Richard Lee Anderson (December 25, 1953 – June 23, 1989) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He attended high school in

Gardena, California Gardena is a city located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 61,027 at the 2020 census, up from 58,829 at the 2010 census. Until 2014, the U.S. census cited the City of Gardena as the ...

. Anderson was drafted by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

in the first round of the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft. In 1979, Anderson was named the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

Pitcher of the Year with the

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, merch ...

. He made his major league debut with the Yankees on September 18, . This was the only game in which he pitched for the Yankees, as he was traded to the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

over the offseason. After developing arm problems during the season, Anderson was released, effectively ending his career. Anderson died from heart failure brought on by

atherosclerosis Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis, characterized by development of abnormalities called lesions in walls of arteries. This is a chronic inflammatory disease involving many different cell types and is driven by eleva ...

on June 23, 1989. When his body was discovered in his

Wilmington, California Wilmington is a neighborhood in the South Bay and Harbor region of Los Angeles, California, covering . Featuring a heavy concentration of industry and the third-largest oil field in the continental United States, this neighborhood has a high p ...

home, he was holding a letter from a fan. During his playing days, he was listed at tall and . At the time of his death, he weighed over .

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
1953 births 1989 deaths Baseball players from Inglewood, California Columbus Clippers players Fort Lauderdale Yankees players Jackson Mets players Los Angeles Valley Monarchs baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers New York Yankees players Oneonta Yankees players Seattle Mariners players Spokane Indians players Syracuse Chiefs players Tacoma Yankees players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela West Haven Yankees players People from Wilmington, Los Angeles Johnson City Yankees players Deaths from atherosclerosis 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1950s-stub