Remembering Roger Samuels

Roger Samuels was born to be a pitcher.

A lefty, long and lanky. Sturdy as they come. He didn’t back down, no matter what he was up against, whether that was Darryl Strawberry and Ryne Sandberg in the batter’s box, or the unrelenting cancer that he battled over the past few years.

Roger—who passed away Monday at age 61—always gave it his best, as a pitcher and a friend. His memory is going to stick with me….

Roger was invited to big league camp in 1988, where he impressed manager Roger Craig. “He has a live arm and he looks good,” Craig told a reporter in 1988 spring training. “He’s a kid that’s really coming fast.”

The “kid” was assigned to Triple-A Phoenix. And that July, with Mike LaCoss on the shelf due to an elbow injury, Roger Samuels got the call. He was a major leaguer.