Pro baseball has a special place in the Roof family

The official record of Hickory Crawdads utility man Jonathan Roof says the 2011 season is his second as a minor league player. 

Actually, though, Roof’s introduction to the minor leagues came at age 9 in Toledo, Ohio.

Roof’s dad, Gene, managed the Toledo Mud Hens, the long time AAA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, and before that the Tigers’ AA club in Jacksonville, Fla., and Jonathan was right there with him.

“Those are the two teams I remember most growing up and experiencing the minor league clubhouse and how it all worked,” said Jonathan Roof, listed as a 6-foot-1, 165-pound shortstop on Hickory’s roster. “It was fun being able to go the whole summer with him.”

The fun baseball brings continues for Roof on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at L.P. Frans Stadium when the Crawdads -- still in contention for a first-half title in the South Atlantic League’s Northern Division -- play the first game of a four-game series against Charleston (S.C.).

Battling Hagerstown (Md.) and Greensboro for the pennant, the Crawdads also have their final three first-half games at home against the RiverDogs, at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Roof, 22, comes from a larger family tree of pro baseball:

>>>>  His dad spent three seasons in the majors (Cardinals and Expos in the early 1980s) and also spent time with Detroit as a first base coach.

>>>>  His uncle, Phil, spent 14 seasons in the big leagues as a catcher, playing his first game in the majors with the Milwaukee Braves as a 20-year-old in 1961 and closing his career in 1977 in three games with the Blue Jays. A.215 career hitter, he also played for five other clubs.

>>>>  His second cousin, Eddie Haas, was the Atlanta Braves’ manager in 1984 and part of the 1985 season and spent three seasons as a big-league player.

>>>>  His two older brothers, Shawn and Eric, are both currently playing in the Tigers’ farm system.

Roof, hitting .313 in his last 10 games heading into Wednesday’s game at Asheville and at .272 with 28 RBI in 46 games this season, also has a younger sister, Jacqueline, who is a high school standout in softball and basketball. Roof says she’s probably the best athlete of them all.

Coming from a sports-oriented family, Roof says family gatherings often turn into a day of telling stories.

“It’s a lot of card playing.” said Roof.  “And during those card playing there’s a lot of stories about all of the family members having all kinds of stories to tell us about when they were growing up and playing and the stories of who the guys they were playing with and all that.”

Jonathan’s own footprints in baseball traveled through St. Mary’s High in Paducah, Ky., where he was first team all-state. He played college baseball at Michigan State, where he was a All-Big 10 shortstop in 2010.

Roof feels his early success came from being around his dad’s baseball career.

“I think going into high school, a little advantage I had was my dad just helped me learn how to play the game,” Roof said. “The management part, what to do in situations, whereas other guys just go out and play and not really think of much.

“Obviously, that can be a good thing, not to think as much, but I think the knowledge and the experience from my family helped me learn how to play the game.”

Roof parlayed his success into become an eighth-round draft pick by the Texas Rangers.

After a six-game stint in the Arizona Summer League he joined the Crawdads the last two months of last year. He quickly found that despite his early experience in minor league surroundings, nothing prepared him for what he faced in his own pro career.

“I think growing up watching it, I think I was a little too young to understand what was all going on,” Roof said. “College helped… but nothing prepares you for playing every single day.

“I guess you just have to experience it your own self. Last year was probably the best learning experience for me.”

After hitting .256 last summer, Roof got off to a fast start this season before a slump dropped his average to .232. He has also become a super-utility man in the field with time at six different positions in 2011.

“I’m a big fan,” said Hickory manager Bill Richardson of Roof.  “Sometimes by his action on the field he makes the game look pretty easy and it looks like he’s not going full speed.

“That’s kind of his personality to stay even keeled.  To be at low-A ball and stay at that even keel is a good thing.”

Roof feels the tutelage of his dad, whom he calls after every game, has helped him understand that failure is a part of baseball and how to get past it. 

“If I’m struggling, he knows exactly how I’m struggling even if he’s not there watching the game just by the way I tell him,” Roof said. “He knows exactly what I’m doing wrong and he tells me what I’m doing wrong and go back to the fundamentals.

“He offers a lot of words of encouragement.  He knows how hard this game is because he played it.

“The biggest thing is like, don’t beat yourself up. Stay mentally positive.  He knows how hard it is to be positive, even if you’re struggling.”