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Who was JR Richard's wife Lula Richard? Houston Astros All-Star pitcher dies at 71

JR Richard was a right-handed pitcher and pitched all 10 of his big league seasons with Houston Astros during his career

Former Houston Astros All-Star pitcher and a two-time National League strikeout champion JR Richard died on Wednesday evening, August 4. He was 71 years old. The Houston Astros announced the news of Richard's demise on Thursday, August 5.

The Astros said in a statement, "Today is a sad day for the Houston Astros as we mourn the loss of one of our franchise icons, JR Richard. JR will forever be remembered as an intimidating figure on the mound and as one of the greatest pitchers in club history. He stood shoulder to shoulder with club icons Larry Dierker, Joe Niekro and Nolan Ryan, to form a few of the best rotations in club history. Sadly, his playing career was cut short by health issues, but his 10 years in an Astros uniform stand out as a decade of excellence. We send our heartfelt condolences to JR's wife, Lula, his family, friends and countless fans and admirers." Recently, Stanford University's former Golf coach, Wally Goodwin, who coached the likes of Tiger Woods, Notah Begay III and Joel Kribel, died last month.

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Richard, who was a right-handed pitcher, pitched all 10 of his big league seasons with the Astros during his career. His career was cut short due to a stroke he suffered while he was playing catch inside of the Astrodome on July 30, 1980. In his 2015 autobiography, 'Still Throwing Heat: Strikeouts, the Streets and a Second Chance', Richard wrote, "The impact on my pitching as I went along was that I could still start out strong for a few innings and then my arm started to ache and feel heavy. That's how they interpreted it in retrospect and that’s what happened. That was before things got worse and I passed out. I never could understand how the Astros handled things. If I meant so much to the ballclub and I started saying I had problems and didn't feel right, why didn't they send me to a doctor right away? I think teams are more sensitive to those situations now, especially with pitchers. They would automatically take you out of the game and make sure you went to the doctor the next day just to be on the safe side." Richard was inducted into the Astros' inaugural Hall of Fame in 2020.

Who was J R Richard's wife?

JR Richard was divorced twice and his divorce settlements drained his savings, rendering him homeless in Houston in 1994-95. He then turned his life around and eventually got married again to Lula Richard.

'The most intimidating pitcher of all time'

Fans mourned Richard's death and posted consoling messages on Twitter. One fan wrote, "At 6'8", J.R. Richard was an intimidating right-hander who led the MLB in strikeouts in 1978 and 1979 and started the 1980 All-Star Game for the NL. He spent his entire 10-year career with the @Astros. RIP." Another commented, "J.R. RICHARD (1950-2021) Perhaps the most intimidating pitcher of all time on the mound. A gentle giant off of it. Rest in Power, King." One tweet read, "Just heard former Astros pitcher J.R. Richard has passed away. A promising career cut way short by a stroke at the age of 30. If you could have seen him in his prime he was special. Scary good. Rest In Peace."

One fan tweeted, "Two years and 2 days ago, I saw him at the Astros HOF ceremony. I'm too old to fangirl, but I did it anyway because I never stopped being in awe of J.R. Richard." Another wrote, "If you could guarantee one athlete from any time period a fully healthy career" is a popular thought experiment, and my answer has always been J.R. Richard. He would've been among the best to ever do it. Great community member post-playing days too, no doubt he'll be missed."