Paul Rapier Richards (November 21, 1908 - May 4, 1986) was an American player, manager, scout and executive in Major League Baseball. During his playing career, he was a catcher and right-handed batter with the Brooklyn Dodgers (1932), New York Giants (1933-35), Philadelphia Athletics (1935) and Detroit Tigers (1943-46). After retiring, he became the manager of the Chicago White Sox (1951-54, 1976) and Baltimore Orioles (1955-61). He was born in Waxahachie, Texas.
After a playing career as a reserve catcher with four teams, Richards became a successful manager with the White Sox in 1951, with four winning-record seasons, but his club always finished behind the Yankees ('51, '52, '53) and Indians ('54). With the Orioles, he served as both field manager and general manager for seven seasons, only to assembly one young team that finally blossomed in 1960 with a second place after five disappointing seasons. The next year he resigned as manager of the Orioles to become general manager of the new Houston Colt .45s National League club. In 1976, Richards was hired again by the White Sox. After a losing record he retired at the end of the season.
Despite his skills as a motivator, mentor and strategist of the game, Richards never was able to lead a team to a pennant. Probably he is best known for designing the oversized catcher's glove used to catch knuckleball pitchers.
In 10 seasons as a player, Richards batted .227 with 15 home runs and 155 RBI. As a manager, he compiled a 923-901 record in 11 seasons (406-362 with Chicago, 517-539 with Baltimore).
Paul Richards died in Waxahachie, Texas, at the age of 77.
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