by Francis Ferry, NLN baseball beat writer
January 7, 2038: Jacksonville, Florida – He stopped swinging a bat for the Aurora Borealis 16-years ago and a year later he was retired from baseball. He returned to his original baseball home – Jacksonville to set down the roots of retirement. When I asked Mark Richardson ‘Why Florida’, he shot back in that brusque, hardened manner we know well from his playing days, ‘Why not? They don’t have taxes down here.’ – and that was that.
I visited ‘Ice Cold’s home in the San Marcos neighborhood of Jacksonville – a swank, stylish area known for its art deco buildings, cafes and bars – all in keeping with the former infielder’s on the field swagger that made fans love him or hate him. “You know,” he started “I always liked Jacksonville, and Kevin Lewis was really good to me, until I got beaned and fractured my eye socket. Then he really didn’t stand up for me – he kowtowed to (Drew) Streets, who accepted the medical diagnosis and sent me away to Colorado. I get Kevin was just doing his job – it was Drew that gave upon me.” Richardson still seemed angry about the controversial trade. He had a bat sitting against the chair and he grabbed it, gripped it like he never stopped swinging it, and smiled. “I still get in the cages a few times a month” and with that he got up and led me to the basement area of his home that was outfitted with a gym and batting cage.
“Sometimes I’d go down to the ballpark and take some hacks with the guys,” he started between swings “and I gotta say, jaws drop as I clear then fences – it really get’s the guys attentions. Nothing like jawing around the batting cage.” The sound of bat on ball cracked loudly in his basement. “Hannah’s was welcoming as well – he didn’t mind my being around – but when I reached out to Jay Amado, after he came over from Madison, to talk about coming down to spring training, he made it clear I was not welcome at the Florda facilities.” Shocked to hear this, I pushed Richardson further, and ‘Ice Cold’ replied “He said it was ‘club employees only’.”
It was interesting to see how intent the former-Featherhead was to help a club he was traded from. After 450 games and a .270 average, he was shipped to Aurora where he played 562 games, hit .297 with 146 HR and 445 RBI – though most infamously remembered by Aurora fans for his failures in the 2011 postseason, hitting .203 as Aurora would lose games 6 and 7 of the PEC to his former-employers. There are still plenty of Aurorans who speak angerly of the club’s ‘Casey at the Bat’.
One of the PEBA’s early stars looked so at ease in the cage, lining balls back at the pitching machine. “But Aurora was good for me – they gave me a chance and let me prove to the league that I could still play.” And the way he was swinging the bat, he looked like he still could play. He talked technique, he talked about games he remembered for unique reasons – a pitch, a big moment – pitch by pitch. An umpire who missed a call that no one would never remember. He even remembered an early interview where George Crocker blamed him for the Victor Salgado trade. But most of all, he was angry that he was forced out of the Florida clubhouse by a new GM who didn’t understand what he had.
“Then Will called – they had a manager retire after winning the rookie title – and after some conversation – talking hitting, philosophy – you know that kind of stuff, he offered the job.” He had an excited look in his eyes, “And I’m pumped to be working with Pedro – he had such a sweet swing – that post-season he had in ’23 when Aurora beat Florida was impressive – 30-hits and a .395 average was quite the sight!” Mark Richardson’s ability to recall deails of the game’s history was quite outstanding.
It’s been a couple of successful seasons for Aurora’s club in the Paradise League, and in hiring ‘Ice Cold’ for the managers job at Montserrat, they have a man who clearly thinks talking baseball is… paradise.
