Phil Roof starred more with the mitt than the bat. More than 15 years with only 43 career homers?

He treasured one dinger most:

“My first homer was my biggest thrill. It helped win the game in the 12th inning. Tied 3 to 3 at RFK Stadium, I hit it in the top of the 12th.”

One day turned the tables for the studious Roof. On May 30, 1972, his two homers were the difference in a 3-2 win against the Royals. Roof wrote:

“I hit a Dal Canton fastball over right field fence. Then I hit a hanging curveball to left field. The way he brought his right hand out of his glove gave his pitches away. I was lucky to pick that up. He was tipping his pitches and he was going into his stretch position. It was a big thrill.”

Phil Roof caught in the majors from 1961-77. The Kentucky native proved that good catchers win games, but great ones change careers. He wrote:

“I told Sam McDowell on a day I was catching him and told him no one could hit his fastball. He said, ‘I can’t pitch that way.’

The next start, I caught him and called for all fastballs until he got to two strikes. Game results: 10 innings, no runs, 16 strikeouts. The next start, he K’d 15 in nine innings.

Made a believer out of him.”

Tomorrow: Roof shares a lesson in pitch-tipping, noting that a code-breaker can homer with such inside knowledge!