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Richie Ashburn Stats & Facts

 

Richie Ashburn

Position: Centerfielder
Bats: Left  •  Throws: Right
5-10, 170lb (178cm, 77kg)
Born: March 19, 1927 in Tilden, NE
Died: September 9, 1997  in New York, NY
Buried: Gladwyne Methodist Church Cemetery, Gladwyne, PA
High School: Tilden HS (Tilden, NE)
Debut: April 20, 1948 (10,482nd in major league history)
vs. BSN 5 AB, 1 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Last Game: September 30, 1962
vs. CHC 4 AB, 1 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1995. (Voted by Veteran’s Committee)
View Richie Ashburn’s Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos).
Full Name: Don Richard Ashburn
Nicknames: Whitey or Put Put
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject

 

Nine Players Who Debuted in 1948

Roy Campanella
Richie Ashburn
Robin Roberts
Mike Garcia
Carl Erskine
Hank Bauer
Ray Boone
Don Mueller
Satchel Paige

 

The Richie Ashburn Teammate Team

C:   Stan Lopata
1B: Ernie Banks
2B: Ted Kazanski
3B: Willie Jones
SS: Granny Hamner
LF: Bill Nicholson
CF: Wally Post
RF: Del Ennis
SP: Robin Roberts
SP: Curt Simmons
SP: Harvey Haddix
SP: Schoolboy Rowe
RP: Jim Konstanty
M:   Eddie Sawyer

 

Notable Events and Chronology for Richie Ashburn Career

Biography

A truly beloved figure in Philadelphia, Richie Ashburn was aHall of Famecenterfielder, broadcaster, and sportswriter.

Ashburn was from Tilden, Nebraska, where his father owned the largest general store. Richie played baseball in high school and for the American Legion. He represented Nebraska in the Esquire all-star game in New York in1944, attracting the attention of baseball scouts. Signed by Philadelphia Philliesscout Eddie Krajnik, he was assigned to the Utica Blue Sox in the Class AEastern League for the the1945season. Originally a catcher, he switched to the outfield during this season. In August he left the team to go into the Army and spent about a year in Alaska in the Quartermaster Department, missing the the1946season. While in Alaska he played in about 15 baseball games. He returned to Utica for the the1947season, hitting .362 and leading the league in runs and hits.

Ashburn, who played 15 years in the majors, spent the first 12 with Philadelphia. He broke in at age 21 in1948, and immediately showed the abilities that marked his career: he hit .333, had a .410 OBP, and stole 32 bases in 117 games. Although Ashburn was probably a better player, Alvin Dark won the rookie of the Year Award.

Richie went on to hit over .300 ten times in his career, with highs of .350, .344, and .338. He was excellent at pulling a walk, leading the league 4 times in OBP at a time when few people noticed. His high walk total was 125 walks in1954.

As an older player, he was still a major contributor to the Chicago Cubsin1960-1961and to theNew York Mets(as an original Met) in1962. With the Cubs in 1960, he scored 99 runs in front of Ernie Banks’ 41 home runs. With the Mets in 1962, although the team was a laughing stock, Ashburn hit .306 with a .424 OBP.

But when his career was over, there was little talk of the Hall of Fame for him. In his first year of eligibility, he got just 2% of the vote. After 6 years of eligibility, he was pulling under 10% of the vote. He did get as high as 41% in 1978. What made the difference, eventually, when he was let in by the Veterans Committee, was a growing understanding that his fielding prowess was truly special. His range factors as a center fielder are unreal and outstrip those ofWillie Mays, who had been considered the top fielder of the time. Add to that the growing affection of fans who loved Richie’s broadcasting, and his popularity as a potential hall of Famergrew and grew.

Although “similarity scores” show only two other Hall of Famers among the 10 players most similar to him (Lloyd WanerandHarry Hooper), there has been no controversy about his selection. He had over 2,500 hits in his career, was a lifetime .308 hitter with a high OBP, and went out on top with a .306 average in his last year. That, combined with the incredible fielding and broadcasting, was enough. He has rewarded with hall of fame induction in 1995.

After his playing career, Ashburn was hired by the Philadelphia Phillies as an analyst in 1963. Originally, Ashburn worked with bill Campbell and Ford Frick Award winner Byrum Saam.

When Campbell left the Phillies in 1970, he was replaced by Harri Kalas. Kalas and Ashburn would work together on Phillies broadcasts for twenty-seven years.

Ashburn, who was a boyhood friend of comedian Johnny Carson, became known for his homespun stories of his boyhood in Nebraska. He would lament the mistakes of the Phillies with an “Oh brother.” Photographs of an aging Ashburn showed him with a jeff cap and a pipe. His rapport with Kalas was both legendary and genuine, Kalas referred to him as “His Whiteness.”

On September 9, 1997, at 5 AM, Ashburn was awoken by chest pain in his hotel in New York City. He had called the Phillies-Mets game the night before. By the time he reached the hospital, Ashburn was dead of a heart attack at 70.

At his viewing, the crowd was estimated at 40,000 Phillies fans. Harry Kalas wrote a moving poem for the occasion. Ashburn was replaced by larry Andersen for the 1998 season.

  • Elected to the baseball hall of FameonMarch 7,1995 by the Committee on Baseball Veterans.
  • First Baseball Card appearance 1949 Bowman

 

Notable Achievements

  • 5-time NL All-Star (1948, 1951, 1953, 1958 & 1962)
  • 2-time NL Batting Average Leader (1955 & 1958)
  • 4-time NL On-Base Percentage Leader (1954, 1955, 1958 & 1960)
  • NL At Bats Leader (1949)
  • 3-time NL Hits Leader (1951, 1953 & 1958)
  • 4-time NL Singles Leader (1951, 1953, 1957 & 1958)
  • 2-time NL Triples Leader (1950 & 1958)
  • 4-time NL Bases on Balls Leader (1954, 1957, 1958 & 1960)
  • NL Stolen Bases Leader (1948)
  • 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 2 (1953 & 1954)
  • 200 Hits Seasons: 3 (1951, 1953 & 1958)
  • BaseballHall of Fame: Class of 1995

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Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts

Played For
Philadelphia Phillies (1948-1959)
Chicago Cubs (1960-1961)
New York Mets (1962)

Similar: Brett Butler… Lloyd Waner was similar but not nearly as good.

Linked: Duke Snider, Willie Mays

Nicknames: Whitey, Putt-Putt

“Whitey” for his complexion, and “Putt-Putt” for his running style. Ted Williams gave Ashburn the nickname “Putt-Putt.” The Red Sox slugger joked that Ashburn ran as though he had twin motors in his pants.

Best Season, 1958
Ashburn led the National League with a .350 batting average, 215 hits, 13 triples, 97 walks, and a .441 OBP. He also stole 16 bases in 20 attempts.

Post-Season Appearances
1950 World Series

Factoid
Richie Ashburn had more hits than any other player in baseball during the 1950s.

Milestones
Ashburn collected his 2,000th career hit in 1958, and his 2,500th in 1962.

Hitting Streaks
23 games (1948)
23 games (1948)
20 games (1951)
20 games (1953)
20 games (1951)
20 games (1953)

Transactions
Before 1945 Season: Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent; January 11, 1960: Traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Chicago Cubs for John Buzhardt, Alvin Dark, and Jim Woods; December 8, 1961: Purchased by the New York Mets from the Chicago Cubs.

The 1950 Pennant Race
On October 1, 1950, the Phillies played their most historic game to date. Leading Brooklyn by one game on the final day of the season, Phillie ace Robin Roberts and Dodger pitcher Don Newcombe battled into extra innings in a 1-1 tie. Phillies’ outfielder Dick Sisler blasted a three-run homer in the top of the 10th to deliver the pennant to Philadelphia. In the play that set the stage for Sisler’s heroics, Ashburn, playing shallow, threw out Dodger runner Cal Abrams at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, eliminating the potential pennant-winning run. Abrams said later, “I think they should have held me at third,” while Dodgers’ skipper Burt Shotton, commenting on having Duke Snider hitting away, “I should have bunted. If you don’t believe me, look in the newspapers.”

Factoid
Richie Ashburn was the first batter in the history of the New York Mets.

Sage Advice
Ashburn served 35 years in the broadcast booth for the Phillies. Onetime partner and former catcher Tim McCarver remembered the advice Ashburn gave him just before they went on the air for their first game together: “If you don’t have anything to say, don’t say it.”

All-Star Selections
1948 NL
1951 NL
1953 NL
1958 NL
1962 NL

Replaced
Harry “The Hat” Walker was playing center field for the Phils in 1947.

Replaced By
Duke Snider came to the Mets in 1963, taking Ashburn’s spot in the outfield. The Mets were obviously not building with youth.

Best Strength as a Player
Defensive range.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Power

Other Resources & Links