| John Lee Richmond was a lefthanded curve ball artist who stood 5'10" and weighed 142 lbs. He first won fame in 1879, pitching for both Brown University in Providence and Worcester's minor league team. In a rain-shortened, seven-inning exhibition game, Richmond pitched a no-hitter against Cap Anson's Chicago White Stockings, who were leading the National League at the time. A week later, he defeated Yale to give Brown the College Championship. In 1880, his senior year in college, Richmond worked 74 of Worcester's 83 games -- an astonishing total of 590.2 innings -- winning 32 and losing 32. Lee was no slacker. When he wasn't on the mound, he earned his pay by playing the outfield. He continued this kind of yeoman work until 1882 when he began suffering from a chronic sore arm. But Richmond had another career in mind anyway -- he was using baseball to finance his medical education. He pitched briefly for Providence in '83 and then retired from baseball at age 26 to become a doctor. J. Lee Richmond returned to his home state of Ohio, picking up the baseball just one more time, to play a few games for Cincinnati in 1886. The good doctor lived until 1929. |
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