Don Richard Ashburn (March 19, 1927 – September 9, 1997), also known by the nicknames "Putt-Putt", "the Tilden Flash", and "Whitey" (due to his light-blond hair), was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator.

[2] His 5,803 career putouts ranks third among center fielders in Major League Baseball history behind only Willie Mays and Tris Speaker.

[6] At the 1944 American Legion Junior Baseball East/West All-Star game at the Polo Grounds, Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack advised him to play another position due to his remarkable running speed.

[6] In 1945, at the age of eighteen, Ashburn made his professional baseball debut with the Utica Blue Sox of the Eastern League.

[6] During his time with the Utica Blue Sox, Ashburn's teammates began calling him "Whitey" because of his light blond hair, a nickname which stayed with him for the rest of his life.

He started as the left fielder and replaced veteran Harry Walker, the reigning NL batting champion, as the team’s leadoff hitter.

[6] By June 5, Ashburn had produced a .380 batting average and had a 23-game hitting streak while his level of defensive play had impressed Shibe Park spectators.

In the play, Ashburn was positioned in to back up a pick-off throw on a pitchout, but Phillies' pitcher Robin Roberts instead threw a fastball to the Dodgers' Duke Snider.

[12] The following year Ashburn displayed his fielding skill on the national stage in the All-Star Game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

The Associated Press reported, "Richie Ashburn, fleet footed Philadelphia Phillies outfielder, brought the huge Briggs Stadium crowd of 52,075 to its feet with a brilliant leaping catch in the sixth inning to rob Vic Wertz of a near homer.

In his day he was regarded as the archetypal "spray hitter", stroking the ball equally well to all fields, thus making him harder to defend against.

Anticipating a future career behind a microphone, Ashburn sometimes conducted a post-game baseball instruction clinic at Wrigley Field for the benefit of the youngsters in the WGN-TV viewing audience.

To remedy matters teammate Joe Christopher taught Ashburn to say "Yo la tengo", Spanish for "I’ve got it."

That infamous first-year Mets club won only a quarter of its games; after the season Ashburn decided to retire from active play.

The last straw might have been during the Mets' 120th loss, when Ashburn, in the final game of his career, was involved in a triple play in the 8th inning pulled off by his former teammates, the 9th-place Cubs.

[17] When calling late innings, Ashburn would occasionally ask on-air if the staff of Celebre's Pizza, a nearby pizzeria in South Philadelphia, was listening to the radio.

To circumvent the Phillies' request, he started to say, "I'd like to send out a special birthday wish to the Celebre's twins – Plain & Pepperoni!

[19] A large crowd of fans paid tribute to him, passing by his casket in Memorial Hall, located in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park.

[4] Each year, the Phillies present the Richie Ashburn Special Achievement Award to "a member of the organization who has demonstrated loyalty, dedication and passion for the game.

Rubén Amaro Jr., former general manager of the Phillies and son of former Phillies shortstop and coach Rubén Amaro Sr., co-founded the Richie Ashburn Foundation, which provides admission to baseball camp for free to 1,100 underprivileged children in the Delaware Valley and awards grants to area schools and colleges.