Dec. 17, 2014
By Andy Demetra
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The first rays of sun peek over the Ko’olau Mountain Range to his left, painting the sky in brilliant streaks of pink, orange and yellow. In a few minutes they’ll cast a shimmering lacquer onto the table of turquoise blue water to his right. The stern peak of the Diamond Head volcano juts out in front of him, slowly taking its color. On most mornings Michael Roth can wake without an alarm clock; if he doesn’t sleep in, the Hawaiian sunrise takes care of it for him.
Such is life these days for Roth, the former Gamecock All-American and Major League lefthander. For this third offseason as a pro, Roth decided to make his home in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he rents an apartment with his girlfriend, former USC cheerleader Rachel Sanna, four blocks from the beach. The decision to decamp in Hawaii was made partly out of caprice.
“I’ve always liked traveling and trying new things and experiencing new places. We started talking over the summer and we were like, `Well, I can live wherever, so you can get a job wherever.’ We just started talking and we were like, let’s live in Hawaii,” Roth explained.
