Phil Roof jumped aboard the professional baseball roller-coaster in 1959 as an 18-year-old kid from Paducah, Ky., when the Milwaukee Braves wooed the free-agent farmer's son with $35,000.
Two years later, in 1961, he had a cup of coffee in the big leagues before sticking for good in 1964. The ride took him and his wife, Marie, whom he married in 1964, and his four daughters to Milwaukee, California, Minnesota, Kansas City, Oakland, Chicago and Toronto during his 15 years in the major leagues, where he was a .215 lifetime hitter with 43 home runs.
Now, some 30 years later, Roof, who is in his fifth season as the manager of the Salt Lake Buzz, the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, his wife and family are still enjoying the ride.
And, oh, how he has seen the game change.
Following are excerpts of a question-and-answer session between Roof and Deseret News sports writer Jay Hinton.
Deseret News:You've been involved in the professional game for parts of six decades, what's the status of the game right now?
Phil Roof: It's better now then it was when I first started. They are able to market this game with media, television, advertising, big sponsors that wasn't so when I first started in 1959. The game is more popular now than it probably has ever been. We've recovered from the 1994 strike. I think the minor leagues have been pretty solid along the way, but Major League Baseball has recovered from it now and because of the marketing and the new stadiums and all the things that go with these new stadiums that are fan friendly, it is a better league.
Deseret News:What kind of changes have you seen, both good and bad?
Phil Roof: Well, the good part is the stadiums. The fans are able to come and watch the ball game and really enjoy the ball game in luxury. The bad part is that the owners haven't been able to get together to control the salary structure. What that is doing is putting the burden on the family that wants to come to the game. At some point in time, I think that has to get under control.
Deseret News:Assess your 16-year career.
Phil Roof: I was fortunate that I came along at a time there was expansion. I came up in the early '60s. They expanded in 1961 and I came to the big leagues in '60-'61 and came to stay in '64 and there was a shortage of defensive catchers that could catch and throw and that could work with pitchers. I happened to fill the need at that time, and once I became established, then my reputation preceded itself, and I became known as a defensive catcher that could work with pitchers. I was a defensive catcher that loved to work with pitchers and enjoyed the game and played the game with some enthusiasm.
Deseret News:You've basically been involved in baseball all your life. Do you have any regrets?
Phil Roof: Yeah, I wished I could have been a better hitter. That's been one of my soft points that I have that's tough to live down. I remember Alvin Dark, who gave me the chance to play, telling me, "Phil, the same things you do with your pitcher, try to remember that's what they're doing to you when you hit." He said, "You're going to stay up here a long time — we'll get you 10 years in the big leagues.' He said, "If you hit you'll make money, if you don't hit you won't make a lot of money." He was right about that.
Deseret News:How's you're family been through all your years in baseball? Your playing days? Now?
Phil Roof: They have been very supportive. They absolutely have. When I married Marie in 1964, I had already spent some time in the big leagues. I married her in the fall of '64 and I stayed (in the big leagues) for 13 years after that. They didn't know anything about the minor leagues. I had four daughters, and now they're all grown and married. My wife would go wherever we would go. It wasn't that way when I played because we had kids in school. Toward the end of my career, they would stay home until June 1, then they would come up and join me, and then they would go back Aug. 15. It made it a short summer. But, nevertheless, they enjoyed baseball and they do now.
Deseret News:The players' salaries are growing and growing and it appears almost too fast, can the game handle it?
Phil Roof: I'm not a taxman and I'm not one of those guys that sees salary structure, nor do I know what income they (owners) take and know how much they pay out, but it seems like from what I read in the paper that maybe the salary structure, on the upper end, is getting a little out of hand. Barry Bonds, (Juan) Gonzalez or Sammy Sosa — they're probably worth that. Those guys that make the big bucks and hit the home runs — they're the crowd-pleasers like (Mark) McGwire and Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr. — those guys are worth that kind of money because they are an item that can be marketed and fans come out to the ballpark to pay the bucks to see. What it does is raises everybody else's salary. The low-end first-year player, second-year, third-year player, the utility player — it raises everybody up. It has a ripple effect on everybody, and consequently some of these salaries on the ballclubs are 70, 80, 90 million. Before long it's going to be over 100 million. The fan eventually has to pay for that, and at some point in time, if it keeps escalating like it has been, the owners are going to have to find new ways to bring in revenue in order to take care of that.
Deseret News:Do you foresee a salary cap?
Phil Roof: I don't know. I'm not smart enough to argue that point. It seems like there should be some structure there. You know, in a free-enterprise system they don't believe in any sort of salary cap, and we have a union that I have a high respect and high regard for because I was a part of it for 13-14 years.
Deseret News:Todd Walker had nothing but praise for you when he was traded (to the Colorado Rockies), and he had made it pretty clear that he wanted to be traded from the Twins. Is this becoming more of a problem with players demanding trades?
Phil Roof: I don't think so. Very few instances have happened like the Todd Walker-Tom Kelly (Twins manager) deal. I just think there was a personality conflict there. There are personality conflicts on every ballclub. Usually you sit down and try to work it out. There's give and take in that situation, and with Walker and Tom Kelly — I believe Tom Kelly on his part was willing to make some concessions — but I think Todd Walker felt like he needed out and a fresh start somewhere else. With Todd's statement that he made to the press on two or three occasions I think Mr. (Terry) Ryan (the Twins' vice president/general manager) felt like he needed to make a move and trade him. He probably didn't get his total value, but when you're in the minor leagues your value goes down. What we got, I'm sure Terry was satisfied.
Deseret News: How is it to manage a minor league team that has a major league team that is so financially challenged like the Twins?
Phil Roof: It is and it isn't. I understand the problem right from the start. I've been in this organization for 12 years so I'm not bucking it. If I were to take a tough stand and say "We need this and we need that, we need more six-year players" they would probably run me out of town. I understand the Twins and I understand the front office and I get along with Mr. Ryan and Jim Rantz (director of the Twins' minor leagues) real well and I know what they're trying to get across. They are of the opinion, that I am also, that to develop winners your farm system has to produce. You can't keep going out there and buying six-year free agents. They are a short-term gap replacement and that doesn't help anything at the major-league level. We're willing to deal with it and we know if we develop within, we'll have a stronger major league club and we haven't done enough of it yet.
Deseret News:In the five years you've been here, is this the best Buzz team you've managed?
Phil Roof: It's the most productive Buzz team I have ever had. I had a good Buzz team in 1996, and we probably should have won everything that year. We were two innings away from winning the championship. I had a good offensive club that year with Brian Raabe at second hitting .351. I had Brent Brede hitting fourth and Todd Walker third, .340 and .348, we produced a lot of runs and had a lot of fun. We're doing the same thing this year. I have a little more offense than I had in 1996, and I think one of the reasons for that is a lot of the players I have here now had major-league experience. They've had just enough of it so when they come back here they're going to fight hard to get back up there.
Deseret News:The newness of the Buzz and Franklin Covey Field seems to be wearing off a little bit. Attendance is down. What message would you send to Salt Lake fans that would like to see another affiliation — like the Dodgers?
Phil Roof: Well, the Twins have had success here. We've been in the playoffs four of the six years we've been here and three of the five I've been here and we're in good position to be in the playoffs again this year. The Dodgers in Albuquerque haven't won anything in three or four years down there. In fact, they left town (moving to Portland). I'm telling the fans here in Salt Lake that you're better off with what you have then what you might get down the road. We've shown a competitive club here every year I've been here. In fact, the two years we didn't get into the playoffs we were less than two games from being a division winner. I'm telling the fans that what you have here is good. We're good this year, we'll be good next year and the years to come because we've already set a precedent in our front office and we're not about to let this franchise here slip away. We like it here. It's a beautiful ballpark. You've got a beautiful city here.
Deseret News: Have the problems surrounding Buzz owner Joe Buzas affected the team at all?
Phil Roof: Not at all. In fact, I don't even know that it's been brought up because that's off the field and it hasn't been brought to my attention by any player on my ballclub. That's something out of their hands and they don't worry about it. There's big enough problems for them to develop their skills and try to get to the major-league level here without trying to meddle in someone else's business.
Deseret News:What does the future hold for you? Do you have aspirations of managing at the major-league level?
Phil Roof: It's always been in the back of my mind. I'm 59 years old, I'll be 60 this winter , I enjoy managing at this level, there is always a lot of pressure at the major-league level. If someone would interview me I would certainly show them the interest I do have for a major-league job, but I don't see it happening. If it does it would be a pleasant surprise. If it doesn't I won't get worked up about it.
E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com