Bobby Richardson, this week’s star of “Sports Legends of the Carolinas,” was a notable New York Yankee who never really left his South Carolina hometown.
Born and raised in Sumter, S.C., about 110 miles southeast of Charlotte, Richardson still lives there today, with his wife Betsy, in a house he built in 1960. He turns 88 years old in August but still has a remarkable memory, especially for the time he spent wearing the Yankees’ famous pinstripes.
Richardson played for the Yankees for his entire major league career from 1955-1966, competing in seven World Series and winning three of them with teammates like Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Yogi Berra. He was a seven-time All-Star, then retired at age 31. Richardson remains the only World Series MVP in a losing cause, winning the award in 1960 despite Pittsburgh winning the World Series that year.
After retirement, Richardson would become a college baseball coach for three different teams -- including the University of South Carolina -- as well as a well-known Christian speaker who evangelized alongside Billy Graham and spoke at a dozen of his former Yankee teammates' funerals. We spoke in the family room of his home in Sumter, surrounded by mementos of his career.
Sports Legends of the Carolinas is hosted by Scott Fowler. It's produced by Loumay Alesali, Jeff Siner and Kata Stevens. Our interns on this production are Zoe Williams and Christina Silvestri. For lots more on the show, visit https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sportslegends.
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