When you were young: Chris Richard

I found this card in a dime box at the local a while back:

For a dime you can't do any better. Chris Richard was a hard hitting OF prospect with the Cardinals who homered in his first MLB at-bat in 2000. Twelve days after his debut he was quickly shipped off to the O's for Mike Timlin, whose rubber arm would keep him in the majors until 2008 and through 2 Red Sox WS. At the moment you would have thought it was a case of two guys crossing paths, one going up, the other down, the kind you frequently see around the trading deadline.

Drafted in the 19th round, Richard is one of those guys who aren't supposed to make the majors. I was thinking about this the other day when the Rays released 14 minor league prospects recently. Several of those guys were drafted THIS year. If drafting guys you'll soon release is a scouting failure, it's also a scouting failure that a guy who stays on the draft board for 18 rounds goes on to make the majors. 

I've written about this before, but I arrived in Baltimore in 2001, right after Chris Richard did. I remember the commercials, the excitement, the expectation surrounding the youngster from San Diego. The O's weren't supposed to contend, but a young core of guys like Richard and Jay Gibbons who were coming into their primes, the O's were on the cusp of contention. Richard responded with 15 HRs and a 127 OPS+ in 2001. I was finishing my MA at Johns Hopkins and contemplating going on for my PhD. The future was now and it was bright. 

It was a little strange, then, when many years later I found myself at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP) with Chris Richard starting at 1B. At that point expectations of the future were somewhat murky if not tarnished, and I had learned several difficult lessons about what people in my racket euphemistically call "the life of the mind." Once again, Chris Richard was playing a major role for my local 9, only it wasn't the 9 Richard had envisioned back in 2001. 

I never met the guy or shook his hand, but like EJ he's one of the Bulls who looms large in my pantheon.    In 2009, all the way up where I live now, the compa and I were stoked to see Richard get called up at the end of the Rays' season. Dude had MASHED at Durham for 4-straight years, and here he was in the majors again. Things did not go as planned as he hit .222 with a .300 OBP in 27 AB. He also made an error at 1B which I remember vividly because both compa and I sat in silence for a few minutes afterward, the game moving on without us. 

Richard retired this past March from the Rays organization, the all-time franchise leader in HR. Cue up the Crash Davis references, which are wholly appropriate given he played for the Bulls, but I'll say Richard taught me a lot (again, I never met the guy).

Things change. We might come up short of the ideal. But we all owe it to ourselves and to those to whom we are responsible to grind it out everyday, to do our best, to shine wherever we find ourselves. Not bad for a 10 cent card.

Have a good one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Don't know what ya got...: Part 1, Chris Richard

til it's gone. Cue the hairbands, people.

After the last post I've been thinking about how I miss Minor League ball. I've said it 1000 times, but I follow the Rays because I've lived in/near cities with Rays minor league affiliates, Charleston, SC and Durham, NC. It's always awesome to see the hot prospects come through on their way to the bigs (Price, David) or get stuck going over the basics before making it large in the bigs (Upton, BJ), but you watch the lesser guys over the years to the point you start to look through them. You just assume, like you, they'll ALWAYS be there.

I realized after my last post I left a lot unsaid about Chris Richard and Elliot Johnson, both of whom are professional ballplayers. I know, any dude who gets paid is a pro, but bear with me.

The words "throwback" gets tossed around a lot these days, too much in fact, but these guys are real throw back type players. Two more who come to mind are guys like former Bull Darnell McDonald and his brother Donzell. Darnell made an opening day roster for the first time in his career this year with the Reds at the age of 31. I watched Donzell play for the Leones of the Mexican League a few years ago when they won the championship. A dude who plays in the Bigs for a million plus per is NOT a throwback type guy. Guys like these embody it.

And I'll admit, I now realize that what I miss about watching Minor League ball is these guys, the guys you root for to have September call ups or to make the Opening Day Roster once, or one last time. Hell, they all started as HOT prospects but hit a wall somewhere whether due to injury, ability, or lack of opportunity.

I was doing my MA at Johns Hopkins when Richards came to Baltimore. He had tantalizing 2000, hitting 13 HRs in 221 ABs with the O's, and great things were expected. He had 15 HRs in 542 ABs the following year and was dealt to Colorado in 2003. I remember him coming to Durham a few years ago, and it almost felt like a mini-reunion although dude has no idea who the Hell I am. He didn't see the bigs again until last season when injuries to Carlos Peña pressed him into service. He didn't bat all that well and I remember the game where he made his only error. I was so excited for him to be up I felt sick after watching it. Another Chris Richard fact: he came out to the bar where Bulls fans congregated to watch the WS when the Rays made it a few years ago. How awesome is that?

Part II on Elliot Johnson is coming tomorrow. Feel free to share any stories you've got about players you've enjoyed watching, and beginning now if you have any spare Chris Richards or Elliot Johnsons I'll take them off your hands.

Have a good one and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Bulls on Parade

We do it like this. Having moved from the Durham area about 7 months ago, compa and I missed out on seeing the Bulls win the International League Championship. And then the Bricktown Showdown for the AAA Championship. Which sucked for us, at least a little, seeing as last year we sat there and watched the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankis take to to the Bulls in the International League Championship. Nothing so much against the AAA Yankis as their fans who, despite being AAA Yankis fans, were definitely ready for the bigs in terms of being some of the most....well, I digress.

We missed out on all the post-championship euphoria. We watched the showdown on ESPN2, which was great, but we missed out on being there with our friends and the Bulls. There was even a Bulls event where you got to go into the dugout out onto the field and meet Chris Richard and Elliot Johnson. Well, my former neighbor over at Noboru Aota was kind enough to send me a post card. One signed by the aforementioned Chris Richard and Elliot Johnson. Awesome!

Man Adam, I can't thank you enough. For those of you who don't know that's the old park, the one in Bull Durham, located a few blocks from where the Bulls currently play.

Have a good night everyone and have a good one Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!