Michael Stephen "Mike" Roach (December 23, 1869 - November 12, 1916) was a professional baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 catcher

Catcher

Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...

 who played for the Washington Senators

Washington Senators (1891-1899)

The Washington Senators were a 19th century baseball team. The team was also known as the Washington Statesmen and the Washington Nationals. The team played at Boundary Field....

 in .

Born in Drtifwood, Pennsylvania, Roach was the son of William and Bridget Roach. Roach's brother, John Roach

John Roach (baseball)

John F. Roach was a 19th century Major League Baseball player. In 1887 he pitched in a single game for the New York Giants. He also had an extensive minor league baseball career, that lasted from 1886 through 1898....

, played one game for the New York Giants

San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

.

Roach played in the minor leagues

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 for 14 seasons. He made his professional baseball debut in , and played for the Macon Central City and the Reading Actives that year. After sitting out all of 1893 and 1894, Roach returned in , catching for the Toledo Swamp Angels/Terre Haute Hottentots of the Western League. Roach had a .341 batting average

Batting average

Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 in 107 games in 1895. He played with the Bangor Millionaires of the New England League

New England League

The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played sporadically in five of the six New England states between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League Baseball clubs in Boston and alongside stronger, higher-classification...

 in and the Atlantic League

Atlantic League

Atlantic League may refer to one of the following professional sports leagues:* Atlantic League , a professional baseball league active from 1896 to 1900* Atlantic League , a professional baseball league active in 1914...

's Hartford Bluebirds in .

Roach was a member of the Newark Colts of the Atlantic League in . After hitting just .176 in 70 games for Newark, Roach was acquired in August by the Washington Senators

Washington Senators (1891-1899)

The Washington Senators were a 19th century baseball team. The team was also known as the Washington Statesmen and the Washington Nationals. The team played at Boundary Field....

 of the National League

National League

The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

. In 24 games for Washington, Roach hit .218, collecting 17 hits

Hit (baseball)

In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....

 in 78 at bat

At bat

In baseball, an at bat or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. It is a more restricted definition of a plate appearance...

s. He would never again play in Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 after 1899.

In March of , the Toronto Canucks of the Eastern League

Eastern League

Eastern League may refer to:*Eastern League , a professional baseball minor league in the United States*International League, a baseball minor league known as the Eastern League from 1884 to 1912...

 purchased Roach from Washington. In and , Roach played for the Syracuse Stars

Syracuse Stars

The Syracuse Stars were a minor professional ice hockey team from Syracuse, New York, existing for 10 season from 1930 to 1940. The Stars name had previously been used by sports teams, including several Syracuse Stars baseball teams from the 19th century....

 and Los Angeles of the California League

California League

The California League is a Class A Advanced minor league baseball league which operates throughout the state of California. Before 2002, it was classified as a "High-A" league, indicating its status as a Class A league with the highest level of competition within that classification, and the fifth...

. From to he played for three different New York State League

New York State League

This article refers to the modern New York State League. For the original incarnations of the New York State League see New York State League ...

 teams, the Ilion Typewriters, the Wilkes-Barre Barons

Wilkes-Barre Barons (baseball)

The Wilkes-Barre Barons were a minor league team that existed on and off from 1888 to 1955. They began in the Central League in 1888, but the league disbanded after that season. Their next incarnation came about in 1905, when they began playing in the New York State League. They played in that...

, and the Binghamton Bingoes. After 1908, Roach retried from professional baseball.

On November 12, 1916, Roach died in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. He was buried in Renovo Cemetery in Renovo, Pennsylvania

Renovo, Pennsylvania

Renovo is a borough in Clinton County, Pennsylvania, northwest of Lock Haven. Deposits of bituminous coal and fire clay are in the region. In 1900, 4,082 people lived there, and in 1910, 4,621 lived there...

.

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