Tony Roig, an Unknown Draftee?

Tony Roig had an extremely long career as a professional baseball player. Starting with Troy and Lafayette at age 20 in 1948, he played until 1968, his last year of six in Japan.

His major league career consisted of just three partial seasons with the Washington Senators. After the 1957 season at Chattanooga, the Senators' AA team, he was drafted by the Dodgers and stashed at Spokane for three years.

His Baseball Reference entry ends his transaction history there, but he went to the White Sox organization for a couple years before heading to Japan. We were able to track that transaction down, in two parts...

From the Spokane Daily Chronicle of Nov. 29, 1960..

“Yesterday, at the major league draft meeting in Louisville, Spokane lost five players, two of them 1960 regulars, to major league clubs. Infielder Tony Roig was drafted by the White Sox and pitcher Ray Semproch to the new Washington club in the American League.”

 

Okay. Both Baseball Reference and Retrosheet have the Semproch drafting, but not the Roig one. How did he get to San Diego?

The Spokane Daily Chronicle of April 6, 1961:

“...the Chicago White Sox, who drafted Roig from Spokane last winter, announced Wednesday he has been sold to the San Diego Padres, White Sox farm club in that loop.”

Roig transferred to the Indianapolis ChiSox farm team in 1962, then to Japan the next season.

I wonder why his being drafted by Chicago wasn't listed?

Tony Roig 1967 Japanese baseball card picture lifted from Bob Lemke's blog at boblemke.blogspot.com .

You should go there and read it all.