Weekend Plug-in 🔌

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FORT WORTH, Texas — “You Gotta Believe,” opening in theaters on Friday, recounts a youth baseball team’s thrilling, improbable journey all the way to the 2002 Little League World Series.

The PG-rated film details how the Westside All-Stars of Fort Worth came together as Bobby Ratliff, father of 12-year-old first baseman Robert Ratliff, battled terminal cancer.

In one compelling scene, Bobby Ratliff (portrayed by Luke Wilson) clenches his hands behind his head and closes his eyes as he seeks intervention from above.

“Please, God, don’t take me away from my family,” he prays out loud. 

Robert Ratliff (Michael Cash) overhears his father and wants to know, “Why would God let you be taken away, Dad?”

A conversation about life and death ensues.

“What happens when you die?” the son asks.

“Well,” the father replies, “I hope I get to go to heaven.”

The interaction offers a fleeting glimpse of faith in a movie (also starring Greg Kinnear as coach Jon Kelly) that focuses on perseverance and the human spirit as the underdog ballplayers’ winning strategy.

In real life, God played a more crucial role in the Ratliff household, said Robert, now a 34-year-old vice president for an insurance company. His mother, Patti (played by Sarah Gadon in the movie), is now 71. His younger brother, John, is 31.

“We prayed in our house,” Robert, who was raised Catholic, told Religion Unplugged. “We prayed in good times and bad times. My parents deserve the credit there because that was always the norm, right?”

Simply put, Robert emphasized, “There’s no way I’d be where I am today without God.”

As a quarterback, Robert led Nolan Catholic High School in Fort Worth to a pair of state football titles and later played for the Ole Miss Rebels. He was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll three times. 

He and his wife, Natalie, have a 3-year-old son, Wyatt, and a soon-to-be 1–year-old son, Henry. They attend University Baptist Church, next to Texas Christian University, in Fort Worth.

“Even when I first met Robert, when he first talked about his dad, his eyes filled up with tears,” said Jerimiah Smith, pastor of University Baptist. “So that’s something he learned as a young boy — what it means to get through some stuff that you don’t anticipate having to get through.”

To Smith, Robert embodies the movie’s title: “It’s a life that’s all about belief and trust.”

The Westside All-Stars — the first Dallas-Fort Worth team to reach the Little League World Series in 42 years — dedicated the 2002 season to Bobby Ratliff and played with his first name inscribed in their ballcaps.

“It’s been a truly unbelievable experience, and it has lifted my spirits so much to watch these kids go out and play the way they did,” Bobby said at an August 2002 ceremony covered by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I get a little teary-eyed every time I think about all the giving everyone in the community has done.

“It feels like we’ve had angels following us,” he declared.

Less than nine months after the ceremony, the 51-year-old father succumbed to his illness. 

In the summer of 2007, Robert and John Ratliff — along with Alec Mullarkey — started a foundation called You Gotta Believe that organizes youth baseball and football camps. 

The nonprofit aims to give back to the Fort Worth community and pay tribute to Bobby Ratliff’s desire to give “every kid a true chance to succeed.”

You Gotta Believe’s motto: “Believe in God! Believe in Self! Believe in The Team!”

“We’ve had over 3,500 kids come through the organization over the last 17-ish years,” Robert said. “So we’ve had a lot of fun with it, trying to continue our father’s legacy. … We use football and baseball to get the kids out there, but we want to make sure they hear the message of God while there.”

Robert said he’s excited about the Well Go USA Entertainment movie sharing his family’s story with a wider audience.

“It’s special to me,” he said. “I don’t think too much of it. I mean, my life’s not going to change. I love my wife. I love my two boys. I have a job. I love living in Fort Worth. I don’t see crazy changes.

“But I’m glad that there’s an opportunity for the message to be spread,” he added. 

As a believer, Robert said he feels called to lead others to Jesus.

He’s hopeful that the film might bring fathers and sons together — and cause husbands and wives to strengthen their relationships.

“We hope that lives are changed,” Robert said of his family’s dream for “You Gotta Believe.” “We hope that people enjoy the movie and can apply it to their everyday life.”

Inside The Godbeat

One of my favorite religion writers, Bob Smietana, is celebrating a quarter-century on the Godbeat.

“Twenty-five years ago, just out of grad school, I got my first job in journalism, at a very small denominational magazine called the Covenant Companion,” Smietana noted on social media. “Was the first step into a great adventure on the Godbeat. Can't wait to see what the next 25 years bring.”

For the past six years, Smietana has worked for Religion News Service — first as editor-in-chief and now as a national writer.

Smietana’s other gigs over the last few decades have taken him from The Tennessean to Christianity Today to Lifeway Research. He is a former president of the Religion News Association.

The Final Plug

Given the focus of this week’s column, I’ll say this: Baseball movies are awesome.

I was blessed a few years ago to interview Jim Morris, whose real-life story Dennis Quaid portrayed in the 2002 Disney feature film “The Rookie.”

Some of my other favorite baseball flicks: “Field of Dreams” (1989), “A League of Their Own” (1992), “Major League” (1989) and “Moneyball” (2011).

Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.

Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for Religion Unplugged and serves as editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 18 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.