Gene Richards (baseball)

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Gene Richards

|image=Gene Richards Giants.jpg

|caption=Richards with the San Francisco Giants in 1984

|position=Outfielder

|bats=Left

|throws=Left

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1953|9|29}}

|birth_place = Monticello, South Carolina, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=April 6

|debutyear=1977

|debutteam=San Diego Padres

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 30

|finalyear=1984

|finalteam=San Francisco Giants

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.290

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=26

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=255

|teams=

San Diego Padres ({{Baseball year|1977}}–{{Baseball year|1983}})
San Francisco Giants ({{Baseball year|1984}})

}}

Eugene Richards Jr. (born September 29, 1953) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder. He played eight seasons in the Majors, from 1977 until 1984, for the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. As a rookie with San Diego in 1977, he set a modern-day MLB rookie single-season record for stolen bases.

Playing career

He was the first player selected (by the Padres) in the 1975 January Major League Baseball Draft. He threw and batted left-handed, stood {{convert|6|ft}} tall and weighed {{convert|175|lb}}. Richards played two seasons (1975–1976) of minor league baseball. In his first pro season, spent with the Class A Reno Silver Sox, he led the 1975 California League in hits (191 in 134 games played), runs (148), stolen bases (85) and batting average (.381). Reno won the California League championship and Richards was named the circuit's Most Valuable Player. Promoted all the way to the Triple-A Hawaii Islanders in 1976, he led the Pacific Coast League in hits (173) and batted .331.{{Cite book| editor1-last=Johnson| editor1-first=Lloyd| editor2-last=Wolff| editor2-first=Miles| title=The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball| edition=2nd| location=Durham, North Carolina| publisher=Baseball America| year=1997| isbn=978-0-9637189-8-3}}

File:Gene Richards - San Diego Padres - 1978.jpg

In 1977, he made his major league debut with San Diego and set a then modern-day MLB rookie record with 56 stolen bases during the season,{{efn|Broken by Tim Raines with 71 in 1981.{{cite news|title=Expos' Raines makes off with SB record|date=August 30, 1981|newspaper=The Sun|location=San Bernardino, California|page=D-6|agency=Associated Press|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3148900/|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=September 3, 2015}}{{open access}}{{cite book|last1=La Russa|first1=Tony|last2=Purdy|first2=Dennis|title=The Team-By-Team Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball|page=1142|year=2006|publisher=Workman Publishing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vYNB2d-PAEC&q=rookie%20stolen%20base%20record%20raines%2071&pg=PA1142|isbn=9780761153764|accessdate=September 3, 2015}}}} surpassing the previous mark of 49 set by Rollie Zeider in 1910 and tied by Sonny Jackson in 1966.{{cite news|title=Padres' rookie ties steal mark|date=September 23, 1977|newspaper=The Xenia Daily Gazette|agency=AP|page=7|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3148852/|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=September 3, 2015}}{{open access}}{{cite news|last=Walz|first=Steve K.|title=Sports file|date=May 26, 1978|newspaper=The Taylor Daily Press|page=7|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3148872/|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=September 3, 2015}}{{open access}} He finished the season batting .290, and finished third in the voting for the National League Rookie of the Year Award.{{efn|Andre Dawson won the award, and Steve Henderson was runner-up.{{cite news|title=Expos Have Top Rookie|date=November 23, 1977|newspaper=High Point Enterprise|page=3-B|agency=AP|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3148929/|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=September 3, 2015}}{{open access}}}} In 1980, Richards was tied for 22nd place in MVP voting after he led the league in singles with 151, and set a then-Padres single-season record with 194 hits, broken by Tony Gwynn in 1984.{{cite news |last=Center |first=Bill |title=THE GREATEST PADRE: career timeline: '84 |date=October 7, 2001 |newspaper=The San Diego Union-Tribune |url=http://www.utsandiego.com/sports/padres/gwynn/timeline84.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408213106/http://www.utsandiego.com/sports/padres/gwynn/timeline84.html |archivedate=April 8, 2014 |url-status=dead}}

Richards held then-Padres career records for triples (63) and steals (242), also broken by Gwynn.{{cite web |url= https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SDP/leaders_bat.shtml |title=San Diego Padres Top 10 Batting Leaders|work=baseball-reference.com |accessdate=April 17, 2011}}{{cite news|last=Center|first=Bill|title=Through the years: '90 – '91 |date=October 7, 2001|newspaper=The San Diego Union-Tribune}}