From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Skel Roach
Skel Roach
Skel Roach player and coach. He played professional baseball from
1895 to 1905, including one game in Major League Base-
ball with the Chicago Orphans on August 9, 1899. He was
also a college baseball coach for the Lewis Institute (now
part of Illinois Institute of Technology), the University of
Michigan, and Indiana University. He later became an at-
torney practicing in the Chicago area.
Early years
Roach was born in 1871 at what was then known as
Danzig, Germany, and is now Gdańsk, Poland. His birth
name was Rudolph Charles Weichbrodt.[1] He emigrated
to the United States in 1880.[2]
Baseball player
Roach began an eleven-year career in professional base-
Pitcher ball at age 23 with the Des Moines Prohibitionists of the
Western Association. He compiled a 13–7 record for Des
Born: October 20, 1871(1871-10-20)
Danzig, Germany Moines in 1895.[3]
Roach appeared in only one major league game,
Died: March 9, 1958(1958-03-09) (aged 86) pitching a complete game victory for the Chicago Or-
Oak Park, Illinois
phans on August 9, 1899.[1]
Batted: Right Threw: Right Roach played nine seasons of minor league baseball
from 1895 to 1905. He played for Des Moines Prohibi-
MLB debut
tionists (1895), Mobile Blackbirds (1896, 1898), Kansas Ci-
August 9, 1899 for the Chicago Orphans ty Blues (1897), Omaha Omahogs (1900), Des Moines
Last MLB appearance Hawkeyes (1900), Butte Miners 1902-1903), Portland
Browns (1904) and Seattle Siwashes. His best season as a
August 9, 1899 for the Chicago Orphans pitcher was 1903 when he won 22 games and lost nine
Career statistics with 137 strikeouts for the Butte Miners in the Pacific
National League.[3][4] His final season as a minor league
Win-Loss Record 1–0 player was 1905, when he won 15 games and maintained
Strikeouts 0 a 2.47 earned run average for the Seattle Siwashes in the
Pacific Coast League.[3]
ERA 3.00
Teams
Baseball coach
• Des Moines Prohibitionists (1895)
• Mobile Blackbirds (1896)
Roach coached baseball at the Lewis Institute (now part
• Kansas City Blues (1897) of Illinois Institute of Technology) from 1899 to 1902,
• Mobile Blackbirds (1898) leading the team to championships all four years.[5]
• Chicago Orphans (1899) In 1903, he was hired as the baseball coach at the
• Des Moines Hawkeyes (1900) University of Michigan.[5][6] Upon his arrival at Michigan
• Omaha Omahogs (1900–1901)
• Butte Miners (1902–1903) in March 1903, The Michigan Alumnus wrote: "Mr. Roach,
• Portland Browns (1904) the new baseball coach, came to Ann Arbor to take
• Seattle Siwashes (1905) charge of the men, March 20. He is a big fellow, and bears
all the marks of a ball-player. He has been playing profes-
Rudolph Charles "Skel" Roach (born Rudolph Charles We- sional ball for a number of years past, at Butte, Montana,
ichbrodt,
ichbrodt October 20, 1871 – March 9, 1958) was a baseball in the Pacific-Northwest league, and also, for a short time
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Skel Roach
with a Chicago league team."[5] He led the Wolverines to 1903. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/freep/access/
a 12–5 record in 1903.[7] 1749278192.html?FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=
Roach later coached baseball at Indiana University. [7] "U of M Baseball". University of Michigan, Bentley
Historical Library. http://bentley.umich.edu/
Later years [8]
athdept/baseball/baseball.htm.
Census entry for Rudolph C. Weichbrodt.
Roach later attended law school at Northwestern Univer- Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census
sity and became an attorney. He married Louise Otillie [database on-line]. Census Place: Oak Park Precinct
Eichman. At the time of the 1910 Census, Roach and his 22, Cook, Illinois; Roll: T625_362; Page: 12A;
wife were living in Chicago with his mother-in-law, Otil- Enumeration District: 173; Image: 388.
lie Eichmann. His occupation was listed as lawyer.[2] At [9] Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census
the time of the 1920 Census, Roach and his wife were liv- [database on-line]. Census Place: Oak Park, Cook,
ing in Oak Park, Illinois with two daughters, Louise and Illinois; Roll: 505; Page: 10B; Enumeration District:
Margaret. His occupation was recorded at the time as a 2282; Image: 736.0.
lawyer in private practice.[8] In 1930, he was living in Oak
Park with daughters Louise, Margaret and Helen; he was
employed as a lawyer in general practice.[9]
External links
Roach died in 1958 at Oak Park, Illinois.[1] • Baseball Reference.com page
References Persondata
Name Roach, Skel
[1] ^ "Skel Roach". baseball-reference.com.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ Alternative Roach, Rudolph Charles; Weichbrodt, Ru-
roachsk01.shtml. names dolph Charles; Roach, Ralph
[2] ^ Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census Short de- Baseball player and coach
[database on-line]. Census Place: Chicago Ward 34, scription
Cook, Illinois; Roll: T624_281; Page: 22A; Date of October 20, 1871
Enumeration District: 1478; Image: 850; FHL birth
Number: 1374294.
[3] ^ "Skel Roach Minor League Statistics". Place of Danzig, Germany
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/ birth
player.cgi?id=roach-001rud. Date of March 9, 1958
[4] 1903 Spaldings Official Base Ball Guide, p. 188. death
[5] ^ "The Coach". The Michigan Alumnus. April 1903. Place of Oak Park, Illinois
p. 321. http://books.google.com/ death
books?id=KRviAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false.
[6] ""Skel" Roach Arrives: On Hand To Coach
Michigan’s Ball Team". Detroit Free Press. March 21,
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skel_Roach"
Categories: 1871 births, 1958 deaths, 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 alumni, Omaha Omahogs
players, Portland Browns players, Seattle Siwashes players, People from Oak Park, Illinois, Illinois lawyers, Major
League Baseball players from Germany
This page was last modified on 23 July 2011 at 18:01. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of
the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.Contact us
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Mobile View
2