By By Lydia Grimes – features writer
A Yankee will come south next week for the 16th annual Wild Game Supper at First Baptist Church of Brewton.
The attendance over the past 15 years has grown, and the support continues this year on Feb. 3, with the meal at 5 p.m. and a program that begins at 6:30 p.m. There will also be a Big Buck contest. Tickets are $3 and can be purchased at the church.
The special guest this year is Bobby Richardson, professional baseball player with the New York Yankees during the 1960s.
Richardson joined the Yankees at the age of 19. Over the next 12 years, he played in more than 1,400 games while the Yankees were winning American League pennants in nine of his first 10 years.
Named the Most Valuable Player in the 1960 World Series (still the only player from a losing team to be so named), Richardson still holds numerous World Series records, including runs-batted-in in a game, runs-batted-in in a series and hits in a series. He also holds the record for having played in 30 consecutive World Series games.
He finished as runner-up to Mickey Mantle in the voting for American League MVP in 1962. He was a member of seven American League All-Star teams and won five consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove awards.
After retiring from the Yankees at the age of 31, Richardson became the baseball coach at the University of South Carolina. In 1975, his team compiled a record of 51-6, losing to Texas in the final game of the College World Series.
After having also coached at Coastal Carolina College and Liberty University, Richardson stepped down as Athletic Director at Liberty in 1990. He is still active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and served for 10 years as the President of Baseball Chapel.
Richardson received many honors over the years, including two honorary doctorates, the Order of the Palmetto from his home state of South Carolina, and the prestigious Golden Gavel Award from Toastmaster International.
As one Web site put it, &#8220Bobby Richardson was once a Lord of the Diamond for the Yanks, and he now speaks the Word of God. He travels all over the country delivering the word of God to thousands.”
He and his wife, Patsy, live in Sumter, S.C.