Moscoe, Raymond

Blame it on cooties. Yes, the Cooties. That was the name of the Pee Wee League baseball team that first broke Raymond Moscoe’s heart in 1967 by handing his team, the Bees, their only loss of the season. For Raymond, that hit–in-the-gut feeling of losing was not very pleasant, and he tried to avoid that feeling the rest of his baseball and softball career.

Of course, Mr. Moscoe, did lose again, but luckily for him the wins substantially outnumbered the losses. He was only 6 when he began his march through baseball leagues in Frankfort—Pee Wee with the Bees, then the Minors, Little league, and Babe Ruth. Winning followed him around until it peaked in 1977 at Franklin County High School. That year, the Flyers broke a school record with 28 wins and only 4 losses, and Moscoe was the MVP leading in every offensive category. Shortly after, his Bellarmine Knights broke a school record with the most wins in their college’s history.

From baseball, the transition to softball was smooth and very rewarding for the Frankfort, Kentucky native. At the age of 24, he won his first national championship and earned the MVP award with Parrish Lumber/Jiffy. Some 30 years later, Moscoe won the ISSA Senior Nationals and was again named MVP for OKI

In between those two national MVPs, there was loads of fun and even more winning in Raymond’s 30 plus years of softball. On a personal level, Mr. Moscoe’s prized individual feat came when he hit three home runs in one inning at his favorite tournament, the Thoroughbred Classic in Lexington. His teams played in eight Thoroughbred championship games over the years.

Besides winning local and regional tournaments like the Lake Cumberland Classic, LIT, H&W, and the Bowling Green Spring Open, Moscoe’s success continued on a national level. In 1992, he won the NSA AA World with one of his most respected managers of all time, Herb Price. Being around people like Herb, his wife Pat, and other coaches, colleagues, players, etc. is what made Raymond the happiest.

Once such coach and confidant, Cobbie Harrison, guided the Vinnie’s/ Astros to two Kentucky “A” State titles in the same season (ASA and NSA in 1994), and 10 years later Moscoe duplicated that feat with coach, Nick Berardi, Sr. and the Berardi’s team.

Altogether the shortstop and middle infielder accumulated 10 national championship trophies as well as 10 Kentucky State championships. All were memorable, but perhaps his most enjoyable was when he won his first state title in 1989 at Owensboro’s Fisher Park with Buffalo & Dad’s.

As fun as it was a player, Moscoe reflects on what he calls his most satisfying weekend on a softball field. “I was coaching Softball Times in 2009 and to watch those young guys develop over the summer and play their hearts out winning the ASA “C” East National Championship was truly rewarding.”

A final note completes Moscoe’s Kentucky Softball Hall of Fame resume—He was named to All-American teams in each association he played, both in young men’s and senior ball –ASA, NSA, USSSA, and ISA in his earlier days and in the SPA( Senior Player’s Association), ISSA, and SSUSA, in senior men’s play.

Some of the teams that Razor (as his teammates nicknamed him) played for were Parrish Lumber, Kentucky Sporting Goods, Walt’s Gym, Vinnie’s, California Waterbeds, Scott Co. Merchants, Wildcat Fence, Perkins Motors, Planet Softball, Worth Astros, Berardi’s, Sports Den, Softball Times and OKI.