News J.R. Richard, Astros legend whose career was cut short by 1980 stroke, dies at 71 August 5, 2021 Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY Comments Off on J.R. Richard, Astros legend whose career was cut short by 1980 stroke, dies at 71 Richard was a 20-game winner in 1976, struck out an NL-high 303 batters in 1978 and 313 in 1979/