Paul Ratliff was a catcher for the Twins and Brewers in the
60s and early 70s.
Paul Hawthorne Ratliff, Jr., was born January 23, 1944, in
San Diego. At some point in his youth he moved to Pasadena, Texas, near
Houston. As a lefthanded-hitting catcher at Pasadena High School, he hit .360
as a sophomore, .404 as a junior and .482 as a senior. On June 1, 1962, after
graduating, he was given a $38,000 bonus to sign a contract with the Minnesota
Twins (“the biggest bonus the club ever handed out to a catcher”); Ed Stevens,
the scout who signed him, said he was “one of the best schoolboy hitters in
Texas and can throw as well as any catcher in the majors.”
Paul was assigned to the Fort Walton Beach Jets of the Class
D Alabama-Florida League. On June 25, after hitting six home runs in his first
nine games, he broke his collarbone while diving for a fly ball in practice. He
got into 17 more games after returning, and wound up with eight homers in 87
at-bats, hitting .287/.421/.575, and playing 13 games at catcher and ten in the
outfield. In a questionnaire he filled out in July he gave his height and
weight as 6-1 ¼, 190. After the season he played for the Twins’ team in the
Florida Instructional League, where he broke his thumb.
Paul went to spring training 1963 on the Minnesota roster,
and he impressed everyone. The Twins report in the April 6 issue of the Sporting News bore the headlines “Twins’
Bandwagon Filled With Crowd of Ratliff Boosters” and “[Manager Sam] Mele Hails
19-Year-Old Bonus Catcher as ‘Most Pleasant Surprise in Camp; Paul ‘Takes
Charge’ Behind Platter.” The next week’s issue, while reporting that he had
made the team, quoted fellow Pasadena native Pete Runnels as rating Paul’s arm
“the best in the American League, including Earl Battey,” and said that he had
hit .323 in the exhibition season. Mele was quoted as saying that Paul would
catch about 60 games as Battey’s backup.
On April 14 Paul made his major league debut, hitting a pinch-hit double against Orlando Pena to lead off the top of the seventh, and scoring the Twins’ final run in a 5-4 loss at Kansas City. He didn’t play much after that, and on May 30 he was optioned to the Charlotte Hornets of the Class AA Sally League. At that point he had gotten into seven games, four as a catcher and just two of those as the starter; he had two hits in 13 at-bats. The Twins said he was being sent down “so he can develop properly with everyday play.” According to a report in the Greensboro Daily News, Twins farm director Sherry Robertson wanted to send Paul to Class A Wilson while manager Mele wanted to keep him, so owner Calvin Griffith settled the impasse by ordering that he go to Charlotte.
With the Hornets Paul hit .242/.307/.341 with 37 strikeouts in
91 at-bats in 29 games, then in early July he was bumped down a level to
Wilson—the Wilson Tobs of the Carolina League. With the Tobs he hit .171/.261/.282
in 60 games; an article several years later said that the demotions had hit him
hard psychologically and he developed an attitude problem. When the Carolina
League playoffs (during which he hit three homers) ended Paul was recalled by
the Twins. In his first game back with them, on September 19, he hit his first
major league home run, off Jim Bunning of the Tigers. He got into two more
games after that, winding up hitting .190/.292/.381 in 24 at-bats for
Minnesota. After the season he was again sent to the Florida Instructional
League, where he hit .181 in 26 games and broke his hand. Meanwhile he was
voted a one-third share of the Twins’ portion of the World Series money,
amounting to $487.48.
Paul was still regarded highly enough to have a spot on the Twins’ major league off-season roster. The January 25, 1964, Sporting News’ Twins report:
‘Never-Miss’ Griffith Tags Catcher Ratliff as Sure-Fire Comer
Minnesota’s Twins are confident they have a good one in Paul Ratliff, the 20-year-old catcher they signed for a $38,000 bonus out of Pasadena (Tex.) High School in June of 1962.
When Cal Griffith received the young backstop’s signed 1964 contract this month, the Twins’ president predicted: “Of all our kids, this one has the best chance of sticking with the big club this year.”
And it must be noted that Cal has been doing quite well in the department of coming up with outstanding rookies since he came up with successive Rookies of the Year in Albie Pearson in 1958 and Bob Allison in 1959…
Cal’s personal pick as the Twins’ top rookie of 1964, Ratliff is a confident, poised receiver and swings with power from the left side of the plate.
“That’s going to help his chances, too,” Griffith added. “(Sam) Mele wants a lefthanded-hitting catcher.”
At first—or even second—glance, Ratliff’s 1963 hitting credentials aren’t apt to strike fear in the hearts of opposing pitchers…
“That was to be expected,” reasoned Cal. “We had him working on some of his weaknesses at the plate and it’s very possible some of the instructions created a little confusion. But we know he can hit—and with power.”
Mele showed early faith in the rookie, often inserting him intentionally in sticky situations. Ratliff’s success as a pinch-hitter—2 for 6—prompted some of the Twins’ wags to nickname him Pinch-Hit, since his middle initial is H. (for Hawthorne)…
Former catcher Ed Fitz Gerald, now approaching his third season as a Twins’ coach, is among Ratliff’s stronger boosters.
“He’s more relaxed in a game than he is on the sidelines,” said Fitz. “Once in a game, he’s in command. He’s the boss. He runs the pitchers and that’s a good sign.
“I like his willingness to learn. He’s a good student of the game. And that’s the greatest thing in the world; you can’t instill it in a person.
“He has a good arm. When it comes to hitting, nobody’s going to scare him.”
The only strike against Ratliff is the front-office fear that the youngster might be prone to injury. He has been assigned to the Florida Instructional League each of the last two winters, but each time has suffered a broken finger.
Still, on April 2 Paul was sent to the minor league camp for
reassignment, because he “needs more experience,” and he ended up back at Class
A Wilson. He spent the season there, hitting .231/.323/.367 with ten homers and
141 strikeouts in 412 at-bats in 127 games, all at catcher. When the Carolina
League season ended he was called back up to Minnesota, but didn’t get into any
games.
Again Paul was kept on the major league 40-man roster over
the winter, preventing him from being drafted away by another team. On February
20 the Sporting News mentioned that
Army obligations would delay his arrival at spring training; on March 24 he was
again sent to the minor league camp for reassignment. This time he went to AA
Charlotte, up one notch from last year. On August 28 the Sporting News reported:
Catcher Paul Ratliff of Charlotte almost hit a $1,000 bulls-eye with a 380-foot homer over the left-centerfield fence at Montgomery, August 13. The drive came within five feet of the target. This was closer than any batter had come to collecting the reward since the neon-lighted sign was installed on top of the wall before the 1962 season.
Paul spent all year with Charlotte but only played in 77
games—I don’t know if that was due to the Army, or injuries, or both. He hit
.209/.305/.347 in 196 at-bats, with 63 strikeouts. After a year away he was
again sent to the Florida Instructional League in the fall; he didn’t show a
lot of power but he was excellent at getting on base, hitting .281/.424/.412 in
40 games. He also got a mention in the December 6 Sporting News: “Paul Ratliff of the Twins and catcher Dick Drew of
the Senators exchanged remarks, then punches after Ratliff was hit by a wild
pitch, November 16.”
In January 1966 Paul filled out another questionnaire; he
was still living in Pasadena, and he gave his nickname as “Rat,” his height and
weight as 6-2 ½, 208, his off-season occupation as “none,” his hobby as writing
(this will come up again later), and his marital status as single. During
spring training he was again sent to the minor league camp, this time ending up
with the Denver Bears of the AAA Pacific Coast League. He was away from the
team from May 4-8, with the Army reserves, and on May 28 he was mentioned in
the Portland Oregonian’s story on the
previous day’s game between the Bears and the Beavers:
Denver did win something from Portland, however. Before the game the 3,321 fans saw Bear catcher Paul Ratliff nose out Beaver pitcher Jim Weaver by a length in a special chariot race around the park.
Despite the chariot race victory Paul didn’t last much
longer with Denver, as in early June he was sent back to AA Charlotte. In 29
games with the Bears he had hit .217/.273/.402 with 37 strikeouts in 92
at-bats. From the July 2 Sporting News:
Ratliff Fined, Suspended In Blowup With Scribe
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Paul Ratliff, Charlotte (Southern) catcher, was fined $250 and was suspended for ten days, June 19, after shoving a sports writer in retaliation for a critical story.
Phil Howser, Charlotte president, took the disciplinary action when the incident was reported by Bill Ballenger, baseball writer for the Charlotte News.
The day before, the News carried a headline, “Ratliff Symbol of Bee Defeat,” above a story by Ballenger that pointed out the catcher had struck out 15 times in six games since joining Charlotte from Denver (Coast).
The story reviewed Ratliff’s career and hinted that the Twins’ organization had wasted its money when it gave him a bonus of $38,000 in 1962.
In the encounter with the writer in the Charlotte dressing room, Ratliff shoved Ballenger into a corner, cursed him and reportedly attempted to provoke him into a fight.
I don’t know how much the incident entered into the
decision, but Paul was sent down one more rung on the Twins’ minor league
ladder to Orlando of the Class A Florida State League, after just nine games
with Charlotte in which he hit .226/.273/.484 with 17 strikeouts in 31 at-bats.
He rebounded strongly with Orlando, hitting .253/.381/.506 with 11 home runs,
36 walks and 55 strikeouts in 174 at-bats. He topped this in his 42 games in
the Florida Instructional League that fall, where he hit .274/.454/.519 in 106
at-bats (and played about a third of his games in the outfield). From there he
went to Nicaragua: the Sporting News
reported on December 17 that he had hit a home run and a single in his debut
with Boer of the Nicaraguan Winter League, but two weeks later they reported
that he had been released to make room for another player.
Paul was about to start the 1967 season back with the PCL
Denver Bears, but a deal was made to lend him to the Hawaii Islanders, the
Washington Senators’ team in the same league, in return for thirdbaseman Dave
Hirtz being loaned in the opposite direction. On April 28 he got six singles in
six times up; on June 16 he got a gratuitous insult in Bill Vint’s “Sports
Coop” column in the Rockford Morning Star.
In a column devoted to predicting stardom for Twins’ minor-league pitcher Tom
Hall, Vint wrote:
The first time I saw him was late last summer when a crooked-smiling old scout drove him into Orlando from the Twins’ rookie league camp on the eastern coast of Florida.
The Orlando Twins were no great shakes. The biggest hero was Paul Ratliff, one-time Minnesota bonus baby who took 350-foot fences for granted, if and when he took a liking to swinging the bat. He made the descent from the major leagues to Class A ball in near record time.
On August 10 the Twins reversed the trade with Hawaii
because Paul was needed in Denver, where the Bears had just lost a catcher to
Minnesota. With the two teams combined he played in just 77 games, hitting
.219/.312/.422 (81 total bases on his 42 hits), with 72 strikeouts in 192
at-bats. His time was evenly split between catcher and outfield. He didn’t play
in the Instructional League that fall—he was done with that—and I’m not aware
of him playing in a winter league.
For 1968 Paul was again loaned to the Senators’
organization, and spent the season with their affiliate in the AA Southern
League, the Savannah Senators. He had a solid year at .268/.352/.431, with 13
home runs in 332 at-bats in 103 games, 22 of them in the outfield.
For 1969 Paul was again in the Southern League, but back
with the Twins’ organization and the Charlotte Hornets. The Sporting News reported in their June 21
issue:
Rushing back by jet from military reserve duty in Houston, Paul Ratliff resumed a hot hitting streak with a homer and single to lead Charlotte to a 6-3 victory over Birmingham June 3. That gave the catcher a total of seven hits in 12 trips in his last three games, including two homers, a triple and a single. After a 2-for-26 start, Ratliff has taken the Hornets’ batting lead with the surge. “This is the first time this year that I’ve got hot,” he said.
In mid-June Paul was named to the league all-star team that
would play a game against the Atlanta Braves, but he had to be replaced due to another
military hitch. He got another Sporting
News mention in the September 13 issue, for something that sounds pretty
unremarkable by present standards:
Paul Ratliff, Charlotte catcher, went through a long ritual as he was sent up to pinch-hit for pitcher Carl Finafrock after Columbus had taken a 3-2 lead with an 11th-inning run August 26. With teammate Mike Sadek on base via an error, Ratliff went to the plate, took a couple of swings, took off his glasses and cleaned them. Then he retreated to the on-deck circle, rubbed pine tar on his bat and golf-gloved hand and walked back to the plate. He missed the first pitch, homered on the second for No. 10, giving Charlotte a 4-3 victory while 2,349 fans cheered lustily.
It was a breakthrough season for Paul, who in 85 games
between Army stints hit .302/.357/.521 with 11 homers in 265 at-bats. He was
put on the Minnesota roster after the season, and was expected to stay there in
the spring. A November 22 Sporting News
article by Max Nichols under the headline “Mitterwald to Duel Ratliff For Twins’
No. 1 Catcher Job” was primarily about George Mitterwald, but also devoted some
space to Paul:
…It’s not exactly a setup for Mitterwald next spring. There is an obstacle—lefthanded hitting rookie catcher Paul Ratliff, who batted .302 for Charlotte (Southern) in the Twin farm system this year…
Ratliff is a 25-year-old who had a start in the Twin system remarkably similar to Mitterwald’s. But Paul was bogged down and almost forgotten until he turned around this year with his best season ever.
“From what I understand,” said Griffith, “Ratliff has matured this year—just plain grown up. The biggest problem he has had been growing up.
“When he was a rookie (in 1962), he was a good-looking hitter.
“And in his first spring training with us (1963), he looked good as a catcher. But he had trouble for several years because he lacked maturity.”
Ratliff, who signed for a $38,000 bonus out of Houston, Tex., broke into pro baseball with a 500-foot home run at Fort Walton Beach, Fla. He played in a total of 26 games and suffered a broken collarbone.
In the spring of 1963, he was kept with the Twins until May cutdown date—displaying good power hitting. He was so disappointed at being cut that he fell to a .242 average at Charlotte and then to .171 at Wilson (Carolina). He went all the way down to Orlando in the Florida State League before starting a comeback. He was not protected or drafted last year…
The February 28, 1970, Sporting
News reported that Paul was “thought to have the inside track” for the
Twins’ catching job; two weeks later, though, they reported that Mitterwald had
won it. The April 3 Boston Herald Tribune
reported that the Twins were trying to get Russ Gibson from the Red Sox to be
their regular catcher, but that didn’t happen and they opened the season with
Paul and Tom Tischinski backing up Mitterwald. On April 25, Paul’s third start
of the year, a memorable play occurred, here described by Mike Lamey in the May
9 Sporting News:
Wilson Gets Three Bases on Whiff
TWIN CITIES, Minn.—If Earl Wilson had been a little faster or Twin outfielder Brant Alyea a little quicker, the Detroit pitcher might have become the first player ever to circle the bases on a strikeout.
In the April 25 game, Wilson struck out to end the seventh inning. So it appeared to everyone except Tiger third base coach Grover Resinger.
Resinger saw that Twin rookie catcher Paul Ratliff had trapped the ball in the dirt on the third strike. Ratliff did not tag Wilson, but rolled the ball back toward the mound.
Most of the Twins were in the dugout when Resinger told Wilson to start running. Big Earl got to first easily enough and decided to head for second. Still no one interfered to off he went for third.
By this time Alyea, who was trotting in from left field, heard Resinger yelling to Wilson. Alyea hustled to the mound, but failed to come up with the ball.
Wilson headed for home. By now the Twins had a reception party at home plate. Leo Cardenas was first on the scene and Ratliff was there, too.
Alyea got the ball and threw to Cardenas. Wilson tried to get back to third, but was tagged out by Alyea, who took Cardenas’ return throw. A “routine” 7-6-7 out?
So what happened? In running the bases for all he was worth Wilson pulled a hamstring muscle and had to leave the game.
After the weird play, Wilson said he remembered nothing.
“I don’t know what happened,” he said. “I don’t know why I ran. I don’t know what Resinger said to me.”
Ratliff, who was charged with an error on the play, said he knew he trapped the ball.
“I didn’t know you had to tag the runner in that case,” he said. “I just naturally threw it to the mound. I got to the dugout and got my chest protector off when I heard all the yelling so I grabbed my glove and headed for home plate.”
“If Alyea had been hustling, Earl might have made it,” said Detroit catcher Bill Freehan. “Tell him (Alyea) to start coming in and off the field a little quicker.”
Paul started a lot of games in May, but fewer in June. The June 27 Sporting News had an article by Mike Lamey that, for the first time, let the world know that Paul was a pretty interesting guy:
Stunt Man, Author, Catcher: Ratliff Finally Finds Niche
TWIN CITIES, Minn.—Paul Ratliff was tabbed as the Twins’ catcher of the future.
But that was more than five years ago. During that span, Ratliff almost got lost in the shuffle. Now he is back.
True, the 26-year-old is being platooned at the moment with George Mitterwald, but the thing is that he is back.
Paul almost quit baseball several times. He was a young man trying to find out where he belonged. He went so far as to write two books, both about a young man seeking his place in life.
Ratliff seemingly has found his place. It’s behind the plate. The ending was the same in both his books, the man finding the answer to his questions.
For now, Ratliff has given up writing to concentrate on handling Twin pitchers. He does not mind the idea of being platooned, either.
“I am not greedy,” said the good-looking catcher who was everything from a beach bum to a bouncer to a stunt man.
“If he (Manager Bill Rigney) wants to platoon me, that is great. I know if I can produce I will play.”
So far Ratliff has been producing. He was hitting .273 through the middle of June with five doubles, a triple, two home runs and 10 runs batted in.
During spring training the No. 1 catching job was given to Mitterwald…But when the season started, Mitterwald went into a slump…
Ratliff was up only 24 times in spring training, but did not complain.
“I knew George was in line for the No. 1 job,” Paul said. “And the way he looked, he earned it.”
Now whenever there is a lefthanded pitcher on the mound, Mitterwald plays. Ratliff, a lefthanded hitter, plays against righthanders.
“I am just going with the hot bat,” Rigney said. “Mitterwald has been in a little mix-up lately and Ratliff has come in to help.”
“There is no conflict between George and me,” said Ratliff, not trying to sound like a diplomat. “It is just a job we both want and we are trying hard to do it. When George is playing, I pull for him and vice versa.”
In speaking to Ratliff, you get the impression you are being charmed. Paul has a way of talking and presenting his ideas that can make a believer out of you…
By the time this story ran, though, Paul was not playing much, despite his hitting; apparently his defense was regarded as suspect. He only started one game in the second half of June, three in July, and three in August. On August 31 the Newark Star-Ledger ran the following item:
Juan (Chi Chi) Rodriguez was watching yesterday’s Twins-Yankees game on television when the Twins’ Paul Ratliff overran third base and was caught in a rundown ending the game. Rodriguez, a Twins’ fan, leaped from his chair and shouted, “That guy should be fined $500.” Chi Chi then though again and added, “Well, maybe not. We miss one-foot putts.”
Paul played more in September, and on the 22nd
the Twins won a game in Oakland that clinched the division title. An AP story
of the 24th described what happened afterwards:
OAKLAND (AP)—Manager Bill Rigney of the Minnesota Twins called a Tuesday night shoving match between two of his players “just one of those things.”
One of the players, pitcher Dave Boswell, needed 17 stitches to close deep cuts in his right hand. He suffered the wound when he reportedly was shoved against a wall by catcher Paul Ratliff.
A glass Boswell was holding in his hand shattered and cut his thumb and forefinger and also the palm of his hand.
The incident occurred during a victory celebration by the Twins in their hotel after they defeated the Oakland Athletics 5-3 to clinch the American League West pennant.
Rigney said Boswell will be unable to pitch any more this season even if the Twins get into the World Series…
“There was no bad feeling between the players this time,” Rigney said. “It’s all over now and was just something that happened in all the excitement.”
The San Francisco
Chronicle followed up the next day:
Rigney Says He’ll Fine His Fighters
Minnesota Twins manager Bill Rigney said last night he planned to impose fines on the principals of an inartistic but expensive scuffle that saw pitcher Dave Boswell go down for the count for the second time in two seasons.
Boswell, who was battered last year while challenging manager Billy Martin in a Detroit bar, suffered a badly lacerated right hand when he was reportedly felled with one punch by Twins catcher Paul Ratliff Wednesday night [actually Tuesday night, unless it was Wednesday morning] in an Oakland hotel…
The Twins celebrated late into the night after clinching the American League West Division title with a 5-3 win over the A’s, and Boswell apparently celebrated later than most.
“The whole team was letting loose after a long pennant race,” Rigney said, “and things like that are going to happen. Yes, they’ll be fined. I have my own policy on this sort of thing.”
It’s less lethal than Martin’s, at least.
The October 10 Sporting
News had a brief account:
During the early-morning celebrating after clinching the division title, pitcher Dave Boswell was hit by catcher Paul Ratliff and fell to the floor in a motel hallway, and a glass he was holding shattered in his right hand. Boswell received 22 stitches and an apology. Doctors told him the cuts wouldn’t affect his pitching next season and he returned to Baltimore for the off-season. Rigney said he would later decide upon “appropriate action.” Ratliff, who said he “just went berserk,” also said, “I seriously damaged my career.”
Paul started two and pinch-hit in three of the Twins’ final
eight games after the incident. In the playoff series against the Orioles, in
which the Twins were swept in three games, Paul played the third game, the only
one against a right-handed starter, Jim Palmer. He lined a single off Palmer’s
instep in the second inning but Jim stayed in the game.
During the series Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Russell Schneider reported that the Twins were looking “to trade troublesome Dave Boswell, who was punched by Billy Martin last season and by catcher Paul Ratliff last week.” Paul was voted a full share of the Twins’ World Series money, $5901.47, and on October 17 he got another Sporting News profile, by Bob Fowler:
During the series Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Russell Schneider reported that the Twins were looking “to trade troublesome Dave Boswell, who was punched by Billy Martin last season and by catcher Paul Ratliff last week.” Paul was voted a full share of the Twins’ World Series money, $5901.47, and on October 17 he got another Sporting News profile, by Bob Fowler:
Forsooth Rig, What Manner of Man Is Twins’ Jester, Catcher Ratliff?
TWIN CITIES, Minn.—It was in Chicago where the bullpens are adjacent behind the center field fence. Steve Barber threw a curve over the dividing fence and Paul Ratliff stood up to ask a newly-promoted White Sox rookie for the ball.
Using his best Shakespearean accent, Ratliff asked, “Forsooth, knave, did’st thou perchance see an errant spheroid miscast in thy direction?”
“Huh?” answered the rookie.
Well, eventually Ratliff had the ball returned by the young player who probably thought he just had met baseball’s answer to Chaucer.
Indeed, he had met one of the game’s most complex individuals, a reserve player with the talent to become a starter and, perhaps, a star.
Ratliff started his major league career in 1963. It was brief, but undistinguished. He hit .190 in 10 games and was soon in the minors.
He was 19, then, a highly-sought prospect from Henderson, Tex., and a youth who was out of his league.
He was sent to Charlotte, a class AA team, and he recalled, “That competition was too fast for me, too.”
He developed problems, many of them mental. Officials said he had potential, but was stubborn and refused instruction. They didn’t like his attitude and he wasn’t seen in Minnesota any more that year [actually he came back in September].
Then he changed last year. He tried harder, hit .302 at Charlotte and was promoted to the major league roster. Last spring, he became the team’s No. 2 catcher.
It was quite a year for the 26-year-old backstop.
He became, well, the team jester. You see, his teammates think he is strange.
He reads paperbacks, but he prefers the works of Thoreau to Spillane. Very strange, indeed, for baseball.
He often takes showers before games. He takes them after, too, but no one can understand why he needs two.
One winter, he used his idle time to read a dictionary. Unabridged, thank you.
He retained much of what he read and talks in multi-syllabic words. That is not average in baseball.
Then there is the way he talks. Forsooth, and all that stuff in that Old English style.
Well, that was one aspect of Paul Ratliff that others could understand and they laughed. He became the Twins’ comedian.
He enjoyed the role as a man with a good sense of humor would.
Then in Oakland, after the Twins had clinched their second American League West title, Paul Ratliff received more publicity than he had received during the first five months of the season.
He had a championship-clinching party in his motel room and pitcher Dave Boswell walked past, heard music and investigated behind the door that was partially open.
Boswell was asked to leave, some words were exchanged and Boswell turned to leave. Ratliff threw a right cross that caught the pitcher in the shoulder and knocked him to the hallway floor.
A glass in Boswell’s right hand shattered and he needed 22 stitches for the cuts. He was finished for the season.
Ratliff, who admitted being at fault, said he “went berserk for an instant.”
Later, he said, “I discovered another facet of my personality that I didn’t know existed.”
He also said he thought he had “seriously damaged” his career.
Manager Bill Rigney fined him, but played him now and then, too.
A few days later, he hit a three-run pinch-hit homer in the last of the ninth to beat Kansas City.
He told newsmen, “I’ll be happy to supply the details, gentlemen. It was a veritable fast-breaking screwball that I managed to pull.“
When I saw it coming, I told my fellow teammates, ‘Have no fear, I’ll take care of this, boys.’”
Someone yelled, “Hey Paul, you lead the league in TKOs.” Another asked if he would be going on the team’s winter speaking tour. “You’d give it some real punch.”
No one laughed more than Ratliff.
A few days later, the season ended and Ratliff finished it with a .268 average. The lefthanded batter hit five homers and knocked in 22 runs in only 149 at-bats.
“We’ve got to salvage that young man next spring,” Rigney said. “He can hit and if we can teach him a couple of things about catching, he could become a good one.”
Forsooth.
In addition to the stats mentioned in the article, Paul had a .363 on-base percentage and a .443 slugging percentage, both solid numbers. On November 14 he got married in Orange County, California, to 24-year-old Judy Petersen.
During spring training 1971 Rigney said that Paul would be the catcher against righthanded pitchers, but again he actually played much less than that, getting four starts in April, three in May (when he missed some time with muscle spasms in his back), and five in June.
He was hitting just .159 when on July 8 he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for catcher Phil Roof. The Twins wanted Roof’s experience and steadying hand with their young pitchers, while the Brewers were looking for Paul to platoon with catcher Ellie Rodriguez. From the Milwaukee Sentinel, July 9:
Frank Lane, the Brewers’ operational boss, who made the deal Thursday afternoon, noted:
“I’ve been trying to get Ratliff the last three or four months.
“Roof did a good job for us last year,” said Lane. “But Ratliff is a younger guy, an aggressive player and has the extra advantage for us of hitting with power from the left handed side. Also, he was anxious to get with us.
“We’re getting rid of a player who was a member of an unsuccessful club and adding a player who can help us build a successful one.”
The Brewers eyed Ratliff because of his power potential and because of his left handed swinging which will serve as a foil to Rodriguez, who hits the other way…
The story also mentioned that Paul was living in Fullerton,
California. From the following day’s Sentinel:
Brewers Boast Real 1-2 ‘Punch’
By Lou Chapman
With the acquisition of Paul Ratliff, the Milwaukee Brewers can now boast the best 1-2 catching “punch” in baseball.
Ellie Rodriguez, the No. 1 man, is a well known fistic performer, as his previous Golden Gloves record and well publicized scrap with Bill Lee of the Boston Red Sox will testify.
Now comes Ratliff from the Minnesota Twins with a fight exploit to match. His arrival here Friday following a deal involving Phil Roof, brought to mind Ratliff’s lively duel last fall with former pitching teammate Dave Boswell on the west coast.
It was the night of the Twins’ divisional pennant celebration at Oakland, and, as Ratliff recalled, everybody was roaming around the hotel.
The new Milwaukee catcher somehow got involved in a fracas with Boswell and decked the pitcher with just one punch to the chin. Boswell’s subsequent injuries required 30 stitches [it keeps going up!].
“It was just a misunderstanding and we’re still good friends,” Ratliff explained Friday. “Dave had a glass in his hand and as he fell and hit a wall, he must have cut his hand.”
Other accounts of the fight indicate that Ratliff was just being modest.
Ron Theobald, then with the Twins’ Denver farm and a close friend of Ratliff’s, also was present. In his role of peacemaker, the little infielder caught a flying elbow in the melee that followed and suffered a cut on his head. Nine stitches were needed to mend his injury.
The two were reunited before the Brewers’ series opener Friday night with the Chicago White Sox. Theobald was Ratliff’s best man at his wedding last year and they’ll be roommates as they were several times in the minor leagues.
Ratliff is a handsome young man with a mod life style, who wears his hair fairly long and has built a reputation of being a “flake”—in other words somewhat eccentric.
“In this game anyone who is different from the stereotype is going to be called flakey,” said Ratliff. “I suppose it’s because I’ve done things that are considered weird that I’m labeled in that category.”
However, now that he is a member of the Brewers Ratliff announced, “I’m going to change my image.
“I feel fantastically happy,” the new catcher said, “coming from a club where I wasn’t playing to one where I feel I can play a lot and help.
“Last year Bill Rigney (Twins’ manager) announced that George Mitterwald was going to be his first string catcher. He kept that promise except for brief periods where Mitterwald was so bad that Rigney was forced to platoon him with me.
“But I got my bats mostly in one or two games a week. Last summer I went three weeks in June without playing [not true, though he did get only one start between June 13 and July 5]. It was difficult to retain any semblance of timing. This year it was even worse.”
Ratliff insists his reputation as a fighter is exaggerated, but it’s comforting for his Milwaukee teammates to know that he and Ellie are both on their side.
The Sporting News, August 7:
Brewers Tap Ratliff for New Power
By Larry Whiteside
MILWAUKEE, Wis.—Paul Ratliff, the Brewers’ newly acquired catcher, is an independent kind of guy.
He prove it recently in the nation’s capital when he walked right past a cordon of secret service agents, and went over and had a pleasant chat with President Nixon, even though the Brewers had lost the game, and he had to walk practically into the Senators’ clubhouse to reach the President.
Ratliff is also a hitter of some power, and Milwaukee hopes it has landed a guy who will give it some home-run punch from the left side, and a regular of the future. Ratliff was obtained recently from the Twins for Phil Roof and now shares the catching job with Ellie Rodriguez.
Ratliff discussed his talk with the President.
“It was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” he said, “and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get it again. So right after the game, I sort of trotted over and introduced myself.
“He’s a very good baseball fan. Right away he knew what place we were in and he knew we had a young ball club and that we were trying to build for the future. And he personally remembered that I had been injured early in the game and he commented on my injury and said I was real gutty to hang in there…he was a real fine gentleman. I was flabbergasted just to get the chance to talk to him.”
Ratliff will get the chance he’s been seeking with the Brewers, too. At Minnesota, he played behind George Mitterwald and was used sparingly.
“Under the circumstances,” he went on, “I feel like I do have a better chance. This is a younger ball club and I do feel I can definitely help. I feel I can hit well for them and hope to improve all around.
“Of course, everyone wants to become a regular player, but I feel that the way Dave (Bristol) is doing it right now, platooning Ellie and myself, is a great way to get the best out of both of us. For the time being, I’m perfectly satisfied with getting to play against righthanders and doing the best I can.”
Ratliff insists he’s a changed man since the start of the season. For one thing, he’s 20 pounds lighter, and for another, he has been reunited with Ron Theobald, the little general, who is the Brewers’ second baseman and once played with Ratliff in the Twins’ organization. Theobald is now his roommate, which is only fitting, since a year ago he was the best man at Ratliff’s wedding.
“I read in an Orlando paper a quote that said Mitterwald was the Twins’ catcher, and from that point on, I felt it was a losing battle on the thing. I felt I was fighting to retain the second-string catching job and never to hold the first. That proved to be the truth, except one brief period when George was in a slump. I felt I did all right and hit about .280. But it was decided that my defensive abilities weren’t enough, so I was taken out.
“I consider myself a vastly improved defensive catcher, and I’m learning all the time. You know baseball is firmly entrenched in its own myths. You get a reputation, and no matter how long you’re in the game, it’s difficult to change it. I think I can change that particular myth, because I don’t think I’m a bad catcher anymore.
“In fact, I think I’m a good catcher now and I’m going to improve even more. I’m lighter now because at Minnesota I wasn’t doing much work and had gotten up to 220 pounds. I decided to go on a diet and in two weeks I lost 20 pounds. I know it has made me more mobile.”
Theobald already had had an effect on Ratliff.
“There’s no force in baseball better for a team than a guy like Ron Theobald,” said Paul. “He’s one of the funniest people I’ve met and a unique individual. He keeps the guys loose.”
Brewer Manager Dave Bristol likes Ratliff’s attitude and potential.
“The thing about Paul is that he really wants to play here,” remarked Bristol. “He’s improving all the time and every time he goes up there, you’ve got to respect his bat.”
Just like every previous time that it was announced that
Paul would be the catcher versus righthanded pitching, he didn’t actually get
to play that much. He started ten of the Brewers’ 21 games from July 17 through
August 4, then only one more the rest of the season; rookie Darrell Porter was
called up at the beginning of September and did most of the catching the rest
of the way. Paul’s combined stats with Minnesota and Milwaukee were
.165/.250/.365 (of his 14 hits, two were doubles and five were homers) with 38
strikeouts in 85 at-bats.
In spring training 1972 the big question in the Brewer camp
was whether Darrell Porter was ready for the major leagues. This item appeared in
the Sporting News of April 1:
Darrell Porter, the rookie who may be thrust into the starting catching job, has been slow getting started this spring because of a muscle injury. Veterans Ellie Rodriguez and Paul Ratliff have been taking up the slack in his absence, and Ratliff’s chances improve with each home run he hits. He still has tremendous power.
The season started with Porter and Rodriguez platooning and
Paul as the third-stringer. On May 22 Porter, hitting .125, was demoted and
Paul, 1-for-10 with seven strikeouts at that point, became the backup to
Rodriguez.
After getting just one start in each of the first two months of the season, Paul got six in June and three in July. On July 23 he struck out in a pinch-hit appearance against Wayne Granger of the Twins; this would turn out to be his last major league game.
After getting just one start in each of the first two months of the season, Paul got six in June and three in July. On July 23 he struck out in a pinch-hit appearance against Wayne Granger of the Twins; this would turn out to be his last major league game.
On July 28 Paul was traded with Ron Clark to the California
Angels for Joe Azcue and Syd O’Brien, and was assigned to their AAA team, Salt
Lake City of the Pacific Coast League. He was hitting .071 for the Brewers,
with 23 strikeouts in 42 at-bats. Still, the Sporting News of July 29 included the results of their All-Star poll
of major league players—the starting lineups were determined by fan voting but
TSN wanted the players’ opinion—and Paul got one vote for American League
catcher (233 AL players responded, and were not allowed to vote for
teammates). He played in 18 games for Salt
Lake City, hitting .226/.300/.509 in 53 at-bats, and then was out of baseball.
Paul and Judy got divorced in 1975, but I don’t know anything
else about his post-baseball life, and since he is still alive I wouldn’t want
to invade his privacy anyway. If you Google him you’ll find that a lot of
websites have his life mixed together with a younger Paul Ratliff who is
married to actress Maggie Siff.
https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/R/Pratlp101.htm
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ratlipa01.shtml
https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/R/Pratlp101.htm
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ratlipa01.shtml
