PORTSMOUTH — It was the summer of 1973, and on the baseball practice field for the Portsmouth American Legion Post 23 team, when Dave Bush first met Randy Ratcliff.

Bush raved about Ratcliff then, and does so still today.

“Simply put, Randy was both a leader and a winner, and his work and production on the (baseball) field were undeniably distinguished,” praised Bush.

But Ratcliff claims he was never “a stats guy”, rather he played the great game of baseball “for the love of the game” —and that’s why he even opted to play at the collegiate level.

“I was never a stats guy, I didn’t keep them and I could’t tell you what they were,” Ratcliff told The Portsmouth Daily Times in a recent telephone interview. “I didn’t play baseball for any other reason than I just loved the game and I gave it everything I had. And I originally had no plans to go to college at all. I graduated from Portsmouth High School, was ready to go right into the workforce here, probably getting a job at the manufacturing plant on the East End. But I was good at baseball, I played every day basically my whole life, and so I went and played baseball at William Carey College (now William Carey University) and settled in with it. I was 17 years old when I got down there. Had I not played baseball, college would have ever happened for me. I had no idea where Hattiesburg, Mississippi was. But I am glad I went, I am glad I stayed, I got a good education out of it and I loved it and I don’t regret any of it.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

Ratcliff, in all likelihood, is the marquee name at Saturday’s 50-year reunion of the Post 23 state championship squad — as that 1974 unit never lost any of its four games in capturing the coveted state baseball title.

Ratcliff and Bush built an ever-lasting bond over two summers.

“Randy and I were summer Legion teammates for two years. Our teams were very successful, largely because of Randy’s hitting prowess. That first practice I met him, we had a hitting session with the pitchers pitching to our hitters. I distinctly remember Randy digging in at the plate and drilling a pitch deep into the left centerfield gap at storied Branch Rickey Park,” recalled Bush. “Long before exit velocity was current terminology of how hard a baseball can be hit, I remember telling our Legion team manager Bill Newman ‘That Randy Ratcliff is some kind of special hitter.’ Bill just smiled and responded back, ‘Yes, he is!’ Early on, I saw firsthand Randy’s amazing baseball skills and feats of timely power hitting and sparkling defense. The man lived to collect RBIs and win baseball games.”

Ratcliff and Bush both were members of that elite club, which Ratcliff called a “miracle team” —to be completely honest.

He claimed camaraderie and chemistry kept the group together.

“We were 15-13 or something like that, playing .500 baseball before we had two players get kicked off that didn’t fit in. From that point on, we kept winning, all the way to the state tournament, ” admitted Ratcliff. “We won because we had good players, but more importantly we all gelled together and got along so well together. Then in the regional tournament in Wisconsin, we lost our two games we played, but they were 1-0 and 6-5 scores, so a play here and there in both games kept us from winning one or both of those. Many good memories from those American Legion teams. Many of my teammates are still very good friends today.”

And today, Ratcliff reunites with his James Dickey Post 23 mates for their 50-year state championship reunion — and does so since he returned from being inducted into the William Carey University Sports Hall of Fame in April.

William Carey University is a private Christian university located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi — affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Mississippi Baptist Convention.

His college coach, John Stephenson, offered Ratcliff an athletic scholarship to enroll into WCU in the fall of 1974 —as Stephenson himself hailed from right across the Ohio River and Portsmouth, in South Shore (Ky.) to be precise.

Stephenson was a 10-year veteran of Major League Baseball —playing for the New York Mets, the Chicago Cubs, the San Francisco Giants and the California Angels.

While at William Carey, the PHS Hall of Famer Ratcliff was a four-year starter in right field — and later at first base.

A WCU co-captain and three-time All-Southern States Athletic Conference selection, and whose teams won three conference championships, Ratcliff was thought of as a “prolific power hitter and a clutch RBI player.”

Still, he re-emphasized in the interview, “I gave it all I had and played hard, but I was not about stats.”

He did hit 16 home runs in his historic 1978 senior season, for those Crusaders established a Mississippi state college baseball record of 28 consecutive victories.

That streak still stands some 46 years later — as they amassed a school record 53 total wins, ended the regular season ranked first in the nation in the NAIA, and appeared in the NAIA College World Series in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Following that World Series, and the 1978 MLB Draft, Ratcliff was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals as a first baseman.

But Ratcliff returned to Scioto County, opting not to be sent to Calgary in Canada as part of the Cardinals’ organization.

“Do I think I could have made it in the majors? Who knows, but for me I was 22 at that time, and it was time to come back home. I don’t regret it,” he said. “I am a lucky man, and I don’t want to get any more credit for what I did than what I deserve. Anybody else close to me deserves just as much credit for my career and making it to two Hall of Fames and playing college baseball. I appreciate everyone that I either played for or played against. I worked hard and competed to the best of my ability. The competition I played with is what bettered myself, and what betters yourself. I just love the game of baseball and I gave it everything I had.”

And, on Saturday (Aug. 10), Ratcliff reunites with his baseball brothers from that magical 1974 state title team.

Ratcliff retired from Pepsi Cola and resides in Franklin Furnace, and is married to his wife Susie, whom he met through umpiring baseball.

They have three sons —Randy Jr., Matthew and Stephen —and two grandchildren in 7-year-old Noah and 4-year-old Audrey.

Reach Paul Boggs by email at [email protected], or on X @paulboggssports © 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved