Gene Richards (baseball) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Gene Richards |
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Richards with the San Francisco Giants in 1984
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| Outfielder | |||
| Born: September 29, 1953 Monticello, South Carolina, U.S. |
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| debut | |||
| April 6, 1977, for the San Diego Padres | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| September 30, 1984, for the San Francisco Giants | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .290 | ||
| Home runs | 26 | ||
| Runs batted in | 255 | ||
| Teams | |||
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Eugene "Gene" Richards Jr. (born September 29, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) for eight seasons, from 1977 to 1984. During his career, he played for the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants. As a rookie with the Padres in 1977, Gene set a special record for the most stolen bases by a rookie in modern MLB history.
Contents
Gene Richards' Baseball Journey
Starting in the Minor Leagues
Gene Richards was the very first player chosen by the San Diego Padres in the 1975 January Major League Baseball Draft. He played baseball by throwing and batting with his left hand. He was about 6 feet tall and weighed around 175 pounds.
Before joining the big leagues, Gene played two seasons in minor league baseball (1975–1976). In his first professional season, playing for the Reno Silver Sox, he was amazing! He led the 1975 California League in many ways. He had 191 hits, scored 148 runs, made 85 stolen bases, and had a fantastic batting average of .381. His team, the Reno Silver Sox, won the California League championship, and Gene was even named the league's Most Valuable Player!
The next year, in 1976, he moved up to a higher level of minor league baseball with the Hawaii Islanders. He continued to shine, leading the Pacific Coast League with 173 hits and batting .331.
Making a Mark in the Major Leagues
In 1977, Gene Richards made his debut in Major League Baseball with the San Diego Padres. He quickly made history by setting a new record for rookies. He stole 56 bases during that season, which was more than any other rookie in modern MLB history at that time. This beat the old record of 49 stolen bases.
Gene finished his rookie season with a strong batting average of .290. He was also one of the top players considered for the National League Rookie of the Year Award, finishing third in the voting.
In 1980, Gene continued to play well. He led the league in singles with 151. He also set a new record for the Padres team with 194 hits in a single season. This record was later broken by another Padres legend, Tony Gwynn, in 1984.
Gene Richards also held other Padres team records for a while. He had the most triples (63) and the most stolen bases (242) in the team's history. These records were also later broken by Tony Gwynn. Gene played his final season in 1984 with the San Francisco Giants.
See Also
- List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
- List of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders
