Most Interesting Old Judge Players

[CW]

(while the card is from my collection, the majority of this info was ripped straight from Wiki)

Hardy Richardson played every position at some point, but was known for his play at second base with Buffalo when he was a member of the "Big Four," a star infield that consisted of Richardson and his teammates Dan Brouthers, Jack Rowe, and Deacon White.

Richardson's best season probably came in 1890 with the Boston Reds of the Players' League, when he had 181 hits in 555 turns at bat, a .326 batting average, while also compiling a career-high 13 home runs and 146 RBIs.

Richardson was involved in an unusual circumstance in a game against the Chicago White Stockings on August 13, 1884.

Chicago's George Gore singled to lead off the game, and Chicago manager Cap Anson instructed him to avoid the double play at all costs. Accordingly, when King Kelly followed with a ground ball, Gore tackled Richardson at second base before he could complete the relay throw. The umpire called both the batter and the runner out, and Anson protested the ruling so strenuously and stridently that the umpire forfeited the game to Buffalo.

This ruling was met with disapproval by the Chicago crowd of approximately 2,000, and after extensive discussions, the two teams agreed to resume a game which had been postponed earlier in the season, as a way of placating the dissatisfied fans.

In this second game, Anson decided to give his players a personal demonstration of the right way to break up the double play. He reached first base, and when the next batter hit a ground ball to Richardson, Anson shouted and waved his arms while running to second in an effort to interfere with Richardson's throw. Possibly flustered by this display, Richardson in turn struck Anson square in the head with his throw, which was delivered hard enough that it bounced all the way into the grandstands. A woozy Anson was forced to leave the game.

(adopted from Fleitz, David L. Cap Anson: the grand old man of baseball, McFarland, 2005, pp. 122-123.)