Antoan Richardson

Antoan Edward Richardson (born October 8, 1983) is a Bahamian coach and former professional baseball player. He is the first base coach for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He attended Palm Beach Community College and also Vanderbilt University, where he played college baseball. The Giants drafted him in the 35th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft, and he made his major league debut in 2011. Richardson was an outfielder in the MLB for the Atlanta Braves in 2011 and for the New York Yankees in 2014.

Antoan Richardson
Richardson batting for the New York Yankees in 2014
San Francisco Giants – No. 00
Outfielder/ Coach
Born: (1983-10-08) October 8, 1983
Nassau, Bahamas
Batted: Switch Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 4, 2011, for the Atlanta Braves
Last appearance
September 28, 2014, for the New York Yankees
MLB statistics
Batting average.350
Home runs0
Runs batted in1
Stolen bases6
Teams
As player

As coach

Personal

Richardson was born in Nassau, in the Bahamas.[1] He grew up in the Bahamas, raised by his single mother and grandparents.[2] In seventh grade, he was cut from his school's softball team.[2]

After his playing days, Richardson founded nonprofit organization Project Limestone to provide youth programs that encourage young people to respect their peers, to work together, to define their goals and set them on a path to achieve those goals. Its focus is in the classroom, in sports, and in the community.[2]

High school and college

Richardson attended American Heritage High School in Delray Beach, a suburb of Boca Raton, Florida, on scholarship after a coach from the school noticed him.[2] There, he played baseball and football and was class salutatorian.[2][3][4] As a senior he was named to the 2001 Class 1A All-state high school baseball second team by the Florida Sports Writers Association.[5]

He then attended Palm Beach Community College on an athletic scholarship, passing up an opportunity to attend Brown University on full scholarship.[6] Richardson next attended Vanderbilt University, where he played college baseball for the Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team from 2004 to 2005.[7][2][8] He was drafted in the 27th round of the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft out of high school, the 27th round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft, the 13th round of the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft, and the 35th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.[9] In 2004, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[10] In December 2008 he earned his engineering science degree from Vanderbilt.[2]

Playing career

San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants signed Richardson after they took him in the 35th round of the 2005 Draft.[1] In 2005 he batted .321/.465 (4th in the league)/.378 with 45 runs (tied for the league lead), 44 walks (leading the league), 7 sacrifice hits (tied for 2nd in the league), 8 hit by pitch (tied for 5th in the league) and 40 stolen bases (leading the league) in 193 at bats for the Rookie AZL Giants, and was a 2005 Post-Season Arizona League All Star.[1][11] In 2006 he batted .292/.381/.366 with 7 sacrifice hits (tied for 7th in the league) and 66 stolen bases (3rd) in 418 at bats for the Augusta GreenJackets of the Class A California League.[1]

In 2007 he batted .279/.399/.362 with 7 triples (2nd in the league), 67 walks (5th), 11 hit by pitch (9th), and 43 stolen bases (2nd) in 384 at bats for the San Jose Giants of the Class A-Advanced South Atlantic League.[1] Baseball America named Richardson the best defensive outfielder in the Giants organization.[12] In 2008 he batted .241/.356/.329 with 12 hit by pitch (leading the league), 10 sacrifice hits (6th), and 33 stolen bases (leading the league) in 365 at bats for the Connecticut Defenders of the Class AA Eastern League.[1]

Richardson began the 2009 season with Connecticut, batting .207/.320/.287 in 87 at bats.[1] He was then released by the Giants on July 24, 2009.[13][1][14]

Schaumburg Flyers

He then played for the remainder of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 for the Schaumburg Flyers of the independent Northern League. In 2009 he batted .287/.419/.404 with 20 stolen bases in 94 at bats, and in 2010 Richardson batted .375/.474/.438 in 16 at bats.[15]

Atlanta Braves

In May 2010, Richardson signed a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves.[16] In the remainder of the 2010 season he played primarily for the Mississippi Braves in the Class AA Southern League, batting .279/.393 (10th in the league)/.316 with 12 hit by pitch (4th) and 24 stolen bases in 272 at bats.[1]

He played most of 2011 for the Mississippi Braves, and batted .283/.430 (tied for 2nd in the league, behind Paul Goldschmidt)/.327 with 11 hit by pitch (5th) and 17 stolen bases in 272 at bats.[1] He was a 2011 MiLB.com Atlanta Braves Organization All Star.[1]

Richardson was called up to the majors for the first time on September 4, 2011, and recorded his first career hit, a single to right field, off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw in his first career Major League at bat.[17] He became the sixth player from the Bahamas to play in the major leagues.[3] He batted 2-for-4 with a stolen base in 2011 for the Braves.[1]

Baltimore Orioles

On December 31, 2011, Richardson signed a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles.[1] In 2012 he played primarily for the Bowie Baysox of the Class AA Eastern League, batting .279/.415 (3rd in the league)/.331 with 8 sacrifice hits (5th) and 26 stolen bases (6th) in 290 at bats.[1]

Richardson played three games for Team Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic qualifiers in 2012, going 1-for-10 with a walk.[1]

Minnesota Twins
Richardson with the New Britain Rock Cats in 2013

He signed with the Minnesota Twins organization in February 2013,[1] and played with the organization that season. He split the season between the New Britain Rock Cats of the Eastern League, for whom he batted .336/.456/.403 with 14 stolen bases in 119 at bats, and the Rochester Red Wings of the Class AAA International League, for whom he batted .265/.381/.358 with 9 sacrifice hits (tied for 3rd in the league) and 25 stolen bases (5th; while being caught twice) in 302 at bats.[1] Richardson was a 2013 MiLB.com Minnesota Twins Organization All Star.[1]

New York Yankees

On November 13, 2013, Richardson signed a minor league deal with the New York Yankees.[1] After playing the minor league season with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in the International League for whom he batted .271/.380/.364 with 14 hit by pitch (leading the league), 7 sacrifice hits (tied for 9th), and 26 stolen bases (5th; while being caught once) in 258 at bats, the Yankees promoted Richardson to the major leagues on September 2, 2014.[18] On September 25, Richardson pinch-ran for Jose Pirela in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles. He scored the winning run on a walk-off single by Derek Jeter in the final Yankee Stadium at bat of Jeter's career.[19] Overall, for the season, he had five hits in 16 at bats (.313 batting average), along with five stolen bases without being caught. After the season, he was outrighted off the Yankees roster.[7]

Texas Rangers

On December 11, 2014, Richardson signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers. [20] He underwent back surgery for a bulging spinal disk on March 27, 2015, and was placed on the 60-day disabled list on April 2.[21] During rehab in AAA in July he was hit by a pitch, and suffered a broken foot.[21][22] For the 2015 season, he had only 37 at bats between the AZL Rangers and the Round Rock Express.[23]

Pittsburgh Pirates

Richardson signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 2016 season, and the Pirates invited Richardson to spring training.[24] He had 16 at bats for the Indianapolis Indians and was released on April 25, 2016.[25]

Los Angeles Dodgers

Richardson signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 29, 2016 after being released by the Pirates just two days prior. The Dodgers subsequently released him on June 22, 2016 after he hit .222 in 15 games for the AAA Oklahoma City Dodgers. He retired on March 7, 2017, at 33 years of age.[6]

In his 12-season minor league career, while primarily playing center field, Richardson batted .273/.392/.342 in 3,107 at bats while stealing 331 bases and being caught 58 times.[26] In the major leagues, he batted .350/.381/.350 in 20 at bats while stealing six bases without being caught.[26]

Coaching career

In February 2019, Richardson was named as a field coordinator and minor league outfield coordinator for the San Francisco Giants.[27][28]

On December 23, 2019, Richardson was named the first-base coach of the San Francisco Giants under new manager Gabe Kapler, with the added responsibility of coaching Giants baserunners and outfielders.[29][28]

References
  1. "Antoan Richardson Stats, Highlights, Bio | MiLB.com Stats | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". Milb.com. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  2. Antoan Richardson. "My Journey Home," The Players Tribune.
  3. "MLB player Antoan Richardson retires from professional baseball". thebahamasweekly.com. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  4. "Derek Jeter launched American Heritage product Antoan Richardson into Yankees immortality"
  5. Florida Sportswriters. "FlaVarsity - 1A ALL-STATE BASEBALL TEAM FOR 2001". Flavarsity.rivals.com. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  6. "Antoan Richardson retires from baseball". The Tribune. March 8, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  7. "Former Commodore says he's finished playing". Nashville Post. March 8, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  8. "American Heritage grad Antoan Richardson part of Derek Jeter lore". Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  9. "Antoan Richardson Player Card - Transactions". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  10. "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  11. "2005 Arizona League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. January 1, 1970. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  12. Baseball America Prospect Handbook 2008. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  13. Giants Release Richardson, McNiven Archived March 31, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  14. "Antoan Richardson Stats, Fantasy & News". MLB.com. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  15. "Antoan Richardson Minor, Winter & Independent Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  16. Richardson signs with Braves in minor league Archived March 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  17. "Braves call up speedy outfielder Richardson". MLB.com. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  18. "A Richardson gets second call-up to major leagues". Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  19. "MLB.com Gameday". Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  20. Andro, Anthony. "Rangers get DeShields in Rule 5 Draft". foxsports.com. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  21. "Antoan Richardson hit by pitch, suffers broken foot | The Tribune". Tribune242.com. July 30, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  22. Taige Adderley (March 23, 2016). "Antoan Richardson: "A lot of Patience was required with rehab"". 10th Year Seniors. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  23. "Antoan Richardson Minor, Winter & Independent Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  24. Biertempfel, Rob (January 4, 2016). "Catcher McGuire leads prospects invited to spring training with Pirates". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  25. "Antoan Richardson Stats & Scouting Report". Baseball America. October 8, 1983. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  26. "Antoan Richardson Minor, Winter & Independent Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  27. "Richardson signs with Giants office". EyeWitness News. February 13, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  28. Ho, Catherine (December 23, 2019). "Giants hire former farmhand Antoan Richardson to coach first base". SFChronicle.com. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  29. "Report: Antoan Richardson to join Kapler's Giants staff". NBCS Bay Area. December 23, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
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