J.R. Richard, a giant of a man who threw serious heat and racked up Ks as well as any pitcher in the 1970s, died today (8/5) at age 71.

The righty flamethrower wore #50 for the Astros from 1971-80. He was selected to his only NL All-Star team in 1980, and a stroke he suffered later that month ended his career on the mound permanently.

Among his mound feats were a 20-15 record in 1976, the NL ERA crown in 1979 (2.71) and 2 consecutive years with 300+ strikeouts (303 in 1978, and 313 in 1979).

Dave Miedema