James Rodney Richard

J.R. Richard was a towering, 6'8" right-hander from Louisiana drafted by the Houston Astros in the first round of 1969 summer draft. He was arguably the single most dominating pitcher of his time. With a 103 mph fastball that earned a deadly reputation, backed up by a 94 mph slider, he was virtually unhittable. In his first major league start in 1971, Richard struck out 15 batters. In 1976, he was a 20 game winner and started a string of 4 straight 18 win seasons. He struck out 300 batters in 1978 and 1979 and was an all-star in 1980. Then just weeks after the all-star game it all came crashing down.

On July 30th , 1980, J.R. Richard collapsed during throwing drills and suffered a near fatal, career ending stroke. The blood flow through the main arteries in the right side of his neck was cut off. J.R. had no pulse in his right cartoid artery and blood flow was cut off for three or four hours. Nine hours after J.R. collapsed, he underwent emergency, life saving surgery.

J.R. Richard would never step foot on a major league mound again, and after a failed comeback in 1981, Richard was released by the Astros and the downward spiral continued. J.R.'s life became a tailspin of failure and pain. Bad business investments lost him hundreds of thousands of dollars, he lost his agent, his attorney, 2 wives and his home. In the winter of 1994, J.R. Richard was broke, homeless, and living under a Houston Interstate bridge.

"The only way to understand homelessness is to get out there under the bridge," said Richard. "I am very lucky. God allowed me to get through this to make me a better individual."

Today, J.R. Richard is a minister in his church. He works closely with the homeless and with troubled youth to establish programs that help kids survive their surroundings. As a speaker, J.R. inspires and motivates audiences to never give up. J.R.'s story is like none other and is well worth telling, and even more worth hearing.