Michael Thomas Roarke (November 8, 1930 – July 27, 2019) was an American

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. During his playing days he threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Roarke was born in

West Warwick, Rhode Island West Warwick is a town in Kent County, Rhode Island, Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,012 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. West Warwick was incorporated in 1913, making it the youngest town in the s ...

, where he graduated from West Warwick High School in 1948. He earned a B.Sc. degree in history at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, and served as captain of the Eagles'

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and baseball teams. He won the Scanlan Award in 1951 for outstanding ability in scholarship, leadership, and athletic ability.

Minor-league apprenticeship

Like his college teammate, future MLB utilityman and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Joe Morgan Joe Leonard Morgan (September 19, 1943 – October 11, 2020) was an American professional baseball second baseman who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Houston Colt .45s / Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Fran ...

, Roarke signed with the local

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

club, the

Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

, in 1952. After a brief stint with the Braves'

Evansville Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 census, it is Indiana's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the most populous city in S ...

farm club In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

in the Class B Three-I League, Roarke entered the military, effectively delaying his professional debut until 1954. Known as a good handler of pitchers and an excellent defensive catcher, Roarke struggled as a hitter, eclipsing a .250

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

only three times in his seven-year

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

career. The Braves, who had moved to

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

just before the

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

season, employed one of the best and most durable catchers of the 1950s, eleven-time National League

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

Del Crandall Delmar Wesley Crandall (March 5, 1930May 5, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and manager. Crandall played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1949 to 1966, most prominently as a member of the Boston / Milwaukee Braves wh ...

, and were also one of the era's deepest and strongest Major League clubs. They never called Roarke up from Triple-A.

Tigers' second-string catcher

After the

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

season, Roarke was traded to the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

in a deal that included

Charley Lau Charles Richard Lau (April 12, 1933 – March 18, 1984) was an American professional baseball player and a highly influential hitting coach. During his playing career in Major League Baseball, Lau appeared in 527 games as a catcher and pinch hitt ...

. He toiled one further season,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

, in the minors (with the

Denver Bears Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of th ...

of the American Association) before finally making his Major League debut with the Tigers at age 30 on April 19, 1961. He spent four seasons (1961–64) as Detroit's second-string receiver, working behind Dick Brown,

Gus Triandos Gus Triandos (July 30, 1930 – March 28, 2013) was an American professional baseball player and scout. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher and a first baseman, most prominently as a member of the Baltimore Orioles where he was a fou ...

and

Bill Freehan William Ashley Freehan (November 29, 1941 – August 19, 2021) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire 15-year career with the Detroit Tigers. The premier catcher in the American League for several years from the 19 ...

. In 194 total games, Roarke batted .230 with six

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 44

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

Bullpen and pitching coach

He retired as an active player on October 9, 1964, to become a

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

coach with the Tigers (1965–66) and

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

(1967–69). Roarke then transitioned from bullpen coach to pitching coach—one of the handful of former catchers who excelled at coaching a pitching staff. He returned to the Tigers in 1970 as the replacement for high-profile mound tutor

Johnny Sain John Franklin "Johnny" Sain (September 25, 1917 – November 7, 2006) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who was best known for teaming with left-hander Warren Spahn on the Boston Braves teams from 1946 to 1951. He ...

for one season. Then, after a seven-year stint (1971–77) as a minor league manager and roving minor league pitching instructor, Roarke served as a pitching coach for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

(where he worked on two NL pennant winners— and —under

Whitey Herzog Dorrel Norman Elvert "Whitey" Herzog (; November 9, 1931 – April 15, 2024) was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager, most notable for his Major League Baseball (MLB) managerial career. Herzog made his major league debut a ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

, retiring after the strike-shortened

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

season. He also spent three seasons in his native

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

as pitching coach of the 1981–83

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

, working with his old college classmate, Morgan, during his first two years with Pawtucket. He died on July 27, 2019, in West Warwick.

References

* Howe News Bureau, 1982 Boston Red Sox Organization Book

External links

Mike Roarke
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Roarke, Mike 1930 births 2019 deaths American football ends American military personnel of the Korean War Baseball coaches from Rhode Island Baseball players from Rhode Island Boston College Eagles baseball players Boston College Eagles football players Boston Red Sox coaches California Angels coaches Chicago Cubs coaches Columbus Jets players 20th-century American sportsmen Denver Bears players Detroit Tigers coaches Detroit Tigers players Evansville Braves players Jacksonville Braves players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball bullpen coaches Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Military personnel from Rhode Island Minor league baseball managers People from West Warwick, Rhode Island Sportspeople from Kent County, Rhode Island Players of American football from Rhode Island Rapiños de Occidente players St. Louis Cardinals coaches San Diego Padres coaches Toledo Mud Hens managers Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Wichita Braves players West Warwick High School alumni

Minor-league apprenticeship

Tigers' second-string catcher

Bullpen and pitching coach

See also

References

External links