Ruth Richard

Ruth Richard
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Catcher
Born: (1928-09-20)September 20, 1928
Sellersville, Pennsylvania
Died: May 6, 2018(2018-05-06) (aged 89)
Quakertown, Pennsylvania
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
debut
1947
Last appearance
1954
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • Six-time All-Star selection (1949-'54)
  • Four-time Championship Team (1947-'50)
  • Seven playoff appearances (1947-'53)

Ruth Richard [Richie] (September 20, 1928 – May 6, 2018) was an American baseball player who played as a catcher from 1947 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 4", 134 lb., she batted left-handed and threw right-handed.[1][2]

Richard spent eight seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A six-time All-Star, she also was a member of four champion teams. Richard made a transition from outfield to catcher, which enabled her to utilize her strong throwing arm more effectively, and she responded by gunning down more baserunners than any catcher in the league. Basically a line-drive hitter, she posted a .241 career batting average in 725 games, driving in 287 runs while scoring 237. As a catcher, she committed only 134 errors in 3,407 total chances for a .961 career fielding average.[1][3]

  1. ^ a b "All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – Player page". Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  2. ^ The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary – W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2005. Format: Paperback, 295 pp. Language: English. ISBN 978-0-7864-3747-4
  3. ^ The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League