1963 Ruth Series team to be honored today

By Bill Cauley News-Post Staff | Posted: Sunday, April 14, 2013 6:00 am

Fifty years ago, a young group of Frederick Babe Ruth League all-stars grabbed local headlines when it became the first team in state Ruth history to win a regional tournament and advance to a Babe Ruth World Series.

This same group of players will be recognized today when Frederick City Babe Ruth League opens its regular season at 2 p.m. at McCurdy Field.

All 15 players from that team are expected to be at the ceremony.

The team consisted of Ron Hart, Tim Ambrose, Benny Grove, Phil Ranneberger, Mike Willard, John Young, Ronnie Miles, Rick Hoffman, Terry Boyer, Rick McQuillen, Hal Keller, Jeff Freland, Ed Reynolds, Rich Brown and Audie Murphy. The batboy was Leif Hoffman.

The late Harry Wolfe was Frederick's manager. Dick Ray and Kenny May were the coaches.

"That was a special group," Ambrose said of his teammates. "All of us are very good friends and had a lot of fun together. I'm very-much looking forward to Sunday."

The 1963 team won the state tournament, held at Brunswick, then won three games in the Middle Atlantic Regional Tournament at Parkersburg, W.Va., for a berth in the World Series at Farmington, N.M.

"They gave us a big parade when we got back," Hart said. "They had us on the back of a fire truck riding us around town."

Ambrose remembers the 50-hour bus ride from Frederick to Farmington for the World Series.

"It was one of those older charter buses, it had no air conditioning," he said. "We rode non-stop, sleeping on the bus, stopping only to eat."

Ambrose recalls one stop in Tulsa, Okla., where one restaurant refused to serve the African-Americans on the team. "Harry made us put our trays back and we walked out," he said. "He wanted no part of that discrimination."

The 1963 team went 2-2 at the World Series. It lost to Puerto Rico in the opener, 10-4, then defeated Frankfurt, Germany, 20-1; and Oakland, Calif., 14-7, in the elimination bracket.

Frederick lost to Puerto Rico in the semifinals, 10-5. Tulsa won the Ruth series that year.

"I think we surprised a few people that year, especially at the regionals," Hart said. "We were up against Metro New York in the regional championship game and beat them, 21-1."

Marcus Hall, the Frederick City Babe Ruth League president, and Hart have been working on putting this reunion together for some time.

"Marcus and I coach together in the Babe Ruth League, after coming over from Frederick National Little League," Hart said. "We thought it would be nice if we could get all of these guys together."