[JJJ]

The SF State freshman team used to play at Q. My pal actually kicked a PAT over a wall. We did a Gumbal story on Q baseball. Interviewed the pitching coach who said he was #1 on a St. Johns staff that also had John Franco and Frank Viola. Big guy resembled Randy J. When Bryant asked him why his quick minor league career ended he said, "Made the mistake of killing my wife."

A former softball teammate of mine was on the same staff on St John's and told me his name--Chris Rich.

[There is no shortage of inmates wanting to be on the team. More than 50 tried out for the club this year – 21 of whom made it. Some just love baseball. All prefer sitting in a dugout to a cell. "It's a privilege to play," says starting pitcher and team captain Chris Rich. Mr. Rich was a star pitcher for St. John's University in New York in 1979, with great expectations for the big leagues when an injury crushed his hopes. Seventeen years later, in a troubled marriage and destitute, he killed his wife – for which a court sentenced him to 26 years to life.

https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/20...-ussc.html

---

Here's another from a more familiar source.

The Giants' roster is not loaded with power, but it is a Murderer's Row. The inmates in the cellblock known as Death Row are not allowed to play, but some of the Giants are doing time for murder. Pitcher Chris "Stretch" Rich, acting as pitching coach while he recovers from knee surgery, is serving 26 years to life.
"I killed my wife, Sharon," Rich explains.
He is 6-foot-9, bespectacled and rail-thin. In 1979 Rich had the lowest ERA among NCAA Division I pitchers. He was a sophomore and he outpitched St. John's teammates Frank Viola and John Franco. That same summer, a broken leg ruined his baseball career. One night 18 years later, Rich killed his wife with an aluminum baseball bat.

https://www.sfgate.com/sports/ostler/art...267034.php

[JJJ]

The SF State freshman team used to play at Q. My pal actually kicked a PAT over a wall. We did a Gumbal story on Q baseball. Interviewed the pitching coach who said he was #1 on a St. Johns staff that also had John Franco and Frank Viola. Big guy resembled Randy J. When Bryant asked him why his quick minor league career ended he said, "Made the mistake of killing my wife."

A former softball teammate of mine was on the same staff on St John's and told me his name--Chris Rich.

[There is no shortage of inmates wanting to be on the team. More than 50 tried out for the club this year – 21 of whom made it. Some just love baseball. All prefer sitting in a dugout to a cell. "It's a privilege to play," says starting pitcher and team captain Chris Rich. Mr. Rich was a star pitcher for St. John's University in New York in 1979, with great expectations for the big leagues when an injury crushed his hopes. Seventeen years later, in a troubled marriage and destitute, he killed his wife – for which a court sentenced him to 26 years to life.

https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/20...-ussc.html

---

Here's another from a more familiar source.

The Giants' roster is not loaded with power, but it is a Murderer's Row. The inmates in the cellblock known as Death Row are not allowed to play, but some of the Giants are doing time for murder. Pitcher Chris "Stretch" Rich, acting as pitching coach while he recovers from knee surgery, is serving 26 years to life.
"I killed my wife, Sharon," Rich explains.
He is 6-foot-9, bespectacled and rail-thin. In 1979 Rich had the lowest ERA among NCAA Division I pitchers. He was a sophomore and he outpitched St. John's teammates Frank Viola and John Franco. That same summer, a broken leg ruined his baseball career. One night 18 years later, Rich killed his wife with an aluminum baseball bat.

https://www.sfgate.com/sports/ostler/art...267034.php