 Reno won the California League championship and Richards was named the circuit's Most Valuable Player.Promoted all the way to the Triple-A Hawaii Islanders in 1976, he led the Pacific Coast League in hits (173) and batted .331.In 1977, he made his major league debut with San Diego and set a then modern-day MLB rookie record with 56 stolen bases during the season, surpassing the previous mark of 49 set by Rollie Zeider in 1910 and tied by Sonny Jackson in 1966.