Paul Richards (baseball)
Paul Rapier Richards (
November 21,
1908 —
May 4,
1986) was an
American 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 was born in
Waxahachie, Texas.
Richards became a successful manager with the White Sox in 1951, with four winning-record seasons, but his club always finished behind the
Yankees ('51, '52, '53) and
Indians ('54). With the Orioles, he served as both field manager and
general manager through 1958. After
Lee MacPhail was hired as GM in 1959, Richards served strictly as the O's field manager through mid-September 1961. As GM, he concentrated on signing good defensive players (such as
Brooks Robinson) and hard-throwing young pitchers (such as
Steve Barber,
Milt Pappas and
Chuck Estrada). The O's finally blossomed in 1960 with a second place after five disappointing seasons.
The following September, Richards resigned as manager of the Orioles to become general manager of the new
Houston Colt .45s National League club. Richards stocked the Houston club (soon renamed the
Astros) with young players – including
Joe Morgan,
Jimmy Wynn,
Don Wilson and
Rusty Staub – but he was fired after the 1965 season when the on-field results did not match ownership's expectations. The following year, Richards was hired as Director of Player Personnel by the
Atlanta Braves – returning to the city where he excelled as a minor league catcher and player-manager for the
Southern Association's
Atlanta Crackers from 1938-42. By the end of the '66 season, Richards was given the title of general manager of the Braves.
Richards' six years at the helm of the Atlanta organization were in some ways his most successful in baseball: his
1969 Braves, skipped by his longtime protege
Luman Harris, won the NL West title. But that team was swept by the eventual world champion
"Miracle Mets" in the first
NLCS ever played, and the Braves failed to contend in 1970 and 1971. Strangely, Richards did not reinvigorate the system with young players, as he had successfully done in Baltimore and Houston. He was fired in the middle of the 1972 season, and replaced by
Eddie Robinson.
In 1976, after 3 1/2 years out of the game, Richards was hired by
Bill Veeck to return to Chicago as manager of the White Sox. After a losing record, he retired from the field at the end of the season, but stayed in the game as a player personnel advisor with the
Texas Rangers.
Despite his skills as a motivator, mentor and strategist of the game, Richards never was able to lead a team to a pennant. Probably he is best known for designing the oversized catcher's glove used to catch
knuckleball pitchers.
In 10 seasons as a player, Richards batted .227 with 15 home runs and 155 RBI. As a manager, he compiled a 923-901 record in 11 seasons (406-362 with Chicago, 517-539 with Baltimore).
Paul Richards died in
Waxahachie, Texas at the age of 77.
*
Page at Baseball Reference*
Baseball Almanac*
Baseball Library*
The Deadball Era*
Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
