Richard Henry Hughes (born February 13, 1938) is an American retired professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player who pitched in three seasons for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). In his rookie year, 1967, he led the National League in WHIP (walks+hits per IP), and finished second to

Tom Seaver George Thomas Seaver (November 17, 1944 – August 31, 2020), nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "the Franchise", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets, Cinc ...

in the National League Rookie of the Year voting. Hughes was born in Stephens, Arkansas. His family moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1946. Very near-sighted, he began wearing glasses in 7th grade, and learned for the first time that there were people who could see across the street. He graduated from

C. E. Byrd High School C. E. Byrd, a Blue Ribbon School, is a high school in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States. In continuous operation since its establishment in 1925, C. E. Byrd is also the eighth-largest high school in the United States of America as of Februa ...

in Shreveport in 1956, and pitched for the Byrd baseball team that won the AAA state championship. He played collegiate baseball on a scholarship at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

for two years before beginning his professional career in 1958. Contrary to some reports, it was

Nelson Briles Nelson Kelley Briles (August 5, 1943 – February 13, 2005) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. A hard thrower whose best pitch was a slider, he exhibited excellent control. Briles batted and threw right-handed. He was a starting pitcher on World ...

, not Hughes, who replaced

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ( ...

in the starting rotation for the 1967 St. Louis Cardinals when Gibson suffered a fractured leg due to a

Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball right fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After his early death, he was pos ...

line drive. Hughes actually replaced veteran left-hander

Al Jackson Alvin Neill Jackson (December 26, 1935 – August 19, 2019), affectionately referred to as "Little" Al Jackson, was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1959 to 1969. His 43 wins with the New York Mets were the franchi ...

in the Cardinals' rotation in late May, pitching a two-hit shutout against Atlanta in his first start of the season. He went on to win 16 games that year to lead the Redbirds. In spring training of 1968, Hughes was warming up in the bullpen when he felt pain in his throwing shoulder. Though undiagnosed at the time, the injury was later determined to be a torn rotator cuff. At the time, there was no surgery to fix such an injury. Despite the injury, Hughes was able to pitch 63.2 innings during the 1968 season, but those were the last he would throw as the injury ultimately ended his major league career.

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Major League Baseball pitchers St. Louis Cardinals players St. Petersburg Cardinals players 1938 births Living people Baseball players from Arkansas Arkansas Razorbacks baseball players People from Stephens, Arkansas {{US-baseball-pitcher-1930s-stub