J.R. Richard died in a Houston hospital at the age of 71 on Wednesday night.
Richard was hospitalized last month with complications from COVID-19, according to a family member.
Jose Cruz, who was Astros teammates with Richard for six seasons, said the pitcher from Louisiana was one of his good friends.
“This is very sad to hear,” Cruz said in a statement released by the Astros. “I have great memories of J.R. He was one of the greatest Astros ever. When he was pitching, we knew that we were going to get a ‘W.’ I didn’t get too many balls hit to me in the outfield when he pitched because he was so dominating. He was a great friend and a great teammate. I send my condolences to his wife and kids.”
Richard, who was part of the Astros’ inaugural Hall of Fame class in 2020, pitched all 10 of his big league seasons with the Astros before his career was cut short when he suffered a stroke while playing catch inside the Astrodome on July 30, 1980.
“He was one of the greatest pitchers we ever had and probably would have been in the Hall of Fame if his career was not cut short,” Richard’s former Astros teammate Enos Cabell said in a statement released by the team. “On the mound, he was devastating and intimidating. Nobody wanted to face him. Guys on the other team would say that they were sick to avoid facing him. This is very sad news. He will be missed.”
Before the stroke, Richard was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball, leading the league in strikeouts in back-to-back seasons in 1978 and 1979. In that 1979 season – when he set a franchise record with 313 strikeouts, which was broken by Gerrit Cole in 2019 – he also led the National League in ERA at 2.71.
He was on pace to have an even better season in 1980, starting the All-Star Game after going 10-4 with a 1.96 ERA in the first half of the season. Three weeks after the All-Star Game, Richard had a stroke and never pitched in the big leagues again.
Richard went 107-71 with a 3.15 ERA in his career and was a 20-game winner in 1976 and won at least 18 games in four straight seasons (1976-79). He still ranks third on the team’s all-time strikeouts list behind Nolan Ryan and Roy Oswalt and is fifth in franchise history in wins.
“Today is a sad day for the Houston Astros as we mourn the loss of one of our franchise icons, J.R. Richard,” the Astros said in a statement. “J.R. will forever be remembered as an intimidating figure on the mound and as one of the greatest pitchers in club history. He stood shoulder to shoulder with club icons Larry Dierker, Joe Niekro and Nolan Ryan, to form a few of the best rotations in club history. Sadly, his playing career was cut short by health issues, but his 10 years in an Astros uniform stand out as a decade of excellence. We send our heartfelt condolences to J.R.’s wife, Lula, his family, friends and countless fans and admirers.”
