Gene Roof


Eugene Lawrence Roof is a retired Major League Baseball outfielder. He played during three seasons at the Major League level for the St. Louis Cardinals and Montreal Expos.

Playing career

He was drafted by the Cardinals in the 12th round of the 1976 amateur draft. Roof played his first professional season with their Rookie league Gulf Coast Cardinals and Johnson City Cardinals in, and his last with the Detroit Tigers' Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens in. He is the brother of Phil Roof and cousin of Eddie Haas. His brothers Adrian, Paul, and David Roof played in the minor leagues.

Coaching career

Since his retirement as a player in 1988, Roof has been a part of the Tigers organization as coach. He served as manager with Fayetteville Generals in 1989, London Tigers in 1991, Toledo Mud Hens from 1997 to 1999, and the Jacksonville Suns in 2000. He had also served as first base coach under Tigers manager Sparky Anderson from 1992 to 1995. Since 2001, Roof has served as the Tigers minor league-wide outfield and base-running coordinator.

Personal life

All three of Roof's sons have played professionally. Shawn and Eric were minor leaguers in the Tigers organization, while the youngest, Jonathan, was drafted by the Rangers in 2010. Shawn Roof is now manager of the Hillsboro Hops, a minor-league affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.