Steve Roadcap knew he’d put off his knee replacement surgery for too long – 15 years too long. The baseball scout for the Cincinnati Reds said he was managing a Minor League team for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2010 when his doctor at the time told him he would need knee replacement surgery sooner than later. 

“I didn’t really want to do it,” said Roadcap, 64, who had a “cleaning out” surgery on his left knee in 2010. 

Roadcap has played baseball or worked in the professional baseball industry for most of his life, so he knew it was only a matter of time before his knees would require major intervention. 

“I was growing older, and our bodies don’t work the same way they do when we’re younger,” he said. 

Roadcap grew up in Pennsylvania and started playing baseball when he was nine years old. When he graduated from high school, he had one scholarship offer – but it was for basketball, and he didn’t take it. Instead, he attended Hagerstown Junior College in Maryland where he was able to play baseball. In 1982, after attending Francis Marion University in South Carolina, Roadcap was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and played minor league ball for the Cubs throughout the 80s. Next, he worked throughout the United States coaching minor league teams for the likes of the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners, including managing the Huntington Cubs from 1990 to 1991. 

When he retired from coaching, Roadcap and his wife, Connie, settled in Elkview just outside of Charleston, West Virginia. It continues to be his home base for his scouting career, which keeps him on the road about five to six days a week. Once it was apparent he could no longer put off his knee replacement, he said he wanted Marshall Orthopaedics to perform his surgery because of previous positive experiences. 

“I’ve been very happy with Marshall Health,” Roadcap said. “I drive an hour to the doctor, and I know some people who drive more. That speaks volumes for the reputation and the job they’re doing. There’s always someone from Dr. Bullock’s office reaching out to see how I am.”

Marshall Health orthopaedic surgeon Matthew Bullock,D.O., MPT, performed Roadcap’s single knee replacement surgery in December 2024. 

He knew he was on a long road to recovery, but he didn’t realize Bullock would be by his side, literally step-by-step. After physical therapy at Cabell-Huntington Hospital, Bullock met with Roadcap and walked up and down stairs with him to encourage his recovery. Bullock then joined him in movements and manipulation to make sure his knee was functioning and improving as it should. 

“On Super Bowl Sunday this year at 3 p.m., I got a call from Dr. Bullock, and he said: ’Well, bud, how’s it going?’” Roadcap recalled. “The care that he showed me and the push he gave me to get through is what I needed. I know it’s a process, and just six months in, it’s still going to be a process, but I know he cares about my recovery. Being in sports my whole career, I wanted the best care, and I got it at Marshall Health,” Roadcap said.  

 

At home or on the road, Roadcap makes time daily to stretch his legs, take walks and climb stairs.

“Travel days are very hard,” Roadcap said. “But from where I was before the surgery to where I am now, it’s night and day.”

Now, when he talks to people with knee problems, he encourages them to avoid his mistake. 

“I waited 15 years, and I waited too long,” Roadcap said.