New Summer Exhibit at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame-"Paul Richards: A Baseball Life"

WACO, TX- The Texas Sports Hall of Fame is featuring a new exhibit about Waxahachie native & 1959 TSHOF Inductee, Paul Richards. The "Paul Richards: A Baseball Life" exhibit will be on display inside the TSHOF now and will run through Spring 2023.​

This exhibit is the result of a very large donation of baseball memorabilia from the estate of Mr. Richards’ daughter in Nevada. Boxes and boxes of material including catcher’s mitts, baseballs, bats, trophies and autographed photos and memorabilia from the 1961 MLB All-Star games (there were two per season back then) that he was selected to manage.

A few of the objects that are currently on exhibit from this collection include:
·     An oversize catcher’s mitt designed by Richards to catch knuckleballs
·     A game ball from the 1945 World Series
·     A Japanese edition of Richard’s book Modern Baseball Strategy
 
 About Paul Richards: 
Paul "Sleepy" Richards devoted a half-century of his life to baseball with great success at every level. Richards played on Waxahachie High School teams that won 65 consecutive games from 1924 to 1927. He signed his first pro baseball contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers, but it was only after Richards switched from third baseman to catcher that he achieved major-league success. His playing career ended in 1945 after winning the World Series for Detroit with a bases-loaded triple in the seventh game against the Chicago Cubs. He continued his career as a manager for the Chicago White Sox (1951-1954) and the Baltimore Orioles (1955-1961). He was known as an astute tactician who had the ability to revive the careers of veteran pitchers. Richards was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1959.

“Paul Richards is an important part of baseball history. As a manager, he was a builder, who took perennial losers and turned them into contenders. He was an innovator who designed oversized gloves for catchers dealing with knuckleballs. He was an early proponent of pitch counts for his pitching staffs and was keen on teaching the fundamentals of the game.” - TSHOF Curator, Jay Black
 
*Promotion* – Starting on Wednesday, July 20th, the first 25 people (one per family) who visit the museum with a paid admission will receive a signed Paul Richards postcard.
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