He attended Granite Quarry High School in Granite Quarry, North Carolina where he starred in baseball and basketball. His combined pitching record his junior and senior years was 24–0 and upon graduation he was also the county\'s all-time basketball scoring leader.\n', '

He was originally signed by the Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1955. He spent several years in the minors before making his big league debut with the Red Sox on August 4, 1964 in a road game against the Minnesota Twins. Entering the game in relief of Bill Monbouquette, the first batter he faced was Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Harmon Killebrew, who singled. In four innings pitched that game, he allowed two hits and three walks, but did not allow an earned run in the 12–4 loss.\n', '

His rookie season overall was the best season of his career—in 21 games, he had a 1–1 record with a fine 2.74 ERA in 46 innings. The 1965 season was also a successful one for Ritchie, as he was 1–2 with a 3.17 ERA in 44 relief appearances, as was 1967, when he was 4–6 but again posted a 3.17 ERA in 52 relief appearances (which ranked 10th in the National League).\n', '

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