Tony Roig, 81; Was IFer for Washington Senators
Bill Schenley
1977 One Year Winners (#12) baseball card:
http://www.andybroome.com/roigcard.jpg
FROM: Thornhill Valley Chapel
(Paid obit)
With great sadness, we say goodbye to Anton
Ambrose (Tony) Roig, beloved husband, father,
grandfather and great-grandfather.
Tony was born on December 23, 1928
to Caroline and Anton Roig in New Orleans, LA,
one of nine children.
His lifelong love was baseball and he started
his professional career in 1948 when he signed
as a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies.
He enlisted in the US Army and became an MP
as well as a military baseball player. From there,
he played three seasons for the Washington
Senators. Baseball took him all over the world,
but the most important stop he made was in
Spokane, where he played for the Spokane
Indians and met and married his wife, Jackie in
1957.
After brief stints in the Major League, he set
an Indians record in 1960 for having played
every position in a single game. That year the
Indians won their first Pacific Coast League
championship and he was names the team's
most valuable player. After that season he was
drafted by the Chicago White Sox, but came
down with pneumonia. He played minor league
ball for the Sox that year. He went on to play
with San Diego and Indianapolis and in
Venezuela.
In 1963 he moved to Japan, where he was
a popular home-run hitter for the Nishitetsu
Lions and the Kintetsu Buffalos. He returned
to Spokane in 1968 and bought a lumberyard,
but it wasn't long before baseball called him
back. From 1973 until his retirement he scouted
for the Milwaukee Brewers, the California Angels,
and the Philadelphia Phillies- where he also
served as their hitting instructor. He was widely
respected as a talent evaluator and was followed
for Kevin Kerrane's 1989 book about scouting,
"Dollar Sign on the Muscle".
The things Tony most loved were his family,
"watching the ponies", fishing with his
brother-in-law, playing pool, talking about his
youth in Louisiana, his baseball friends, and
gardening. He will be remembered for his
baseball stories, "Tony-isms", for his great
devotion to Jackie, and for his integrity.
He was preceded in death by six sisters and
one brother. He is survived by one sister,
Dot Knecht (Gene) of Nachitoches, LA, his
wife Jackie and children Michael (Karen) of
Ovilla, TX, Rick (Vickie) Cheney, WA, and
Lisa Nunn (Eric) of Midlothian, TX. He loved
his grandchildren Tony, Brandee, Clint, Matt,
Hayley, Rachael, Jaclyn, Elliott and
Christopher. He is also survived by five
great-grandchildren.
At Tony's request no services will be held.
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MLB Stats:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/roigto01.shtml
Thanks to Jack Morris from SABR for this obit.