Biography

Al Roach, a product from Medford, New Jersey, started playing baseball at the age of 6. He developed a lot of his talent while working out with former major leaguer Bill Robinson. Throughout his career, Roach has also had input from several other successful professional players and managers such as Kash Beauchamp, Cecil Fielder, Greg Gross, Steve Mondile, Mike Manning, Jeff Isom, Chris Carmanucci, Matt Stark, Les Lancaster, Jeremy Booth, Eddie Dennis, Ed Nottle, George Tsamis, Phil Plantier, and so many more.

Roach attended Shawnee High School from 1996 through 2000. During his junior and senior years at Shawnee high school , Al was able to obtain All-conference, All county, All South Jersey and All-State selection. He was awarded the MVP of the All-State game – North vs South.

After high school, Al went on to play at Temple University which is a member of the Atlantic-10 Conference. Al broke out his Junior season while hitting .307, pounding 15 doubles, 3 triples, 9 home runs and 31 RBI’s in 176 at bats. That year Al was awarded Most Improved Hitter on the squad even though it was based more on comfort. His senior year, he produced a team high .385 batting average with 16 doubles, 7 home runs, 41 RBI’s and an impressive 36 walks in 179 plate appearances. His .385 batting average placed him 57th in the nation in division 1 baseball batting average. Al hit two grand slams while collecting 9 RBI’s in one game and was also awarded the division 1 college baseball player of the year by the South Jersey Baseball Coaches Association. His senior year Al received All-conference honors, collected the Team Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, was nominated by Louisville Slugger for 2nd team North East Region All-American and went on to sign his first of five signed professional baseball contracts. Throughout Al’s career, there have been a few shots hit as far as 500 feet with many around the 450 foot mark, so if you want to learn to hit for power, then Al is your man.

During his professional career, Al’s main trouble was being able to stay healthy, he suffered through multiple injuries which consisted of a two shoulder injuries, one of which left three torn ligaments, a torn labrum and a torn rotator cuff. He found himself sidelined early on in the 2005 season shortly after his 7 RBI professional pre-season debut game. A meniscus injury to his knee and a weak right shoulder also bothered Al during the 2006 season even though he battled through it for most of the season.

Roach signed with the Macon Music of the South Coast League in 2007. In 2008 Al headed to spring training with the All World Free Agent Team. Coming out of there, Al had a couple offers floating around in the air, however nothing really ever became of them. Al finally caught a break and got a great opportunity to play for a team he loves for the 2009 season, unfortunately the team ceased operations due to problems with the city. In the mean time, Al has been doing professional hitting instruction in the Medford area. Over the years Al has taken bits and pieces from each of his hitting coaches and combined it with what he knew to form one of the most powerful swings. He will continue to play but probably not at the professional level anymore. His main goal is to help young players achieve their goals in baseball, whether it be becoming an All-Star, obtaining a college scholarship or signing a professional contract.

Professional Teams Al Roach signed with
Brockton Rox www.brocktonrox.com
Traverse City Beachbums www.traversecitybeachbums.com
Macon Music www.maconmusic.com
Atlantic City Surf www.acsurf.com

Since Professional Baseball
Al Roach has played 119 games in a few seasons with the Vincentown Merchants in the Rancocas Valley League. In 119 games, Al has 129 hits in 329 at bats giving him a .392 batting average. Along to go with those 329 at bats are 105 walks, making it a total of 434 plate appearances. In the 129 hits in 119 games, Al slammed 34 home runs, 32 doubles and 5 triples. With those hits, there were a total of 144 RBI’s. Over the past couple years, injuries have also played a role in preventing Al from performing at 100%.

Outside of baseball, Al wrote two published books during his off-seasons. One titled “North America’s Best”, The Spotted Turtle and “Old Red Legs” The North American Wood Turtle.

Links to some Al Roach articles -

http://www.canamleague.com/news/viewarticle.php?id=36
http://www.owlsports.com/news/2003/9/25/092503aaa_114.aspx?path=baseball
http://archives.record-eagle.com/2006/aug/17bums.htm
http://www.owlsports.com/news/2004/3/28/032804aaa_712.aspx?path=baseball
http://www.owlsports.com/news/2003/3/18/031803aaa_365.aspx?path=baseball
http://www.atlantic10.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/040303aaa.html
http://www.gorhody.com/sports/m-basebl/recaps/041704aab.html
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/ncaa-adjusted-statistics-top-250-hitters-to-may-30/ http://www.owlsports.com/news/2004/5/25/052504aaa_996.aspx?path=baseball
http://www.owlsports.com/news/2004/4/5/040504aaa_87.aspx?path=baseball
http://www.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/stories/041707abq.html
http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3338226
http://static.record-eagle.com/2006/jul/17bums.htmhttp://wikibin.org/articles/al-roach.html
http://www.owlsports.com/news/2004/3/29/032904aaa_832.aspx?path=baseball