Milt Retif
Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame
Baseball Player/Coach, 1949-74
Jesuit High School/Tulane University
Inducted: 2001
Milt Retif was an all-city and all-state baseball infielder at Jesuit High School. He captained the Blue Jays to the 1950 state championship and was selected all-city and all-state before going on to attend Tulane. As a three-year letterman (1952-55) on the Green Wave baseball team, he played shortstop and tallied a career batting average of over .300 while captaining the team as a junior and senior.
Retif became a very successful businessman in the New Orleans area and raised significant money for the Tulane baseball program, which the schools was considering down-grading to the club level in the mid-1960s. He took things a step further by taking over as the team's head coach in 1966 - a volunteer position. In nine years (1966-74) at the helm of the program, he compiled a 123-74 record. His 1972 team won 23 of 29 games and notched a No. 7 national rating. After wrapping up his coaching days, he stayed on with the program as a consultant, working hard to secure funds for the construction of locker rooms and other amenities for the baseball program.Â
On top of his work with the Tulane baseball program, Retif has been an important figure in the New Orleans and state athletic scenes. He holds an annual golf tournament benefiting many New Orleans-area charitable causes. Additionally, he has been a major sponsor of American Legion baseball programs for Jesuit - his alma mater - and Archbishop Shaw high schools. He received Shaw's Don Bosco Award for being a "role model for youth through sports and school activities." Jesuit - where he has created an endowment for students - voted him an Outstanding Alumnus in 1993.
For his work in organizing support from New Orleans civic and business leaders to raise funds for the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, he was named a member of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, as well as later being inducted into the Hilton Riverside Walk of Fame. After the Superdome opened, Retif was instrumental in staging a baseball exhibition between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, with proceeds going to Grambling State and Christian Brothers School in New Orleans.
Retif, who was also the founder of the Green Wave Dugout Club, was inducted in the Tulane Athletic Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. He received the Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award from the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in June of 2013 for his work as a supporter and benefactor of sports. In 1993, he was honored as the Jesuit Alumnus of the Year. Born June 10, 1932 in New Orleans, Retif passed away on September 21, 2024.
