Born:(1927-03-19)March 19, 1927 Tilden, Nebraska, U.S.
Died: September 9, 1997(1997-09-09) (aged 70) New York City, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 20, 1948, for the Philadelphia Phillies
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 1962, for the New York Mets
MLB statistics
Batting average
.308
Hits
2,574
Home runs
29
Runs batted in
586
Teams
Philadelphia Phillies (1948–1959)
Chicago Cubs (1960–1961)
New York Mets (1962)
Career highlights and awards
6× All-Star (1948, 1951, 1953, 1958, 1962, 1962²)
2× NL batting champion (1955, 1958)
NL stolen base leader (1948)
Philadelphia Phillies No. 1 retired
Philadelphia Phillies Wall of Fame
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction
1995
Election method
Veterans Committee
Don Richard Ashburn (March 19, 1927 – September 9, 1997), also known by the nicknames "Putt-Putt", "the Tilden Flash", and "Whitey" (due to his light-blond hair), was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from 1948 to 1962, most prominently as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies where, he was a four-time All-Star player, and was a member of the 1950 National League pennant winning team known as the Whiz Kids.
Ashburn was a two-time National League (NL) batting champion and finished with a .308 career batting average.[1] He also excelled as a defensive player, routinely leading the league in putouts.[2] His 5,803 career putouts ranks third among center fielders in Major League Baseball history behind only Willie Mays and Tris Speaker.[3] He ended his playing career with the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets.
Following his playing career, from 1963 until his death in 1997, Ashburn was a color commentator for television broadcasts of Philadelphia Phillies games, and developed into one of the most beloved sports figures in Philadelphia sports history.[1] In 1995, following a lengthy fan-led effort for his inclusion, Ashburn was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.[1] In 1997, he was inducted into The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame and, he was posthumously inducted into the inaugural class of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.[4]
^ abc"Richie Ashburn at the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame". baseballhall.org. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
^"Richie Ashburn career statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
^"Career Leaders & Records for Putouts as Center Fielder". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
^"Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame Inductees". Retrieved August 3, 2009.
or Retrosheet RichieAshburn at the SABR Baseball Biography Project RichieAshburn at Baseball Almanac RichieAshburn at Baseball Gauge RichieAshburn at Baseballbiography...
By Saam, Kalas was paired with Andy Musser and Hall of Fame player RichieAshburn. While initially meeting with a lukewarm reception due to his replacement...
developed a solid core of young players that included future Hall of Famers RichieAshburn and Robin Roberts. This coincided with the final collapse of the A's...
Phillies pitcher. Behind center field is Ashburn Alley, named after Phillies Hall of Fame center fielder RichieAshburn, who played for the team from 1948 to...
home of the Philadelphia Phillies. It is named after Hall of Famer RichieAshburn, Phillies center fielder from 1948 to 1959, and was also a long time...
York Mets center fielder RichieAshburn and shortstop Elio Chacón found themselves colliding in the outfield. When Ashburn went for a catch, he would...
Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts RichieAshburn #3 in NL in bases on balls (81) Roger Craig MLB leader in losses (24)...
games in center field (1683) in NL history, trailing Willie Mays and RichieAshburn. Flood became one of the pivotal figures in the sport's labor history...
representative for the DHL Hometown Heroes promotion, beating out Steve Carlton, RichieAshburn, Robin Roberts and Chuck Klein as most outstanding player in Phillies...
Locally, the Series was called on WOGL-AM in Philadelphia by Harry Kalas, RichieAshburn, Chris Wheeler, Andy Musser, and Garry Maddox and on CJCL-AM in Toronto...
Phillies Bob Elliott .317 1948 Stan Musial† .376 St. Louis Cardinals RichieAshburn† .333 1949 Jackie Robinson† .342 Brooklyn Dodgers Stan Musial† .338...
base in case the second baseman misses the catch or it is a bad throw. RichieAshburn Earl Averill Cool Papa Bell Willard Brown Max Carey Oscar Charleston...
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved December 5, 2021. "RichieAshburn". National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved December 5, 2021...
to the 1998 season, filling the position left vacant by the death of RichieAshburn late in the 1997 campaign. Andersen worked on both television and radio...
Richie or Richy is a masculine given name or short form (hypocorism) of Richard. It is also a surname. RichieAshburn (1927–1997), American Major League...
2021. Retrieved August 7, 2021. Breen, Matt (November 9, 2020). "Like RichieAshburn, Alec Bohm came from Nebraska to be a star Phillies rookie". The Philadelphia...
League. Phillies Hall-of-Fame centerfielder and longtime broadcaster RichieAshburn remembered Shibe Park: "It looked like a ballpark. It smelled like a...
honored a "P" have been inducted into the Wall of Fame: Roberts (1978), RichieAshburn (1979), Chuck Klein (1980), Grover Cleveland Alexander (1981), Jim Bunning...
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