Rudolph Charles "Skel" Roach (born Rudolph Charles Weichbrodt, October 20, 1871 – March 9, 1958) was a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player and coach. He played professional baseball from 1895 to 1905, including one game in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

with the Chicago Orphans on August 9, . He was also a college baseball coach for the Lewis Institute (now part of

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

), the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, and

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

. He later became an attorney practicing in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

area.

Early years

Roach was born in 1871 at what was then known as Danzig,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and is now Gdańsk,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. His birth name was Rudolph Charles Weichbrodt. He emigrated to the United States in 1880.

Baseball player

Roach began an eleven-year career in professional baseball at age 23 with the Des Moines Prohibitionists of the

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Weste ...

. He compiled a 13–7 record for Des Moines in 1895. Roach appeared in only one major league game, pitching a complete game victory for the Chicago Orphans on August 9, . Roach played nine seasons of minor league baseball from 1895 to 1905. He played for Des Moines Prohibitionists (1895),

Mobile Blackbirds Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ...

(1896, 1898), Kansas City Blues (1897),

Omaha Omahogs Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

(1900–1901), Des Moines Hawkeyes (1900), Butte Miners (1902–1903),

Portland Browns Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

(1904) and

Seattle Siwashes Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of ...

. His best season as a pitcher was 1903 when he won 22 games and lost nine with 137 strikeouts for the Butte Miners in the

Pacific National League The Pacific National League was a minor league baseball league that played from 1903 to 1905. The league evolved from its predecessor, the Pacific Northwest League and was a competitor of the newly formed Pacific Coast League. The league began ...

. His final season as a minor league player was 1905, when he won 15 games and maintained a 2.47

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

for the Seattle Siwashes in the Pacific Coast League.

Baseball coach

Roach coached baseball at the Lewis Institute (now part of

) from 1899 to 1902, leading the team to championships all four years. In 1903, he was hired as the baseball coach at the

. Upon his arrival at Michigan in March 1903, ''The Michigan Alumnus'' wrote: "Mr. Roach, the new baseball coach, came to Ann Arbor to take charge of the men, March 20. He is a big fellow, and bears all the marks of a ball-player. He has been playing professional ball for a number of years past, at Butte, Montana, in the Pacific-Northwest league, and also, for a short time with a Chicago league team." He led the

Wolverines The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscu ...

to a 12–5 record in 1903. Roach later coached baseball at

Later years

Roach later attended law school at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and became an attorney. He married Louise Otillie Eichman. At the time of the 1910 Census, Roach and his wife were living in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

with his mother-in-law, Otillie Eichmann. His occupation was listed as lawyer.Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census atabase on-line Census Place: Chicago Ward 34, Cook, Illinois; Roll: T624_281; Page: 22A; Enumeration District: 1478; Image: 850; FHL Number: 1374294. At the time of the 1920 Census, Roach and his wife were living in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated ...

with two daughters, Louise and Margaret. His occupation was recorded at the time as a lawyer in private practice. In 1930, he was living in Oak Park with daughters Louise, Margaret and Helen; he was employed as a lawyer in general practice.Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census atabase on-line Census Place: Oak Park, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 505; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 2282; Image: 736.0. Roach died in 1958 at

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roach, Skel 1871 births 1958 deaths Sportspeople from Gdańsk German emigrants to the United States Major League Baseball pitchers Butte Miners players Chicago Orphans players Des Moines Hawkeyes players Des Moines Prohibitionists players Indiana Hoosiers baseball coaches Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Michigan Wolverines baseball coaches Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni Omaha Omahogs players Portland Browns players Seattle Siwashes players Sportspeople from Oak Park, Illinois Illinois lawyers Major League Baseball players from Germany 19th-century baseball players Chicago Whitings players Polish baseball players