when measured by sabermetrics. Since he rarely walked, his career OBP was .299, and since he had little power, his career slugging percentage was only .335. Every year from 1961-1966 he finished in the top five in the American League in outs made, leading the league four of those six years. As Bill James remarked, "Richardson, frankly, was a horrible leadoff man. He rarely got on base and almost never got into scoring position. Leading off for the 1961 Yankees, playing 162 games and batting 662 times, with 237 home runs coming up behind him, Richardson scored only 80 runs. 80. Eight-zero...Plus Richardson used up a zillion outs while he was not scoring runs." Only once, in 1962, which was Richardson's best year, was his OPS+ over 100, and his career OPS+ was only 77. Coaching In the late 1960s, Paul Dietzel asked Richardson if he would become the head baseball coach for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. Richardson told him no twice, as he was under a personal services contract with the Yankees. However, after Dietzel asked him a third time, Richardson secured permission from the Yankees to take the job, assuming the role in 1970. He would often pitch batting practice and drive the team bus for events. Richardson also tried to perform recruiting for the school but delegated the responsibility to others after he figured out "I wasn't going after the good players." Under Richardson, Larry Keith of Sports Illustrated wrote, "South Carolina rarely bunts, often hits-and-runs and is always looking for the big inning." Richardson led the Gamecocks to their first National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament appearance in 1974, which set the stage for what would happen a year later in 1975 when South Carolina posted a 51–6–1 record and made the College World Series for the first time ever. They advanced all the way to the national championship game against Texas before losing 5–1 to the Longhorns. Richardson left South Carolina after the 1976 season, finishing his tenure with a 221–92–1 record and three NCAA Tournament appearances. Dennis Brunson of The Item said of Richardson's contributions, "Richardson had laid the groundwork for a program that would participate in the regionals in nine of the first 13 years under [new head coach [June] Raines and would play in the CWS four times." In the 1980s, Richardson served as the baseball coach for two seasons