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J. Lee Richmond (May 5, 1857 – October 1, 1929) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Boston Red Stockings, Worcester Worcesters, Providence Grays, and Cincinnati Red Stockings, and is best known for pitching the first perfect game in Major League history. After retiring from baseball, he became a teacher.
Worcester joined the National League in 1880, and Richmond signed with the team for $2,400 ($ in current dollar terms) that season. Before a game against Cleveland on June 12, Richmond was up all night taking part in college graduation events, and he went to bed at 6:30 AM. He caught the 11:30 AM train for Worcester so he could pitch in the afternoon contest and then pitched a perfect game to beat Cleveland, 1–0. According to the Chicago Tribune, "The Clevelands were utterly helpless before Richmond's puzzling curves, retiring in every inning in one, two, three order, without a base hit. The Worcesters played a perfect fielding game." Cleveland pitcher Jim McCormick allowed three hits, and the only run was scored on a double error by second baseman Fred Dunlap.
Richmond graduated from Brown University four days after the perfect game, and he finished the year with a win–loss record of 32–32, a 2.15 earned run average, and 243 strikeouts in 590.2 innings pitched. He was the first left-handed pitcher to win 30 games in a season. "Lee Richmond Statistics and History". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
Richmond found success throwing an changeup that he termed a "half-stride ball" and that other players referred to as a "drop ball". He also had a rising fastball that he called a "jump ball". He also learned to throw a curveball in college, even though a Brown physics professor tried to convince him that nothing could make a ball curve in midair.
In both 1881 and 1882, Richmond pitched over 400 innings. After the 1882 season, the Worcester franchise disbanded, and Richmond played for the National League's Providence Grays in 1883. He experienced arm problems and was primarily an outfielder that year. He finished his MLB career with a record of 75–100, a 3.06 ERA, and 552 strikeouts.
Richmond then changed careers, and from 1890 to 1921, he was a high school chemistry teacher at Scott High School in Toledo, Ohio. Richmond married Mary Naomi Chapin, his former student, in 1892, and had three children: Ruth, Dorothy, and Jane. He died in Toledo in 1929.
Later life
In the winter of 1880, Richmond had begun to pursue a career in medicine, studying under a Providence physician, C. T. Gardner. He enrolled at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York a few months later, then at the University of the City of New York. After the 1883 baseball season, Richmond practiced medicine at Bellevue Hospital and with Gardner in Providence.
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Categories: 1857 Births, 1929 Deaths, 19th-century Baseball Players, 19th-century American Sportsmen, Major League Baseball Pitchers Who Have Pitched A Perfect Game, Boston Red Caps Players, Boston Red Stockings Players, Worcester Worcesters Players, Providence Grays Players, Cincinnati Red Stockings Players, Worcester Grays Players, Baseball Players From Lorain County, Ohio, Physicians From Ohio, Brown Bears Baseball Players, Schoolteachers From Ohio
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