Abram Harding "Hardy" Richardson (April 21, 1855 – January 14, 1931), also known as "Hardie" and "Old True Blue", was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned from 1875 to 1892 with a brief minor league comeback in 1898. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball, playing at every position, including 585 games at second base, 544 games in the outfield, and 178 games at third base. Richardson played for six major league teams, with his longest stretches having been for the Buffalo Bisons (1879–85), Detroit Wolverines (1886–88) and Boston Reds (1890–91). Richardson appeared in 1,334 major league games, compiled a .299 batting average and .437 slugging percentage, and totaled 1,127 runs scored, 1,694 hits, 305 doubles, 126 triples, 73 home runs, 828 RBIs, and 377 bases on balls. From 1881 to 1888, he was part of the "Big Four", a group of renowned batters (the others being Dan Brouthers, Jack Rowe, and Deacon White) who played together in Buffalo and Detroit and led Detroit to the National League pennant and 1887 World Series championship. Early years Richardson was born in 1855 at Clarksboro, which is located in the existing municipality of East Greenwich Township, New Jersey. His father, Robert D. Richardson, was a New Jersey native who worked in 1870 as a house carpenter. His mother, Naomi (Jones) Richardson, was a Pennsylvania native. Richardson grew up in Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, and Gloucester City, New Jersey. By 1870, Richardson, at age 15, was working on a farm. Professional baseball player Minor leagues Richardson began playing organized baseball with semipro teams in South Jersey and Philadelphia in the early 1870s. In 1875, he played at third base and catcher for the Gloucester City, New Jersey club. For a portion of the 1876 season, he played with the Philadelphias, but that team disbanded in July 1876. Richardson next played for the "Crickets" from Binghamton, New York, during the 1876 and 1877 seasons. In 1878, he played for the Utica, New York club in the International Association for Professional Base Ball Players. While playing for Utica, the New York Clipper called him the best fielding center fielder in baseball; he also won "The Clipper medal for best fielding average." Buffalo Richardson joined the Buffalo Bisons of the National League in 1879 and remained with Buffalo for seven years from 1879 to 1885. 1879–1882 As a rookie, Richardson made his major