If you ask baseball fans to list some of the greatest pitchers in MLB history, many will tell you that Nolan Ryan is among the best to ever do it. Ryan was the first million-dollar-man in the MLB and made history leading the league in total strikeouts, yet a vast majority of people are unaware that he was arguably the second-best pitcher on his team. The honor of being the best pitcher on a team with Nolan Ryan belonged to James Rodney Richard. In today’s league where pitchers are regularly throwing strikes around 100 miles per hour, JR Richard was doing so over 40 years ago. When Richard was a senior in high school, he allowed zero runs over an entire season. This astounding statistic drew the attention of the Houston Astros, as JR was selected in the first round of the 1969 draft.
J.R. Richard was having a great first half to the 1980 season, owning a sub-2.00 ERA with a 10-4 record and 115 strikeouts. As the season continued, Richard started to feel as if his arm was “dead” due to discomfort in his shoulder and forearm. Members of the media and fans criticized him, believing he was just being lazy or was jealous of Ryan’s contract. During a start on July 14th against the Atlanta Braves, Richard was taken out in the 4th inning due to the inability to read the catcher’s signs and feeling like his right arm was “dead”. Richard did not realize that this would be the last major-league game he would play in. He went to the hospital for physical and psychological tests and found that the blood pressure in his right arm was absent due to an obstructed artery. Where the story takes an odd turn was on July 25; doctors studied his neck and determined that it was normal, and no surgery was required.
Now we rewind 39 years to this date, July 30, 1980. The Philadelphia Phillies were hosting the Houston Astros at their former field, Veteran’s Stadium. JR Richard visited a chiropractor earlier this day and had his neck rotated to repair the flow of blood in his upper torso region. After this, he joined the Astros in taking the field for warm-ups before the game. As he was warming-up, he started to get a headache and his body began to feel weak. The problems only got worse from there, as this turned into a loss of vision and paralysis on the left side of his body. J.R. Richard was indeed having a stroke and collapsed in the outfield. A CAT scan later determined he had three separate strokes due to the obstructions in his arterial system. The reason for his dead arm feeling was discovered; as he would pitch, his rib and clavicle pinched his subclavian artery. This would lead to aching pain and a feeling of heaviness in his throwing arm.
J.R. Richard attempted to come back and pitch again but never made it back to the major league level. His career major league record was 107-71 with a 3.15 ERA and 1,493 strikeouts in 10 seasons. If the doctors had done their job, he had the potential to go down as one of the best to ever do it.
