active as a player through the end of the 1969 season, playing for five different teams over his last three seasons. He hit 186 homers in his pro career (15 in the majors), yet his first big league hit was a bunt single off of Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry. That hit came in his only start with the Pirates on April 25, 1962, when he played right field in place of Roberto Clemente, who had the day off until pinch-hitting late in the game. Elliot played 157 big league games in four years, with 53 runs, 22 doubles, 15 homers, 56 RBIs and a .236 average.
Del Crandall, catcher for the 1965 Pirates. He already had 14 years in the majors before the Pirates acquired him from the San Francisco Giants for Bob Burda and Bob Priddy on February 11, 1965. Crandall was an outstanding defensive catcher, a four-time Gold Glove winner, despite the fact the award didn’t exist his first six seasons in the majors. He led National League catchers in assists six times, including four years in a row (1957-60). He led in games caught five times, putouts three times, and fielding percentage four times. In a modern stat called Total Zone Runs, which measures the effectiveness of catchers, Crandall ranks eighth all-time, and he was the best in the NL six times. That career stat doesn’t even include his first two seasons, since the stat currently goes back to the 1953 season. Crandall was also named to the National League All-Star team 11 times while with the Boston/Milwaukee Braves. He received MVP support in seven different seasons and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1949. He wasn’t much of a hitter for average (.254 career), but from 1953 until 1960 he hit at least 15 homers every season, piling up 179 homers during his career. That home run streak ended in 1961 when an arm injury kept him out of action for almost the entire season. Crandall helped the Braves get to the World Series during the 1957-58 seasons, where they played the New York Yankees each year and won the 1957 title. He accomplished all of things during his career despite missing two prime years (1951-52) while serving in the military during the Korean War, and another full year due to injury. Crandall received Hall of Fame votes in 1976-79, but may have fared better on that ballot if he didn’t miss those two full season.
Crandall debuted in pro ball at 18 years old in 1948, spending most of the season with Leavenworth of the Class-C Western Association, where he hit .304 with 27 doubles and 15 homers. He also saw brief time with Triple-A Milwaukee of the American Association that year. In 1949, he played 38 games for Evansville of the Class-B Three-I League and batted .351 with a 1.024 OPS. He debuted in the majors on June 17th and hit .263 with 15 extra-base hits in 67 games. In 1950, Crandall hit .220 in 79 games, with 11 doubles, four homers and 37 RBIs. He went off to service for the 1951-52 seasons, and when he returned the Braves moved from Boston to Milwaukee. In his first year back from the service, he put up a .759 OPS and threw out more runners than any other catcher in the NL. He hit .272 in 116 games, with 55 runs, 13 doubles, 15 homers and 51 RBIs. He made his first All-Star appearance that year and finished 24th in the MVP voting. In 1954, Crandall hit .242 in 138 games, with 60 runs, 18 doubles, 21 homers, 64 RBIs and 40 walks. He made his second All-Star appearance and he finished 17th in the MVP voting. He repeated the All-Star/17th in MVP voting combo in 1955 when he hit .236 in 133 games, with 61 runs, 15 doubles, a career high 26 homers, 62 RBIs and 40 walks. His fourth straight All-Star appearance in 1956 came with a .238 average in 112 games, with 14 doubles, 16 homers and 48 RBIs. His 1957 season was a slight drop in production, but it was very similar to the previous years, except he didn’t make the All-Star team. He hit .253 in 118 games, with 45 runs, 11 doubles, 15 homers and 46 RBIs.
In 1958, Crandall returned to his All-Star form, hitting .272 in 131 games, with 50 runs, 23 doubles (career high), 18 homers, 63 RBIs and a career best 48 walks. He won his first Gold Glove and he finished tenth in the MVP voting. In 1959, he batted .257 in a career high 150 games. He had 65 runs, 19 doubles, 21 homers and 72 RBIs. He played two All-Star games that year (happened during the 1959-62 seasons), won his second Gold Glove, and he finished 11th in the MVP voting. In 1960, Crandall hit .294 in 142 games, setting career highs with 81 runs and 77 RBIs, while adding 14 doubles and 19 homers. He played just 15 games in 1961 due to an arm injury. After April 20th, he appeared ten times as a pinch-hitter over the next three months, but didn’t see any time in the field. He returned healthy in 1962 and hit a career best .297 in 107 games, with 23 extra-base hits and 45 RBIs. He played in the two All-Star games, won another Gold Glove, and he finished 26th in the MVP voting. His playing time began to drop the next season, failing to reach triple digits in games in any of his final four season. He hit just .201 in 1963, with four doubles, three homers and 28 RBIs in 86 games. After the season, he was part of a six-player trade between Milwaukee and the San Francisco Giants.
Crandall was on the downside of his career by the time the Pirates traded for him, just shy of his 35th birthday at the time. He played just 69 games in 1964 for the Giants, hitting .231 with three homers. His offensive numbers slipped even more during his only season with the Pirates. He hit .214 with two homers and ten RBIs in 60 games, but on defense he made just one error and threw out 57% of would be base stealers. Pittsburgh released him following the season and he finished his playing career the next year with the Cleveland Indians, where he hit .232 with four homers in 50 games. He played a handful of games during the 1969-70 seasons as a player-manager in the minors. Crandall spent 17 years as a manager in the pros, six in the big leagues. Four of those big league years were back in Milwaukee (for the Brewers) where he played 11 years during his career. He also managed the 1983-84 Seattle Mariners. He had a 271-338 record in the majors. He finished his big league career with a .254 average in 1,573 games, with 585 runs, 179 doubles, 179 homers and 657 RBIs.
Harry Shuman, pitcher for the 1942-43 Pirates. He began his minor league career in 1936 at 21 years old after attending Temple University. His first year saw him get brief action with both York and Williamsport of the Class-A New York-Penn League. He dropped down a level to Richmond of the Class-B Piedmont League in 1937 and had a 4-7 record in 119 innings of work. His ERA isn’t available, but it’s known that he allowed 5.75 runs per nine innings. Two years after his pro debut, he began a string of five straight seasons with at least 11 wins, topping out with 18 victories for the Harrisburg Senators of the Class-B Interstate League in 1941. While that win streak sounds like a solid stat, Shuman spent half of the 1938 season with Milford of the Class-D Eastern Shore League, three levels lower than where he started his pro career. He went 8-6, 4.59 in 102 innings, while spending the rest of the year back in Richmond, where he had a 3-6, 6.24 record in 98 innings. In 1939, he played the entire year with Richmond, going 17-12 in 228 innings over 48 games, allowing 4.86 runs per nine innings. In 1940, Shuman dropped down to the Class-C Canadian-American League, where he went 11-7, 3.74 in 149 innings for Gloversville-Johnstown. His 1941 season in Harrisburg was the breakthrough he needed. He went 18-6, 2.24 in 237 innings. On September 10, 1941, it was announced that Shuman would join the Pirates as soon as the season was over for Harrisburg. He joined the Pirates after the Interstate League playoffs ended and spent the last 12 days of the season (Sept. 17-28) on the bench without an appearance.
In 1942, Shuman went 12-11, 3.18 in 170 innings for Toronto of the International League before earning a September look with the Pirates. The Pirates just gave him a tryout in 1941, so when he went from Harrisburg to Toronto, it was actually a player sale between the two minor league clubs. The Pirates purchased his contract from Toronto on September 2, 1942, along with two of his teammates, Burgess Whitehead and Jim Russell. In his big league debut on September 14, 1942, Shuman tossed two shutout innings at the Polo Grounds against the New York Giants, allowing just one runner (a walk). That was his only appearance that season. In 1943, he was used in a mop-up role in Pittsburgh, making 11 relief appearances (all in losses) through July 10th, many of them being one-sided games. In his final game, the Pirates lost 23-6 to the Brooklyn Dodgers, who scored ten runs in the first and another ten runs in the fourth inning. Shuman came on with one out in the first and allowed four runs of his own before being removed after recording just one out. He was loaned to Toronto for the last half of the season on July 21st in exchange for infielder Al Rubeling. Shuman was still a member of the Pirates for the first three months of 1944, but did not pitch because he decided to work in a war plant during WWII. He was put on waivers, where he was picked up by the Philadelphia Phillies on July 21st. He pitched 18 games for Philadelphia in 1944, all relief appearances, posting a 4.05 ERA over 26.2 innings. That would be his last season in the majors. The Phillies attempted to trade him to Oakland of the Pacific Coast League on November 22, 1944, but the deal fell through and they released him instead in April of 1945. He pitched some semi-pro ball that year, and then played briefly in the minors in 1946 before retiring, finishing up with Wilmington of the Interstate League.
Earl Browne, first baseman/outfielder for the 1935-36 Pirates. He started his pro career at the age of 17 in 1928, playing eight seasons in the minors before getting his first shot in the big leagues in September 1935 with the Pirates. He started as a pitcher but switched to the outfield in 1933. He had some success as a pitcher, including a big second year in pro ball. During his first season, he saw brief time with Louisville of the Double-A American Association, a very advanced level for a 17-year-old. He also saw time with Louisville in 1929, though a large majority of the year was spent with Dayton of the Class-B Central League, where he went 17-8, 4.10 in 226 innings. He threw 254 innings total on the year. He pitched much worse the following season, while seeing the same playing time split between the same two clubs. He went 10-16, 5.97 in 206 innings with Dayton, then lost his only decision with Louisville. He may have considered his move to the outfield at this point, because while his pitching wasn’t as good that year, he batted .302 with Dayton in 1929, and .313 in 147 at-bats in 1930. Browne actually moved down a level in 1931, playing Class-C ball with the Huntington Boosters of the Middle Atlantic League. He went 14-7, 3.67 in 162 innings. He batted .295 that year in 70 games, occasionally picking up at-bats when he wasn’t pitching. He split the 1932 season between Little Rock of the Class-A Southern Association (99 innings) and Asheville of the Piedmont League (49 innings). After a 4.44 ERA in 148 innings that year, Browne made the move off of the mound.
Browne batted .323 with 45 extra-base hits in 139 games for Little Rock in 1933. He didn’t hit as well in 1934, putting up a .257 average and 49 extra-base hits in 155 games, but he still got picked up by the Pirates that September 18th under an agreement with the Little Rock club. The papers said that his slump (which they quoted as a .280 batting average) was to be blamed on Browne having “domestic difficulties” during the season. He attended Spring Training with the 1935 Pirates, but returned to the minors and bounced back in a big way, which led to his Major League shot. He hit .345 with 26 doubles, 19 triples and 13 homers during the 1935 season for Little Rock. He was called up to Pittsburgh on September 4th and played nine games, hitting .250 with six runs scored and six RBIs. He returned to the minors for 1936, this time playing for Minneapolis of the American Association. Browne attended Spring Training again, trying to win the first base job from Gus Suhr, but he was sent to the minors after the third game of the regular season. In 155 games with Minneapolis, Browne hit .328 with 39 doubles, 11 triples and 35 homers, earning another September promotion. This time he hit .304 in eight games for the Pirates. Just four days prior to Opening Day in 1937, Pittsburgh traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for pitcher Joe Bowman. Browne ended up playing 105 games that season for the Phillies, hitting .292 with 42 runs, 19 doubles, six homers and 52 RBIs.
Browne was an everyday starter early in the 1939 season, before he was released outright to Columbus of the American Association on May 26th as part of a two-for-one trade. At the time of the deal, he had a .257 average, four doubles and eight RBIs in 21 games. He played another 12 seasons without returning to the majors. He played over 2,100 minor league games, with over 2,300 hits and 189 homers. Browne also managed for five seasons in the minors, the last three as a player/manager, playing his final game at 38 years old. After playing four seasons back in Louisville (1942-45), he dropped down four levels of play and was the player-manager for Owensboro of the Class-D Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League, where he was a monster at the plate, hitting .429 with 104 RBIs in 92 games in 1946, followed by a .424 average in 107 games in 1947. His name was often listed as James Earl back then, but research has the two names flipped now. His nickname was “Brownie” while with the Pirates.
John Richmond, shortstop for the 1885 Pittsburgh Alleghenys. He debuted in pro ball in 1875, playing for his hometown Philadelphia Athletics in the National Association at 20 years old. During the final season of the first Major League (1871-75), Richmond hit .200 in 29 games, but he managed to score 29 runs and pick up 12 RBIs. He played all three outfield spots, second base and even caught three games. He was out of a pro job in 1876 when the National League was the only level of professional ball, but he returned to pro ball in 1877 in the League Alliance (the first professional minor league system), playing for the Binghamton Cricket. He played for Utica of the International Association in 1878 (no stats available for 1877-78), then returned to the majors in 1879 with the Syracuse Stars for their only season as a big league franchise. Richmond hit .213 with 31 runs, eight doubles, four triples, one homer and 23 RBIs in 62 games, splitting most of his time between shortstop and center field. He would switch between shortstop and center field during the next two years in a limited role while playing for the Boston Red Stockings. Part of the 1880 season was spent in the minors with Baltimore and Rochester of the National Association, while he also played 32 big league games with Boston, hitting .248 with 12 runs and nine RBIs. In 1881, Richmond hit .276 in 27 games with Boston, with 13 runs and 12 RBIs. He also saw some minor league time that year with Philadelphia of the Eastern Championship Association.
Richmond split the 1882 season between the Cleveland Blues of the National League and the Philadelphia Athletics of the brand new American Association. He didn’t hit in either place, batting a combined .176 with 20 runs, 12 extra-base hits, 15 RBIs and a .509 OPS in 59 games. He saw his best big league time with the Columbus Buckeyes of the American Association during the 1883-84 seasons. Richmond played 197 of the team’s 207 games during those two years. He batted .283 in 92 games in 1883, with 63 runs, seven doubles, eight triples and 25 walks, leading to a .670 OPS. In 1884, he hit .251 in 105 games, with 57 runs, 23 extra-base hits and 35 walks, putting up a .658 OPS. Almost all of his playing time during those two seasons came at shortstop. Modern metrics credit him with 3.4 WAR during each of those two seasons, with defense well above average for the league. After the 1884 season, Columbus sold off nine of their players to the Alleghenys, including Richmond. The 1885 Alleghenys were basically the Columbus Buckeyes in 1885, with only three Pittsburgh holdovers from the previous season. Richmond hit .206 in 34 games for Pittsburgh, playing 23 games at shortstop, eight in center field and three in right field. His game on July 10th was his final big league game, ending his eight-year career with a .238 average in 440 games, with five homers and 239 runs scored. He was released by the Alleghenys on July 16th. He finished the 1885 season in the minors with Memphis of the Southern League, and he played his final pro game in 1887, seeing time with three different teams in three leagues during his final two seasons. While he wasn’t a power guy, his home run victims are an impressive group. He homered twice against 297-game winner Bobby Mathews, once against 234-game winner Tommy Bond, another against Dave Foutz, who had a 147-66 career record, and then Hardie Henderson, who was in the middle of a 27-win/6.4 WAR season when Richmond tagged him.
