23 Facts About Richie Ashburn

Richie Ashburn was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995.

One of the famous "Whiz Kids" of the National League champion 1950 Phillies, Richie Ashburn spent 12 of his 15 major-league seasons as the Phillies' center fielder.

Richie Ashburn had been playing in to back up a pick-off throw on a pitchout, but pitcher Robin Roberts had instead thrown a fastball to the batter, Duke Snider.

Richie Ashburn caught the ball in front of the right centerfield screen 400 feet distant after a long run.

Richie Ashburn was a singles hitter rather than a slugger, accumulating over 2,500 hits in 15 years against only 29 home runs.

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Richie Ashburn accumulated the most hits of any batter during the 1950s.

When play resumed Richie Ashburn fouled off another ball that struck her while she was being carried off in a stretcher.

Richie Ashburn was traded to the Chicago Cubs following the 1959 season for three players.

Richie Ashburn went on to anchor center field for the North Siders in 1960 and 1961.

Richie Ashburn was purchased by the expansion New York Mets for the 1962 season and was the first batter in franchise history.

The last straw might have been during the Mets' 120th loss, when Richie Ashburn was one of the three Mets victims in a triple play pulled off by his former teammates, the 9th-place Cubs.

Richie Ashburn became a well-respected official, but retired from officiating when he retired from baseball.

Richie Ashburn first worked with long-time Phillies announcers Bill Campbell and Byrum Saam.

From 1971 to 1976, Ashburn worked together with Saam and Kalas who would both be Ford C Frick Award winners.

Saam retired in 1976, and Richie Ashburn continued working with Kalas for the next two decades, the two growing to be best friends.

Richie Ashburn regularly wrote for columns on the Phillies and Major League Baseball for The Philadelphia Bulletin and the Philadelphia Daily News.

Richie Ashburn is interred in the suburban Gladwyne Methodist Church Cemetery, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Richie Ashburn was inducted into The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame in 1997.

Richie Ashburn was posthumously inducted into the inaugural class of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

Richie Ashburn said that he once had a habit of keeping a successful baseball bat in bed with him between games, not trusting the clubhouse crew to give him the same bat the next day.

Richie Ashburn told Kalas that he had "slept with a lot of old bats" in his day.

The Phillies requested that Richie Ashburn discontinue the practice, as Celebre's was not a Phillies sponsor, and it was considered free advertising.

Richie Ashburn was allowed to make on-air birthday and anniversary wishes during Phillies games.