Portia Williams | Daily Times
Robert Dafford works on the Portsmouth Floodwall’s latest addition.
PORTIA WILLIAMS
PDT Staff Writer
Patrick Borders, a former in Major League Baseball, Most Valuable Player in the 1992 World Series, and former resident of Scioto County is the newest addition to the Baseball Mural on the Portsmouth floodwall.
World renown muralist, Robert Dafford, the original artist and painter of the Portsmouth Floodwall Murals, began working on the new mural and completed the mural on Friday.
Dafford said painting the Pat Borders mural took approximately 20 hours, not including the preparation for mural projects such as this one.
Borders was born in Columbus, but according to his father, Mike Borders, Pat spent the majority of his childhood growing up in Scioto County.
Mike Borders said that his son is elated about having a mural done in his honor.
“Pat grew up here. He is excited, and honored about this project. Anytime you have the people where you grew up to acknowledge you in some way, its a pretty big deal to him,” Mike Borders said.
Mike Borders also said that it makes him very proud, because there is wonderful baseball heritage in Scioto County.
“We are proud of Scioto County. We have relatives there, and we go back often,” Mike Borders said.
Pat Borders was brought up in the Toronto Blue Jays system and made his major league debut in 1988, playing in 56 games. In the 1992 Series, he hit .450 with one home run en route to winning the World Series MVP award.
Borders also won an Olympic Games gold medal with the United States baseball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
He is one of only four players to have won both a World Series championship and an Olympic gold medal, along with Doug Mientkiewicz and Cuban players Orlando Hernandez and Jose Contreras.
Pat Borders retired from Major League Baseball May 2006, and resides inLake Wells, Florida with his wife and is the head coach of a high school baseball team in Florida. Borders and his wife Kathy have three sons whom are all involved in sports. Kathy Borders and is a coach for a high school as well.
Pat and Kathy Borders have three sons who are following in his footsteps concerning athleticism.
His son Levi just signed a scholarship for the University of South Florida, declining an offer for now to sign with the Atlanta Braves.
Brook is his next son, who is currently a high school senior, who is the quarterback of the football team and is the catcher for his dad’s team.
Pat Borders now featured amongst the host of other baseball icons who are from Scioto County, and is now available for public viewing.
Portia Williams may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 234 or portiawilliams@heartlandpublications.com
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