[2] Roach began an eleven-year career in professional baseball at age 23 with the Des Moines Prohibitionists of the Western Association.

He played for Des Moines Prohibitionists (1895), Mobile Blackbirds (1896, 1898), Kansas City Blues (1897), Omaha Omahogs (1900–1901), Des Moines Hawkeyes (1900), Butte Miners (1902–1903), Portland Browns (1904) and Seattle Siwashes.

His best season as a pitcher was 1903 when he won 22 games and lost nine with 137 strikeouts for the Butte Miners in the Pacific National League.

At the time of the 1910 Census, Roach and his wife were living in Chicago with his mother-in-law, Otillie Eichmann.

[2] At the time of the 1920 Census, Roach and his wife were living in Oak Park, Illinois with two daughters, Louise and Margaret.

[8] In 1930, he was living in Oak Park with daughters Louise, Margaret and Helen; he was employed as a lawyer in general practice.