Gene Roof

{{Infobox baseball biography

|image=1986 Nashville Gene Roof.jpg

|width=

|caption=Roof with the Nashville Sounds in 1986

|name=Gene Roof

|position=Outfielder

|bats=Switch

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1958|1|13}}

|birth_place=Paducah, Kentucky, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=September 3

|debutyear=1981

|debutteam=St. Louis Cardinals

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=October 2

|finalyear=1983

|finalteam=Montreal Expos

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.267

|stat2label=Runs

|stat2value=17

|stat3label=Hits

|stat3value=24

|teams=

As player

St. Louis Cardinals ({{mlby|1981}}–{{mlby|1983}})
Montreal Expos ({{mlby|1983}})

As coach

Detroit Tigers ({{mlby|1992}}–{{mlby|1995}})

}}

Eugene Lawrence Roof (born January 13, 1958) 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 {{By|1976}}, and his last with the Detroit Tigers' Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens in {{By|1987}}. 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. Roof served as the Tigers minor league-wide outfield and base-running coordinator from 2001 until his retirement after the 2020 season.{{Cite news |last=McCosky |first=Chris |date=November 17, 2020 |title='No regrets:' Tigers longtime outfield instructor Gene Roof retires |language=en-US |work=The Detroit News |url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2020/11/17/detroit-tigers-longtime-outfield-instructor-gene-roof-retires/6323606002/ |access-date=December 18, 2020}}

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 became a Minor League Baseball manager. Eric Roof became a college baseball coach.{{cite web |title=Eric Roof - Baseball Coach |url=https://emueagles.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/eric-roof/1701 |publisher=Eastern Michigan University |access-date=15 November 2022 |language=en}}