J.R. Richard: The Human Condition

JR: I don't see anything they've done at all to help me recover.

JR: Yeah, to see if I could pitch again. That was the checking they did.

DH: They weren't interested in J.R. Richard the person?

JR: No, they were not. I think it was pretty self-evident how they were interested in me. If they had been interested in me and I was such a valuable asset to the ball club, why wasn't I checked earlier? Why wasn't I checked all those times I was complaining?

DH: On November 21, 1980 -- four months after you'd gone down with a stroke -- CBS aired the "Who shot J.R.?" episode of Dallas, which at the time was the most-watched TV show in history. Did that get anybody in Texas, or elsewhere -- or even in the Astros organization -- asking the question, Who's taking care of the other J.R.?

JR: I don't think the way I was treated down here [Houston] that they were really concerned at all. Not even my agent was concerned. I never heard from him since then. But I'm not amazed at that. That's the way people are. People don't really give a shit about you as long as they get what they want from you. Then they're done with you. They don't really care nothin' about you.

DH: How has this experience damaged your faith in other people?

JR: I don't have faith in other people. I have faith in God. Because I know that's the source of my beginning and end. That's the source of everything. As it says in the Bible, man will always let you down. So why put faith in man?

DH: I know there's no sense in looking back. But as you know, the 1980 Astros team won an exciting one-game playoff for the NL West title over the Dodgers, before bowing to the Phillies in the LCS. That Astros team had an all-star pitching staff of Joaquin Andujar, Joe Niekro, Ken Frost and Nolan Ryan. Do you think you and Nolan Ryan alone could've beaten the Phillies?

JR: True.

DH: What did Nolan Ryan or other Astros do to help during your recovery?

JR: Nothing. Not a thing.

DH: After the stroke, things went from bad to worse for you. An oil-deal scam lost you hundreds of thousands of dollars. You lost your agent, your attorney, two wives and your home. Did it all happen at once, or was there one event that took everything?

JR: That happened over a period of time. I never really saw my agent after the stroke. He kinda, like, disappeared. You know -- don't want nothin' to do with you. I really turned to God then, because I understood what people are all about. I turned to God to make up for the inadequacy in people.

DH: Business investments are tricky, but the business of love is another thing. After two wives, did the old saying "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" take on new meaning for you?

JR: No, it did not. Because you still got to understand, people are people. I understand this: When I married my first two wives it was something on their side. Mine was for love, but it was something on their side that went from love to finances.

DH: In the winter of 1994 you were broke, homeless and living under a Houston freeway bridge. Was there no one you could turn to?

JR: There may have been, but there wasn't anyone I knew of.

DH: What about the Astros?

JR: The Astros? As a matter of fact, the Astros stole $300,000 from me.

DH: How'd they do that?

JR: My deferred compensation. I needed some money, so I went there [to the Astros] and got some money. And, they took $300,000 because I got the money.

DH: So they penalized you for taking the money early?

JR: Right, which is some BS. I'll tell you about the Astros. I went to them to see if I could do some public relations for them. They said, "Okay, we'll get back to you," and time passed and passed and passed. Nothing. Then, I see they hired Nolan Ryan. Now what does that tell you? They retired jerseys for Mike Scott and Larry Dierker. I got a better record than both those guys. What does that tell you?

DH: What about Nolan Ryan or your old teammates -- do you keep in touch with them?

JR: No, I do not.

DH: How long were you homeless?

JR: About six months.

DH: A Houston Post reporter found you under that bridge. What was he doing there?