Here’s
a “Then and Now” card for another baseball lifer, Phil Roof, who was
wrapping up a nice 15-year career in 1977 as a member of the original
Toronto Blue Jays:
Roof came up in 1961 as a member of the Milwaukee Braves, and went on to
a solid career as a back-up catcher for eight teams: Braves, California
Angels, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City/Oakland Athletics, Milwaukee
Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox and Blue Jays.
As a matter of fact Roof was the very first player taken by Toronto in the expansion draft! The very first Blue Jay!
He finished with a .215 career batting average, with 463 hits in 2151
at-bats over 857 games, all but four of them behind the plate (with
three at first base and one as a designated hitter).
Post playing career, Roof went on to become a coach and manager in the
Major and Minor league levels, holding various positions between 1978
until his retirement in 2005, almost 50 years in organized pro-ball.