Dave Richards

From BR Bullpen

David Todd Richards

Minors BR page

Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Dave Richards spent 16 seasons in the minors, reaching AAA. He also pitched in Taiwan and Italy. He appeared in over 500 games.

He was born in Illinois but attended high school and college in El Cajon, California. Selected by the Oakland Athletics in the 11th round of the 1985 amateur draft, he opted to attend Grossmont College instead. He was then taken by the Detroit Tigers in the 27th round of the 1987 amateur draft (the pick right after Toby Borland) and made his pro debut that year with the Bristol Tigers. He was 0-2 with a 4.40 ERA but struck out 56 in 45 innings. Despite pitching almost entirely in relief, he led his club in Ks. In 1988, he was only 3-9 for the Fayetteville Generals despite a very healthy 1.97 ERA. He saved six games, fanning 86 and allowing 49 hits in 68 2/3 innings. He continued to fare well with the '89 Lakeland Tigers at 7-3, 1.80 with a save, allowing just 69 hits in 100 innings. His K rate was down to 76 while he walked 50. He had a better ERA than the five future major leaguers on the Lakeland staff.

With the 1990 London Tigers, he was 6-6 with 8 saves and 74 strikeouts in 54 2/3 IP but 35 walks and 61 hits while his ERA rose to 4.28. He was 4-3 with a 2.78 ERA for the 1990-1991 Aguilas del Zulia, walking 23 in 34 innings. He tied for the team lead in wins. Prior to the 1991 season, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners for Todd Haney and briefly pitched at the AAA level that summer. With the Calgary Cannons, he was atrocious at 0-2, 7.63 with 27 hits and 13 walks in 15 1/3 innings. He was better with the Jacksonville Suns (3-0, 1.57 in 10 G). He then moved from the Mariners to the Houston Astros system, going 1-1 with a 2.66 ERA in 29 outings for the Jackson Generals, fanning 55 in 44 innings while allowing only 30 hits but 22 walks.

Richards was with the St. Louis Cardinals' Arkansas Travelers farm team for part of 1992, going 4-5 with a save and a 2.65 ERA in 41 games. He walked 30 in 54 1/3 innings while striking out 62. He also with the Milwaukee Brewers' El Paso Diablos for six games (4.15 ERA). He split 1993 between the Diablos (2-2, Sv, 3.80 in 35 G) and the Kansas City Royals' Memphis Chicks (0-1, Sv, 3.63 in 7 G). That ended his Organized Baseball career after 7 seasons.

He then moved on to the independent leagues, which were just forming for those who washed out of the minors. He went 3-5 with a 5.80 ERA for the 1994 Rio Grande Valley White Wings. With the same club in '95, he was 9-6 with a 4.37 ERA. He fanned 123, third in the Texas-Louisiana League behind Alan Newman and Kevin Lane, but also served up a TLL-high 21 home runs. In 1996, he did not play in Asia, Italy, Belgium, Mexico or Organized Baseball; he either missed the year to injury, played in some other European league or was in an independent league (stats and rosters are not readily available for many 1996 independent leagues as of July 2012).

Richards pitched in Italy in 1997, going 10-3 with a 3.50 ERA and 131 strikeouts in 115 2/3 IP for Parma. He also played first base at times and hit a resounding .393/.431/.754 with 5 home runs and 23 RBI in 35 games in the aluminum-bat league (he was a decent 4 for 17 in his few minor league at-bats). In the postseason, he only went 1 for 13 at the plate but continued to pitch well - 2-0, 3.63 in the semifinals and 0-1, 2.16 as Parma beat Nettuno in the finals. He was among the Serie A1 leaders in wins (tied for 5th with Michele Toriaco and Roberto Cabalisti) and strikeouts (4th after Walter Cossutta's 146 and 135 apiece from former major leaguer Kirk McCaskill and Joel Lono).

He spent most of his last seven years in the Atlantic League, most notably with the Newark Bears. In 1998, he was with Newark (4-3, 6 Sv, 2.41, 37 K in 33 2/3 IP) and the Nashua Pride (1-1, 3.68 in 11 G). He was 6th in the league in saves. In 1999, Richards went 3-3 with 10 saves and a 1.77 ERA in 54 games for Newark, allowing 49 hits and 30 walks in 66 innings while striking out 62. He fell to 8th in the league in saves and led the Atlantic League in pitching appearances. He also spent six games with the Mercuries Tigers in Taiwan, with two saves and a 2.70 ERA. He struggled with the 2000 Bears, going 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA and walking 14 in 18 2/3 innings.

The veteran southpaw split 2001 between Newark (7.04 ERA, 14 H, 6 BB in 7 2/3 IP) and the Fort Worth Cats (6-3, 3.86). He did well in limited action with the 2002 Atlantic City Surf (2-1, 1.75). Back with Nashua in 2003, the 35-year-old went 2-1 with a save and a 1.88 ERA in 35 games. He had a better ERA than eight teammates who had major league experience (one former big leaguer, Brian Looney, did better). He wrapped up back with Newark in '04, going 3-0 with a 3.55 ERA in 42 outings.

Sources[edit]

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