He Lost Every Penny of $10 Million Earned in Baseball but Not Life

By THOMAS BONK

July 25, 1996 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Before there was a Randy Johnson or a Roger Clemens or a Doc Gooden, there was a towering 6-foot-8 right-handed pitcher who threw so hard he could melt a radar gun and blew so many batters away they should have named a Hurricane after him.

He was James Rodney Richard, J.R., and for a time in the late 1970s and part of 1980 when he was on the mound for the Houston Astros, there was no more dominating pitcher in baseball.

Then, suddenly, he started complaining that he felt bad. No one was quite sure what was wrong, although doctors checked him out.

But on July 30, 1980, with the Astros on the road and Richard left behind to sort out his problem, he suffered a stroke on the mound during a workout at the Astrodome.

He nearly died.

After a brief attempt at a comeback, his baseball career ended. In time, everyone forgot about J.R. Richard, until 18 months ago when he was found homeless with $20 in his pocket and said he occasionally slept beneath a freeway underpass in southwest Houston.

The bridge that spans Beachnut on Highway 59 where Richard slept is about five miles from the Astrodome, the place where he earned $850,000 a year as an Astro.

More than miles separate the J.R. Richard of today from the millionaire strikeout specialist who fanned 303 batters in 1978 and 313 in 1979. His baseball pension kicked in last March when he turned 45. He has an apartment on Chimney Rock Road, and he is involved in church work to help the homeless.

And he doesn’t feel sorry for himself.

“God is never late,” Richard said. “God is right on time.”

Richard’s time is pretty available. He doesn’t have a job and probably couldn’t keep one because of the stroke, according to his pastor, the Rev. Floyd Lewis.

“He’s just got trouble focusing for very long,” Lewis said. “He’s such a sweet, lovable guy. He’d give you the shirt off his back.”

These days, Richard would just as soon give a fish the hook. The great big guy from the tiny town of Vienna, La., has never lost his love of fishing.

Richard’s favorite place to fish?

“Anywhere,” he said. “In the ocean, in a lake, in the ditch. It’s my peace of mind.”

For a long time, there was little of that for Richard. He lost everything he made during his career with the Astros, which lasted from 1971 to 1980. He has been married twice, has seven children and is separated from his second wife.

He lost his house because he didn’t make payments, lost money in an oil investment, said he lost nearly $700,000 in his divorce, his barbecue restaurant failed and he owed money to the IRS.

Lewis said Richard made $10 million in his career with the Astros and lost every cent.

“Persons and people kind of took advantage of him,” Lewis said. “Then there were the scams. He just had one bad investment after another, plus his friends used him up.”

He stayed with other friends for a while, but that couldn’t last forever. So, off and on for a year and a half, Richard found himself under the bridge at Beechnut and Highway 59. He was relieved he finally was eligible to receive the pension.

“If it hadn’t started, I still would be under that bridge,” he said. “I have to accept what happened to me or you go crazy, get knocked square in the head.”

Richard came up to the Astros in 1971 as a 21-year-old with a reputation for throwing hard, although location was something of a problem. He was 11-6 in his first four years, then showed signs that he might be special in 1975 when he started 31 times, completed seven games and finished 12-10.

The next four years, Richard was at his peak. Beginning in 1976 through 1979, Richard was 20-15 with 14 complete games, 18-12 with 13 complete games, 18-11 with 16 complete games and 18-13 with 19 complete games.

Three times Richard led the league in lowest batting average against him, including .196 in 1978. His 313 strikeouts, 2.71 earned-run average and .209 opponents batting average led the National League in 1979.

“Nobody could hit him,” said Enos Cabell, an Astro teammate of Richard’s who now owns automobile dealerships in Houston. “Not too many people wanted to face him either. He was awesome, and I saw Nolan Ryan and them all.”

Richard began the 1980 season 10-4, had four shutouts and struck out 119 in 113 innings, but he felt something was amiss.

“I knew something was wrong with my body,” he said. “I just didn’t feel right.”

Richard’s arm was tired and his velocity wasn’t what it should have been. The Astros, in a pennant race, certainly noticed.

“There were signs with his concentration and his endurance that indicated there was a problem,” said Tal Smith, the Astro general manager in 1980 and now club president.

The team sent him to Hermann Hospital, and Richard was given a thorough physical which a club spokesman would later describe as the same type the president of the United States might receive. When the Astros left for a trip to New York and Montreal, Richard stayed behind to work out privately in the Astrodome.

It was there that he collapsed on a night in July nearly 16 years ago, his world folding around him at the peak of his career. Richard was 30. Doctors later discerned that a blood clot had worked itself loose and caused a stroke. Richard’s life was saved, but his baseball career was over.

“It’s a real tragedy, the effect it had on J.R.,” Smith said. “I’m thoroughly convinced he was destined to be a Hall of Famer. He was still in his prime. It was just tragic.”

Richard’s agent, Tom Reich, quickly blamed the Houston media and the Astros’ front office for failing to recognize the warning signs of a health problem.

But after a flurry of lawsuits as well as allegations of drug abuse finally died down, Richard said that it wasn’t long before Reich turned his back on him.

“As soon as the money ran out, he was gone by the wayside,” Richard said.

Richard considers himself a “steppingstone” for a younger generation of athlete.

“If the guy says he’s hurt, believe him,” Richard said. “He’s hurt.”

In south Houston at the New Testament Church where he is pastor, Lewis has plans for Richard. There is a movie script on Richard’s life that he hopes will sell. Lewis also wants Richard to be the centerpiece in a series of town hall meetings to focus attention on the homeless.

Until then, Richard waits for something to happen.

“It’s taking ages,” he said.

Cabell said that sometimes Richard shows up at one of the car dealerships and hangs out with the mechanics. He said Richard will wash a car occasionally.

“He’s doing OK, he’s looking better . . . ,” Cabell said. “He is slow, though. He’s not the same J.R.”

No, that J.R. Richard is long gone. Richard said the Astros don’t seem very interested in helping him, but Smith said Richard didn’t follow through on seeking the help.

Richard sees the irony in the situation.

“When you are playing baseball, they love you to death, these executives,” he said. “Now, I call them, they’re at lunch. I call them again, they’re at lunch. They’re always at lunch. They sure eat a lot. I realize now that people are out for themselves.”

The times Richard conducts baseball clinics for small groups of Houston youngsters might be when he is most happy. At these moments, Richard confirms again for himself that he is indeed an optimist.

“Despite it all, I’m still hanging in,” he said. “I’m still going on. I firmly believe God has something good in store for me. Thank God I’m alive.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Near the Top of His Class

A look at some of the pitching categories in which J.R. Richard rated among the top 10 (minimum 1,500 innings):

ALL-TIME STRIKEOUTS PER GAME

1. Randy Johnson: 10.01

2. Nolan Ryan: 9.55

3. Sandy Koufax: 9.28

4. Sam McDowell: 8.86

5. J.R. Richard: 8.37

6. Sid Fernandez: 8.32

7. Roger Clemens: 8.29