My Dad's College Baseball

My Dad's College Baseball

In addition to my dad playing football at the University of Colorado (CU), as discussed in previous blogs, he also played baseball for them.  I had several newspaper clippings about his baseball at CU; but was surprised about a year ago when the following two pages from CU yearbooks showed up while doing a Mocavo search.  

The following page from the 1934 CU yearbook, noted that four players on the baseball team were named to the All-Conference team.  My father was one of them and their best pitcher, Bill Subry was another.  Bill's photo is on the left below.  They were co-champions of the league that year.  Bill and my dad were classmates and played on the same team at CU for three years.  Twenty years later when I attended CU on a baseball scholarship, one of the other pitchers in my freshman class was named Bill Subry, the son of my father's teammate.  Bill and I played three years together at CU, just as our fathers had.

1934 CU Yearbook

My dad's photo is in the upper right corner of the yearbook page below.  The write-up listed him as the starting third baseman for the team.  

1935 CU Yearbook

My dad's coach throughout his years at CU was a man named Harry Carlson.  When I attended school there 20 years later Harry Carlson was the Dean of Men.  He would frequently attend practices and games and, having been a pitcher in his younger days and then a coach, would offer me pointers and advice.  To carry the irony further, my coach was a man named Frank "Chief" Prentup.  Chief and my dad had been officers in the same unit together in the Navy during WW II and the Athletic Business Manager, Kayo Lam, had been my dad's teammate, an fellow All-Conference player, on the CU Football team. 

 This worked to my benefit in getting a scholarship and financial aid; but it also put extra pressure on me to live up to the high levels of performance of my dad at CU.  I enjoyed my time at CU and baseball helped me get through school; but I was never as good an athlete as my father. 

1959 CU Yearbook (Del Ritchhart lower left)

The following newspaper clipping is from the Denver Post showing four CU athletes who all participate in more than one sport at the school.  My father is in the lower left and also played football.  He was All-Conference in both sports.

Del Ritchhart (lower left)