Managing and Executive Career
Richards became a successful manager with the Chicago White Sox in 1951. In a baseball era when many teams relied on home runs for much of their offensive production, Richards went against the perceived common wisdom by relying on pitching, good defense, speed and stolen bases to manufacture runs with a strategy now known as small ball. The White Sox led the American League in stolen bases for eleven consecutive years from 1951 to 1961. He managed the White Sox to four winning-record seasons, but his club always finished behind the New York Yankees (1951, 1952, 1953) and the Cleveland Indians in 1954. It was during his tenure as the White Sox manager that he was given the nickname, “The Wizard of Waxahachie.”
In 1955, he was hired by the Baltimore Orioles, where he served as both field manager and general manager through 1958, becoming the first man since John McGraw to hold both positions simultaneously. As general manager, he was involved in a 17-player trade with the New York Yankees that remains the biggest trade in baseball history. Richards concentrated on signing good defensive players (such as Brooks Robinson) and hard-throwing young pitchers (such as Steve Barber, Milt Pappas and Chuck Estrada). After Lee MacPhail was hired as the general manager in 1959, Richards served strictly as the Orioles' field manager. The Orioles finally blossomed in 1960 with a second-place finish after five disappointing seasons. The Orioles’ second-place finish was Richards’ best as a manager. Both the Associated Press and United Press International named him the American League Manager of the Year.
The following September, Richards resigned as manager of the Orioles to become general manager of the new Houston Colt .45s National League club. Richards stocked the Houston club (soon renamed the Astros) with young players – including Joe Morgan, Jimmy Wynn, Mike Cuellar, Don Wilson and Rusty Staub – but he was fired after the 1965 season when the on-field results did not match owner Roy Hofheinz' expectations.
The following year, Richards was hired as Director of Player Personnel by the Atlanta Braves – returning to the city where he excelled as a minor league catcher and player-manager for the Southern Association's Atlanta Crackers from 1938 to 1942. By the end of the 1966 season, Richards was given the title of general manager of the Braves. Richards' six years at the helm of the Atlanta organization were in some ways his most successful in baseball. He inherited a strong core of players including Henry Aaron, Joe Torre, Felipe Alou, and Rico Carty. He added several young pitchers and position players to the mix and converted knuckleballing reliever Phil Niekro into a successful starter. His 1969 Braves, skippered by his longtime protege Luman Harris, won the National League Western Division title but, that team was swept by the eventual world champion "Miracle Mets" in the first National League Championship Series ever played. The Braves failed to contend in 1970 and 1971 and, Richards was fired in the middle of the 1972 season, replaced by Eddie Robinson.
In 1976, after three and a half years out of the game, Richards was hired by Bill Veeck to return to Chicago as manager of the White Sox. After a losing record, he retired from the field at the end of the season, but stayed in the game as a player personnel advisor with the White Sox, then the Texas Rangers. As a manager, he compiled a 923–901 record in 11 seasons (406-362 with Chicago, 517–539 with Baltimore).
Richards was credited in helping Sherm Lollar become one of the best catchers in the major leagues and, he also helped Gus Triandos become a respectable catcher. He is known for designing the oversized catcher's mitt first used by Triandos to catch Hall of Fame knuckleball pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm. Despite his skills as a motivator, mentor and strategist of the game, Richards never was able to lead a team to a pennant. Sixteen of his players became major league managers.
Paul Richards died of a heart attack in Waxahachie, Texas at the age of 77. In 1996, Richards was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. Paul Richards Park in Waxahachie has been named a Texas Historical Landmark.
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Famous quotes containing the words managing, executive and/or career:
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