Comments on: J.R. Richard, 1979 http://cardboardgods.net/2007/01/26/jr-richard-1979/ Voice of the Mathematically Eliminated Wed, 30 May 2012 18:37:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Kooperman http://cardboardgods.net/2007/01/26/jr-richard-1979/#comment-189 Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:47:39 +0000 http://cardboardgods.net/2007/01/26/jr-richard-1979/#comment-189 2.  I became a Houston Colt .45 fan in 1964 when my father retired from the Air Force and we moved back to his home in rural Mississippi. Having played Little League baseball for three years at Seymour-Johnson AF base, it was a rude awakening to relocate in an area where there were no baseball teams…and no kids to play on them, even if there were. So in desperation I looked for a baseball fix wherever I could find it. And that was WWL radio in New Orleans. They carried the Houston Colts games, every one of them, because a New Orleans native, Rusty Staub, was a promising young player on the talent-starved team. I had my baseball anchor there, one that I desperately needed, and I became a Colt.45 fan, then an Astro fan the next year when they moved into the space-age Astrodome. Some good, and even great, players passed through Houston over the years, but none were better than J.R. Richard. I actually got to see his first start in the major leagues on TV. A Jackson channel carried a few Astro games on weekends and in September 1971 they telecast the Astros and Giants, with J.R Richard making his starting debut. By this time I was 20 years old and married, and we had a child born that spring. Like many young couples we were almost penniless, but with the help of parents we had scraped together enough to get a house trailer, and we parked it about 150 yards from where I had lived with my parents. I soon discovered just how hot a mobile home can get in a Mississippi summer. It was in this early-day microwave oven that I coaxed enough signal from our outside antenna to allow me to watch J.R. bring even more heat into my living room. He pitched a complete game victory, striking out 15 Giants, which tied a rookie record. Willie Mays was near the end of his Giants tenure, but he was still a damn good player. J.R. struck him out three times. Mays was scared shitless of the wild flamethrower, and his left foot was looking for a way out of the batter’s box on every swing. I’ll never forget that game. Because the Astros were rarely on TV in those pre-cable days, I only saw J.R. pitch a few more times in the next 9 years, but that September 1971 game is one I’ll never forget.

]]> By: Josh Wilker http://cardboardgods.net/2007/01/26/jr-richard-1979/#comment-188 Sun, 01 Apr 2007 21:29:14 +0000 http://cardboardgods.net/2007/01/26/jr-richard-1979/#comment-188 1.  4 comments from the old CG site:

Anonymous said…
Yes! More!

8:05 AM

Mets Guy in Michigan said…
Excellent, excellent blog, Josh. Just discovered it thanks to someone singing your praises on the Crane Pool Forum. I’ll check back often!

– Dave

8:38 AM

Anonymous said…
With this blog, the pride of Canada, Gordy Pladson, now appears on your site TWICE!

11:20 AM

Anonymous said…
What about Grady Paulson?

1:45 PM

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