Phil Ross

Phil Ross (born May 23, 1962) had one of the greatest single seasons in college baseball history. For the 1985 season he set, tied, or entered the NCAA record books 8 times while playing first base for Saint Leo University (Saint Leo College at the time). Five of the 8 records still stand over 20 years later.

A few of his biggest feats, a .484 batting average, 1.8 RBIs per game (he had 90 in 50 games), and 22 HRs, including 2 Grand Slams in one inning.

While the NCAA does not presently keep official records of On-base plus slugging (OPS), by comparison, Ross's 1.607 OPS is 13% higher than the 1.422 of Major League Baseball single season OPS record holder Barry Bonds (set in 2004).

In the highly competitive Division II Sunshine State Conference, in which Saint Leo played, Ross was the first player to win the triple crown (Batting Average, HRs, and RBIs). The Sunshine State Conference has had 14 NCAA Division II College World Series champions since 1968.

Ross’ performance in 1985 earned him 1st Team All-Sunshine State Conference, 1st Team All-South, and 1st Team All-American (the only unanimous choice that year).

His excellence was remarkable in that the prior season for Saint Leo he hit .313 with only 8 HRs and 38 RBIs in 59 games (he was 2nd Team All-Conference at 1st Base). His turnaround was largely attributable to first-year Saint Leo head baseball coach and legendary Major League Baseball pitcher Mike Marshall (baseball pitcher). Marshall trusted on Ross team captain responsibility and made numerous refinements to his batting stance and swing.

At 6’2” and 215 lbs. Ross was an imposing and strong figure. Marshall, who played Major League Baseball from 1967–81, commented that “there was only one player stronger than Ross” he had ever seen or played against; and “it was Willie Stargell.”

Of Ross’ 22 HRs, 16 were with men on base, 3 were leadoff solo HRs. He hit 2 HRs in a game 3 times. His slugging percentage was .962; his on-base percentage was .645. He had 53 walks in 50 games. In the 19 games in which he hit his 22 HRs, his batting average was .623 with 67 RBIs (3.5 RBI per game).

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