JR Richard Stroke Date

[Crash Course]

-----------------
Forwarded Message:
Subj: Fwd: Game Played on Wednesday, July 30, 1980 (N) at Veteran's Stadium
Date: 4/8/2005 1:26:24 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: NetShrine
To: mark@pankin.com

Mark - I'm not sure - that's why I'm asking.
Googling, as well as checking three books that I have, all say he had the stroke on 7/30 in Houston - at a game where the Phillies were in town.
Hope this helps.
- Steve

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Forwarded Message:
Subj: Re: Game Played on Wednesday, July 30, 1980 (N) at Veteran's Stadium
Date: 4/8/2005 12:56:10 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: mark@pankin.com
To: NetShrine@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)


Steve,

His last game was on July 14, at home against the Braves when he left in
the 4th
inning having given up one hit, no runs, with 4 Ks. That sounds like he had a
medical problem at the time. Whether it the stroke that day or not I can't
tell you
for sure, since I have not researched newspapers from the time, He did not play
in the game you reference. You can see the box and play-by-play for his
last game
on our site: http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B07140HOU1980.htm

Mark Pankin,
Retrosheet webmaster

At 12:26 PM 4/8/2005 -0400, you wrote:
>Isn't this the game where Richard had his stroke, was that not in Houston
>and not Philly?
>
>- Steve Lombardi
>NetShrine.com

Anyone know the date and location of his stroke? Retrosheet has him in Philly that day. I think it was 7/30 in Houston.

[RascalJones]

BaseballLibrary.com says:

In June 1980, Richard began complaining of "a dead arm." The media, fans, and some teammates accused him of loafing (though he hadn't missed a start in five years), gutlessness (the Astros were in a pennant race), jealousy of Nolan Ryan's bigger contract, and even drug abuse. He was 10-4 (1.89) and had started the All-Star Game when, in a July 14 assignment, he appeared dazed and had trouble seeing the catcher's signs, and his movements became awkward. He was put on the disabled list, and though tests revealed a blockage in an artery leading to his right arm, doctors felt there was no danger. Richard resumed workouts, but on July 30, he collapsed. Finding no pulse in his right carotid artery, surgeons removed a clot to restore blood flow to his brain.

The stroke virtually paralyzed Richard's left side, but, in an attempt to restore his chances of pitching again, another operation was performed. With therapy, most of his strength and speech returned, and he tried a comeback the following spring. But his reflexes and coordination were gone, he was unable to make spatial perceptions and could not field his position. He pitched some in the minors, but eventually "traded baseball for a life of God," he explained, and sold cars. Said wife Carolyn, "I've never seen a player dragged through the mud like this....It took death, or nearly death, to get an apology. They should have believed him." (JCA)

Which date was officially listed as the stroke, I don't know.

[Crash Course]

Saw that one.
I can't find one to match what they have in retrosheet 'tho.

[RascalJones]

http://www.todayinbaseballhistory.co...day/today2S.pl

07/30/1980 - Houston Astros pitcher J.R. Richard had a stroke during a workout at the Astrodome, and doctors removed a blood clot behind his right collarbone. Before the stroke, Richard had complained of a dead arm several times.

He could have been working out in Houston while the team was in Philly. He was on the 15-day DL after the July 14 incident.

[RascalJones]

And then this site says it was in Houston during pre-game:

http://www.astrosdaily.com/files/tea...d/richard.html

Finally, though, J.R.'s career came crashing down. After complaining of dizziness on July 14, Richard was placed on the Disabled List and underwent a battery of tests. Some arterial blockage was found in his right shoulder, but it was not deemed to be serious. In fact, the team doctor suggested that Richard's problems might be emotional in nature. Just days later, on July 30, J.R. collapsed during pre-game throwing drills with Wilbur Howard and was rushed to Southern Methodist Hospital. It turned out after all that he wasn't lying, he wasn't faking, he wasn't loafing, and his problems were not emotional in nature. J.R. had suffered a major stroke and would have died that day without emergency surgery. When reporters asked about the condition of J.R.'s arm, the doctors replied that they were interested in saving his life, not his arm.

[RascalJones]

Every site I find has July 30, 1980 as having the Astros AT Philly, yet the above article says it was in pre-game at Houston.

Weird.

[Crash Course]

Do you have a link for the AT PHILLY part? that would help.

[RascalJones]

Just boxscores on baseball-almanac.com, baseballlibrary.com, and baseball-reference.com has the astros 1980 schedule/results listed as at Philly.

Attendance numbers are even listed on some of the sites.

I see that baseballlibrary and baseball-reference have their data provided by retrosheet. I can't tell about baseball-almanac. I'm sure you've probably already seen these sites, anyway.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-...d=198007300PHI

[Crash Course]

and, this just in

I checked the NY Times for on-line articles (available to members of the
Society for American Baseball Research, www.sabr.org) at the time. An
article on July 15 says he left the game on July 14, his last ever, with an
upset stomach. Incidentally, he had one of the only two hits off of the Braves
Phil Niekro in the game before he left it.

An article in the August 1 edition says that he had what was thought to
be a stroke on July 30 while working out in Houston, and was operated on
to remove a blood clot in a neck artery that evening. The article says that
he had left 10 of his 17 starts because of feeling woozy or having a dead arm.
He went on the DL July 16 to rest and undergo medical tests.

There is no doubt that the July 30 game was in Philadelphia. It was the
third of a three game series, and it shows in that location in every source I
checked in addition to our web site, which should not have a mistake in the
location of a game played except possibly for the 19th Century.

His stroke was in Houston, but the Phillies were not in town. Perhaps the
writing is unclear or the writers did not realize that he was on the DL and
not traveling with the team so they assumed that a game against the
Phillies on the day of the stroke would have been in Houston.

I hope this clears things up for you.