 Richie Ashburn was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1945 and made his major league debut playing center field for the Phillies in 1948. Richie anchored the Phillies outfield for 12 seasons and led the league in hitting in 1955. He helped the Phillies to the 1950 National League pennant and appeared in 5 All Star games over his career. Richie was a light hitter but consistently hit over .300 during his career. He was a good base runner and stole over 230 bases over his career. After 12 star studded seasons in Philadelphia, Richie was traded to the Chicago Cubs in 1960. Richie played with the Cubs for 2 seasons and was drafted by the expansion New York Mets in 1962. Despite making his final All Star appearance in 1962, Richie retired at the end of the season. Richie played 15 seasons in the big leagues and had a career batting average of .308. At the end of his playing career, Richie went into broadcasting and was the TV color commentator for his original team the Phillies for over 3 decades. Richie was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995. Richie Ashburn died of a heart attack in New York City in 1997 after his final broadcast (Mets vs Phillies), he was 70 years old. |
