After Baseball
After his professional baseball career ended, Richard returned to Louisiana and invested in some business ventures. He fell prey to an oil business scam, losing over $300,000 in the deal. A few years later, Richard paid $669,000 in a divorce settlement to ex-wife Carolyn. He married and divorced again, losing his suburban Houston home and most of his money. In 1989, Richard was drafted into the Senior Professional Baseball Association and played for the Orlando Juice but was cut from the team in preseason play. In the winter of 1994, Richard was homeless and destitute and lived under a highway overpass in Houston.
By 1995, Richard was eligible for his pension from Major League Baseball. He played in the Old-Timers' Day game with the Astros in the same year. In the following months, after spending many nights under the overpass Highway 59 at Beechnut Road in Houston, he turned to the Now Testament Church and sought help from its minister, Reverend Floyd Lewis. Richard overcame his homelessness by working with this minister, with a belief that he "always knew God was on his side". Richard started working at an asphalt company and later returned to the church as a minister.
Richard became involved in the Houston community, working with local financial donors to help establish baseball programs for children. A small-budget 2005 movie, Resurrection: The J.R. Richard Story, depicted Richard's baseball career as well as his life after baseball.
Read more about this topic: J. R. Richard
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