“Baseball’s simplicity personifies its complexity. Translated, that means that every fan feels he knows more baseball than the manager.”
Those are the words of the late Paul Richards, taken from a piece he wrote in a 1972 Atlanta Braves program. Richards, who died in May 1986 after completing a round of golf in his native Waxahachie, Texas, is the subject of a new book by veteran reporter Warren Corbett, “The Wizard of Waxahachie: Paul Richards and the End of Baseball as We Knew It.”
Richards, remembered in these parts for his tenure as manager — and general manager — of the Orioles from 1955 until the fall of 1961, was an innovator on a number of levels. He pioneered the five-man pitching rotation, and was an original in recognizing the value of on-base percentage in evaluating hitters.
As I read the book I couldn’t help but notice the a certain commonality between Richards’ Orioles and the Washington Nationals. Richards, as Baltimore GM, spent gobs of money (for those days) on bonuses for players who flamed out quickly. The Nationals are still smarting from the “Smiley Gonzalez” fiasco under ex-GM Jim Bowden; Richards spent $36,000 in 1955 on high school pitcher Bruce Swango — and released him two months later. He gave Auburn football star Jim Pyburn $48,000; in parts of 3 seasons Pyburn batted .190 with 3 home runs. He signed Texas high school first baseman Bob Nelson and Boston University quarterback Tom Gastall for $40,000 each. Nelson never made it and Gastall was killed flying his own plane, perhaps purchased with the bonus money. Richards may have been the first executive to be given an unlimited budget and then exceeding it. Like Bowden, he was enamored of the “toolsy” player: good athletes with little, if any, baseball instincts.
The Orioles’ won-lost record under Richards never got them out of the second division until 1960, when they finished second behind the Yankees, yet he was still seen as one of the game’s brightest minds.
Returning to the earlier quote — it’s probably a good thing the Richards’ career was over with before the advent of the Internet and the explosion of sports talk radio. Public forums that allowed anyone to anonymously spout anything at any time, regardless of expertise, would have made his head explode.
There’s no question that Richards was spot-on about the game’s simplicity. I would add to that the appeal of the game’s uncertainty. In a football game if your team is behind by more than 30 points — 5 touchdowns — in the fourth quarter, you can be pretty certain the game’s over. Same with pro basketball. Not so with baseball, and you saw it again on Thursday when the Nats almost let a 6-run lead over Philadelphia evaporate in the 9th inning.
Corbett’s book is a compelling look at a man whose big league teams never won a world championship, but whose influence is still on display today.
Phil Wood is a contributor to
Nats Xtra on MASN. Contact him at
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