Ruffin was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 4th round of the 1988 MLB draft. He played his first professional season with their rookie club Gulf Coast League White Sox in 1988. He played in MLB with the Cincinnati Reds from 1993 to 1996, then spent a season in Japan with the Kintetsu Buffaloes. (He returned to MLB with the Arizona Diamondbacks (2000) and Florida Marlins (2001). He played his last affiliated season for Cincinnati's Triple-A Louisville Bats in 2002 and appeared in Korea with the SK Wyverns that same season. His last professional season was with the independent Pennsylvania Road Warriors of the Atlantic League in 2004.
A 2016 AL.com article named Ruffin the best athlete to come from Choctaw County, Alabama.

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