John Roseboro
John Junior Roseboro (May 13, 1933 – August 16, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1957 until 1970, most prominently as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. A four-time All-Star player, Roseboro is considered one of the best defensive catchers of the 1960s, winning two Gold Glove Awards. He was the Dodgers' starting catcher in four World Series with the Dodgers winning three of those.[1]
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Roseboro is known for his role in one of the most violent incidents in baseball history, when San Francisco Giants pitcher Juan Marichal struck him in the head with a bat during a game between the rival Dodgers and the Giants on August 22, 1965.[2]
Early life[edit]
Roseboro was born in Ashland, Ohio to Cecil Geraldine (née Lowery) and John Roseboro Sr. on May 13, 1933. He had a younger brother named Jim who played football as a halfback at Ohio State University.[3]
He attended Ashland High School where he played both baseball and football. He was the catcher on the baseball team but, preferred playing halfback for the football team and won a football scholarship to attend Central State University.[4]
During this time, Roseboro was spotted by Dodgers scout Hugh Alexander working out with the baseball team (due to poor grades, Roseboro was ineligible to play for the baseball team). Alexander liked what he saw and invited him to try out for the Brooklyn Dodgers when they came to play in Cincinnati.[5]
Baseball career[edit]
Minor league years[edit]
Roseboro was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before the 1952 season and, began his professional baseball career with the Class-D Sheboygan Indians of the Wisconsin State League.[6] He posted a .365 batting average with Sheboygan in 1952 to finish second in the league batting championship.[7]
After Roseboro was promoted to the Class-C Great Falls Electrics of the Pioneer League in 1953, he was drafted into the United States Army which forced him to miss the remainder of the 1953 season and the whole of the 1954 season. Upon completing his military service in 1955, he played in the Class-B Cedar Rapids Raiders of the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League and the Class-A Pueblo Dodgers of the Western League.[6]
Before the 1956 season, he was promoted to the Triple-A Montreal Royals of the International League. In June 1957, after five years in the minor leagues and shortly after his 24th birthday, he was promoted to the major leagues.[8]
Television appearances[edit]
Like many Dodgers in the 1960s, Roseboro did some film and television work. He appeared as a plainclothes officer in the 1966 made-for-television film Dragnet. He also appeared as himself in the 1962 film Experiment in Terror, along with teammates Don Drysdale and Wally Moon, and in the 1963 episode of the show Mister Ed called "Leo Durocher Meets Mister Ed."[47]
In the mid-1960s, Chevrolet was one of the sponsors of the Dodgers' radio coverage. When the Los Angeles Dodgers broadcast games on television, Chevrolet commercials were aired in which Roseboro and Drysdale sang the song "See The U.S.A. In Your Chevrolet", made famous by Dinah Shore in the 1950s. Upon seeing the commercials, Dodgers' announcer Jerry Doggett joked that Roseboro's and Drysdale's singing career "was destined to go absolutely nowhere."[48]
Personal life[edit]
In 1956, Roseboro married Geraldine "Jeri" Fraime. She was a student at Ohio State University and they were introduced to each other by Roseboro's brother Jim.[56] The couple had two daughters, Shelley and Stacy, and adopted a son named Jaime.[57]
After his marriage with Jeri broke down, Roseboro went through financial hardships and contemplated suicide as a result. During this time, he began a relationship with Barbara Walker Fouch whom he credited with saving his life. Roseboro and Fouch married soon afterwards.[58] He also became a father figure to Barbara's daughter from her first marriage, Nikki.[59]
Later in life, Roseboro's health began to fail and he suffered from several strokes, heart ailments, and a bout of prostate cancer.[60][61] He succumbed to heart disease on August 16, 2002, in Los Angeles, California at age 69.[62]