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Peter Gerald Richert
Baltimore Orioles
Outfield
Born: October 29, 1939, Floral Park, NY
Signed: Signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1958 season
Major League Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers 1962-1964; Washington Senators 1965-1967; Baltimore Orioles 1967-1971; Los Angeles Dodgers 1972-1973; St. Louis Cardinals 1974; Philadelphia Phillies 1974
World Series Appearances: Los Angeles Dodgers 1963; Baltimore Orioles 1969-1971
Pete Richert began his big league career by setting a record when he struck out the first six batters he faced on April 12, 1962 against the Reds. His second victim, Gordy Coleman, reached first on a passed ball, and Richert remains the only pitcher to strike out four batters in an inning in his debut. Dealt to the Senators following the 1964 season, Richert enjoyed the best two seasons of his career in 1965 and 1966, making the All-Star team both seasons. He went 15-12 with a 2.60 ERA in 1965, following that up with a 14-14 record in 1966 with a 3.37 ERA. Richert joined the Orioles in 1967, converting to a full-time reliever. He pitched in three World Series for the Orioles between 1969 and 1971, winning a ring with the club in 1970 and recording a one out save in that series in Game 1. Richert returned to the Dodgers in 1972 and enjoyed two more seasons as a reliable lefty reliever, before splitting the 1974 season between the Cardinals and Phillies in his final year. He retired following that 1974 season when a blood clot was discovered in his pitching arm.
Richert earned a career record of 80-73 in 429 games, with a 3.19 ERA and 51 saves. He struck out 925 over 1,165 2/3 innings pitched. He'd later serve as a pitching coach for the A's and Giants' top farm teams in the Pacific Coast League between 1989 and 2001.
Pete Richert began his big league career by setting a record when he struck out the first six batters he faced on April 12, 1962 against the Reds. His second victim, Gordy Coleman, reached first on a passed ball, and Richert remains the only pitcher to strike out four batters in an inning in his debut. Dealt to the Senators following the 1964 season, Richert enjoyed the best two seasons of his career in 1965 and 1966, making the All-Star team both seasons. He went 15-12 with a 2.60 ERA in 1965, following that up with a 14-14 record in 1966 with a 3.37 ERA. Richert joined the Orioles in 1967, converting to a full-time reliever. He pitched in three World Series for the Orioles between 1969 and 1971, winning a ring with the club in 1970 and recording a one out save in that series in Game 1. Richert returned to the Dodgers in 1972 and enjoyed two more seasons as a reliable lefty reliever, before splitting the 1974 season between the Cardinals and Phillies in his final year. He retired following that 1974 season when a blood clot was discovered in his pitching arm.
Richert earned a career record of 80-73 in 429 games, with a 3.19 ERA and 51 saves. He struck out 925 over 1,165 2/3 innings pitched. He'd later serve as a pitching coach for the A's and Giants' top farm teams in the Pacific Coast League between 1989 and 2001.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #131
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Orioles Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
1969 Season
Richert had a fantastic year out of the Orioles' bullpen. In 44 appearances, spanning 57 1/3 innings pitched, he was 7-4 with 2.20 ERA. He had 54 strikeouts to just 14 walks for the season. His 12 saves were second on the club behind Eddie Watt (#652) who had 16 saves. In Game 4 of the World Series, Richert relieved Dick Hall in the bottom of the 10th, with the score tied 1-1 and runners on first and second. J.C. Martin (#112) laid down a bunt fielded by Richert, with Richert's throw hitting Martin, allowing the Mets' winning run to score from second. Replays showed Martin had been running inside the baseline and should have been out on interference.
Phillies Career
The Cardinals sold Richert to the Phillies on June 21, 1974, and he worked out of their bullpen for the remainder of the season. He was reunited with his old Dodgers' minor league manager, Danny Ozark, who now managed the Phillies. Richert made 21 appearances, going 2-1 with a 2.21 ERA over 20 1/3 innings pitched. He made his final appearance on September 2nd in the second game of a double header, allowing an RBI double to the Pirates' Willie Stargell (#545) before immediately being relieved by Watt, his former Orioles teammate. That would be the final appearance of Richert's baseball career as he retired following his release by the Phillies on October 25th.
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 54th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing less than a dollar.
The Card / Orioles Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
Richert is wearing a Senators jersey and hat here, and the photo is likely from the same session as the photos used for his 1967 and 1968 Topps cards. The cartoon on the back highlights the seven straight Tigers he struck out on April 24, 1966 in a game lost by the Senators, 4-0. Al Kaline (#410) broke the streak with a lead-off double to start the fifth inning. The trade summary fails to mention that Frank Bertaina (#554) was part of the return from the Orioles in exchange for Richert, along with Mike Epstein (#461). That deal happened on May 29, 1967.
Accuracy Index: Richert's card sinks to -8 for the Senators uniform (-5) and the blacked out hat (-3).
1969 Season
Richert had a fantastic year out of the Orioles' bullpen. In 44 appearances, spanning 57 1/3 innings pitched, he was 7-4 with 2.20 ERA. He had 54 strikeouts to just 14 walks for the season. His 12 saves were second on the club behind Eddie Watt (#652) who had 16 saves. In Game 4 of the World Series, Richert relieved Dick Hall in the bottom of the 10th, with the score tied 1-1 and runners on first and second. J.C. Martin (#112) laid down a bunt fielded by Richert, with Richert's throw hitting Martin, allowing the Mets' winning run to score from second. Replays showed Martin had been running inside the baseline and should have been out on interference.
The Cardinals sold Richert to the Phillies on June 21, 1974, and he worked out of their bullpen for the remainder of the season. He was reunited with his old Dodgers' minor league manager, Danny Ozark, who now managed the Phillies. Richert made 21 appearances, going 2-1 with a 2.21 ERA over 20 1/3 innings pitched. He made his final appearance on September 2nd in the second game of a double header, allowing an RBI double to the Pirates' Willie Stargell (#545) before immediately being relieved by Watt, his former Orioles teammate. That would be the final appearance of Richert's baseball career as he retired following his release by the Phillies on October 25th.
His only cardboard appearance with the Phillies came in the form on the 1974 team-issued photo card set, a card which eludes me as of this writing.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #131
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1962-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams #48
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 83 in the Beckett online database as of 9/15/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #131
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1962-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams #48
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 83 in the Beckett online database as of 9/15/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room
1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room
#85 Lou Brock - St. Louis Cardinals / #87 Horace Clarke - New York Yankees
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