Photo by Sarah Sachs, Arizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks new Double-A affiliate, the Amarillo Sod Poodles are gearing up for their 2021 season. The Sod Poodles also have a new manager this season with the addition of Shawn Roof. Before becoming a manager, Roof spent multiple seasons from 2007-2012 playing at various levels in the minors.
During his time as a manager, Roof has won two Manager of the Year awards. The first came with the Hillsboro Hops during their 2018 season. The second came with the Visalia Rawhide during their 2019 championship season. Roof has compiled a 92-60 overall record during his two seasons managing Hillsboro. During Visalia’s 2019 championship season, the team compiled an 83-53 record.
In 2015, Roof was working at the University of Indiana as a volunteer assistant coach when a friend from his days with the Baltimore Orioles reached out about a job opening with the Diamondbacks. Roof said he was hired about a month later and is enjoying the heck out of his time with the Diamondbacks.
Reflecting on Hillsboro days
During Roof’s time with the Hillsboro Hops, the team broke records and always put a winning team on the field. At one point, Hillsboro had second best winning percentage in professional baseball behind the Boston Red Sox. Roof explained how Hillsboro is just a special place and on how great the facilities are there.
“It’s the people there in Hillsboro that make it so special, the front office, the McMurray’s – the owners there, they’re about the nicest people in the game of baseball,” Roof said.
Roof explained how they’d give them the shirt off their back if they could and how it was a great experience there. He said how K.L. Wombacher and his front office staff is truly unique and awesome people. Roof said as good as they are at their job, they’re even better people.
Coaching staff and team in Hillsboro
In a sit down with Wombacher once, Roof said they asked each other what their goals were. Wombacher explained the minor leagues is farthest some players get and he wants them to remember Hillsboro as their major leagues. Roof thought it was really cool how that was at forefront of their minds giving players best experience possible. He said they did just about anything for them.
“In the time in Hillsboro, we had some really really good players, we had a great coaching staff the two years that I was there,” Roof said.
Roof explained how great the strength and conditioning coaches were there. He touched on how the team was a really close knit group those two years. Roof said they bonded really quickly and played really hard.
“On top of the front office, on top of that, the fan support there was unbelievable, they were diehards,” Roof said. “They were there every single night whether we were winning or losing and they always had our back.”
Promotion to Visalia
After two seasons in Hillsboro, Roof was promoted to manager of Arizona’s then High-A affiliate, the Visalia Rawhide for the 2019 season. While it’s a slightly smaller ballpark and community than Hillsboro, he said the fans came out and backed the team 100%.
“Again, what I remember there is how good that team bonded, they came together really quick just like they did in Hillsboro in ’17-’18,” Roof said. “But that ’19 team became a close knit team really quickly and you could really see that on the field.”
Roof explained the team fought for each for and pushed each other to get better every single day and how they refused to lose. When it comes to Visalia’s championship, it was the franchise’s first in decades. Roof attributed this to how hard it is to win a championship despite Hillsboro making it look easy winning three in last seven years.
“But it’s really not that easy, it’s not that easy to win a championship, it takes a lot of hard work, sweat, blood and tears sometimes,” Roof said.
Roof explained it’s truly special when everything comes together and the team has that special moment winning the championship. He said they’ll forever be remembered as champions.
Transition to Double-A Amarillo
Roof explained instead of focusing on fundamentals, it’s more about how players approach the plate and mound. He also touched on working with players to handle things such as success and failure.
“Just as you move on, the game of baseball gets cleaner, guys are more crisp, they’re more consistent,” Roof said.
With no season last year due to COVID-19, Roof said they’re excited to have a season this year. He touched on the team’s goals going into the season and helping players succeed at the Double-A level.
“We want to come in, our staff are going to try to help prepare our players to get better, help them develop on their path to the big leagues,” Roof said.
Player development is key with Roof. He explained how that’s their goal every single year and how a title on top of that would just be a bonus. Roof said they’re always trying to compete and win every night. However, they’d never take away someone’s development just to win a ballgame.
“Development’s at the forefront of our minds and our goal is just to continue to build relationships with our players, give them a great experience and help them on their path to the big leagues,” Roof said.
Fans and community aspect
When it comes to what fans should look for, Roof said they’ll see a team that plays really hard. Fans should look for the team to be aggressive and attack the other team. They’re going to do all they can to help players develop and they’ll play had to the final out.
“We’re going to do the little things right, we’re going to play the game the right way, we’re going to play the game the Dbacks way,” Roof said.
The Diamondbacks organization is very big in the community and do a lot of community service based stuff according to Roof. He said he’s been huge with that since he was a young kid. Whatever they’re able to do throughout the community this summer in Amarillo, they’ll do it according to Roof.
“We’re going to immerse ourselves in the community and be a part of them and do whatever we can to make the experience not only good for our players, but for our fans as well,” Roof said.
