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Robert Clinton Richardson
New York Yankees
Second Base
Born: August 19, 1935, Sumter, SC
Signed: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent, June 12, 1953
Major League Teams: New York Yankees 1955-1966
Bobby Richardson was the regular second baseman for the Yankees during their mid-1950s to mid-1960s dynasty that saw the club win World Series titles in 1958, 1961 and 1962. In addition, Richardson was the World Series MVP in 1960, becoming the only player to date to be selected for the honor from the losing team. In 12 seasons, all with the Yankees, Richardson was named to seven All-Star teams and won five Gold Gloves. Known for his defense and his clutch hitting, Richardson along with shortstop Tony Kubek (#65) and third baseman Clete Boyer (#475) formed one of the strongest defensive infields in baseball.
He was awarded the 1960 World Series MVP after hitting .367 with 12 RBIs. Richardson's best season came in 1962 when led the league with 209 hits and batted .302 with 8 home runs and 59 RBIs, both career highs. He finished second in the MVP voting that season behind teammate Mickey Mantle (#350). In the 1964 World Series, he set a record with 13 hits since tied by Lou Brock (#540) in 1968 and Marty Barrett in 1986.
Richardson retired from baseball at the age of 31 following the 1966 season. In 1,412 games he accumulated 1,432 hits and a lifetime average of .266. He'd go on to serve as the head baseball coach for the college teams at the University of South Carolina, Liberty University and Coastal Carolina University. In 1976, at the request of President Gerald Ford, he launched an unsuccessful bid for one of South Carolina's seats in the U.S. Congress, losing by a narrow margin
February 29, 2020 from King of Prussia, PA - Card #76
Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sportscard & Memorabilia Show held on the bottom floor of the Valley Forge Casino on the final day of February. I did a post over at The Phillies Room with a few pictures of Doug taken with some of the show's autograph guests.
We purchased this Richardson card from an initial batch of 17 commons and semi-stars purchased from John's Sports Cards within the first hour of our arrival. I didn't track each individual price of the cards purchased, but this card was originally marked at $10 and the entire 17-card lot cost me $50 total.
The Card
I'll admit I didn't know much about Richardson before composing this post, but this is just a classic looking baseball card. I imagine kids would have been thrilled to find this card in their packs back in 1965. Richardson is shown posing in front of the home team's on-deck circle at Yankee Stadium. On the back of his card, his record breaking 13-hit performance in the 1964 World Series is noted.
The 11 at-bats in one game happened on June 24, 1962 in a 22-inning game against the Tigers. The game took seven hours to play and the Yankees prevailed, 9-7, when Jack Reed hit a two-run home run off Phil Regan (#191) in the top of the 22nd. Richardson played the entire game at second base and went 3 for 11 with a pair of runs scored. Richardson, at card #65, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of four Yankees in the set. He's also in the harder to find 1965 Topps Transfers insert set.
Yankees Team Set
1965 Season
An All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner again in 1965, Richardson appeared in 160 games, batting .247 with 6 home runs and 47 RBIs. He had one of his career five-hit games on May 10, 1965, against the Indians with his second career five-hit game coming on June 29, 1966. Richardson had planned to retire following the 1965 season, but chronic back and neck injuries forced his double play partner Kubek to retire first. Not wanting to lose the heart of their infield in the same year, the Yankees offered Richardson a five-year contract to stick around. Richardson agreed to play one more season and then assist the Yankees however needed, but not as player, for the final four years of his contract.
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First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #286
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1957-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2019 Panini Diamond Kings DK 205 Signatures #205S-BR
284 - Richardson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/17/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year. Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.
Prior Card: #114 Jim Hickman - New York Mets
Next Card: #116 Cardinals Rookie Stars
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