The history of sports in Northern Kentucky goes back a long way. A very long way. Decades. Centuries.
We know you’ve seen these lists before, but this is a different and unique way of presenting our “50 sports icons in Northern Kentucky” as we’ll provide you one per day over the next 50 days.
Hall of Fames are everywhere in NKY, the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame, High School Athletic Directors Hall of Fame, NKU, Thomas More and local high schools all have something to recognize their past.
We’ll preface this series by saying this, some of you may disagree with who should or shouldn’t be in the top 50 and that’s fine. Plenty are in the Hall of Very Good, but we feel these 50 are the one’s who stuck out to us.
Sports Editor Evan Dennison spoke and conferred with several local NKY sports history buffs to get their opinions and lists of their own and who should be “locks” for the 50 sports icons. We compiled each list and came up with the 50 of our own (maybe cheated a little by putting families in as one) to present over the next 50 days.
Hope you enjoy as summer time rolls on!
The 20th of the 50 sports icons is Randy Marsh. A Holmes grad who holds the distinction of being Northern Kentucky’s only Major League Baseball umpire.
RANDY MARSH
Randy Marsh, a Covington native and Holmes High School graduate, holds the distinction of being northern Kentucky’s only Major League Baseball umpire. The son of longtime Kenton County Knothole Supervisor Bob Marsh, Randy’s baseball journey began early. As a teenager, he started umpiring local youth games and quickly developed a passion for officiating. He entered the minor leagues in 1968, working his way through the ranks for 13 seasons before earning his MLB debut in 1981 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
Marsh’s career spanned nearly three decades, during which he umpired over 3,700 regular season games. He was selected to work five World Series—1990, 1997, 1999, 2003, and 2006—and served as crew chief in the final three, becoming just the 10th umpire in history to do so. His resume also includes four All-Star Games, nine League Championship Series, and five Division Series. His strike zone was considered small but consistent, a standard that earned him steady respect across the league.
In 1998, Marsh was promoted to crew chief and held the position until his retirement from the field in 2009. He later transitioned to MLB’s front office, where he served as Director of Umpiring through 2019, helping shape training and evaluation systems for the next generation of officials.
A University of Kentucky graduate and U.S. Army Reserve veteran, Marsh’s contributions extend beyond the field. He was inducted into the Kentucky, Florida, and Northern Kentucky Sports Halls of Fames.
See the 50 sports icons on a day-to-day basis over the next 50 days
— Day 1: Dave Cowens
— Day 2: Shaun Alexander
— Day 3: Homer Rice
— Day 4: Dicky Beal
— Day 5: Jared Lorenzen
— Day 6: Jim Bunning
— Day 7: Tom Ellis
— Day 8: Nate Dusing
— Day 9: Jim Connor
— Day 10: Steve Cauthen
— Day 11: Irv Goode
— Day 12: Stan Steidel
— Day 13: Kenney Shields
— Day 14: David Justice
— Day 15: Morgan Hentz
— Day 16: Eddie Arcaro
— Day 17: Nancy Winstel
— Day 18: Steve Flesch
— Day 19: Donna Murphy
— Day 20: Randy Marsh
— Day 21: Mike Yeagle
— Day 22: Derrick Barnes
— Day 23: Dale Mueller
— Day 24: Dave Faust
— Day 25: Kirsten Allen
— Day 26: The Oldendick family
— Day 27: Martin “Mote” Hils
— Day 28: Nell Fookes
— Day 29: Owen Hauck
— Day 30: Becky Ruehl
— Day 31: Tom Thacker
— Day 32: Sydney Moss
— Day 33: Bob Schneider
— Day 34: The Walz family
— Day 35: John Toebben
— Day 36: Pat Scott
— Day 37: Bob Arnzen
— Day 38: Joan Mazzaro
— Day 39: Frank Jacobs
— Day 40: Adrienne Hundemer
— Day 41: The Draud family
— Day 42: Bill Krumpelbeck
— Day 43: The Molony family
— Day 44: Allen Feldhaus
— Day 45: The Maile family
— Day 46: Maureen Egan Corl
— Day 47: Bill Aker
— Day 48: Maureen Kaiser
— Day 49: John Brannen
— Day 50: Mike Bankemper