A photo of David Ross.
David Wade Ross (born March 19, 1977) is an American former professional baseball catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). Ross played college baseball for Auburn University and the University of Florida, and participated in two College World Series. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers, and has also played in MLB for the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs. Ross won the World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2013 and the Chicago Cubs in 2016.
Early years[]
Ross was born in Bainbridge, Georgia in 1977. He attended Florida State University's laboratory school, Florida High School, in Tallahassee, Florida, where he played high school baseball for the Florida High School Seminoles.
College career[]
Ross received an athletic scholarship to attend Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, where he played college baseball for the Auburn Tigers baseball team from 1996 to 1997. He transferred to the University of Florida after the 1997 season, and played one additional season of college baseball for the Florida Gators baseball team in 1998. Ross is one of a very few players to play in the College World Series with two different colleges, first with the Tigers in 1997, and then the Gators in 1998. After his junior season with the Gators, Ross decided to forgo his final season of NCAA eligibility, and entered the Major League Baseball Draft.
Professional career[]
Los Angeles Dodgers[]
Although Ross was originally drafted in the 19th round of the 1995 amateur draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, he did not sign and instead accepted a scholarship to attend Auburn. In 1998, the Dodgers again selected Ross in the 7th round of the amateur draft. He signed and made his MLB debut on June 28, 2002, and was with the team until 2004. On September 2, 2002, Ross hit his first career home run off Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Mark Grace.[1] The Dodgers were winning 18–0,[1] and the Diamondbacks put Grace in to pitch, after he volunteered, to rest the bullpen. Ross' Dodger career was stagnated, however, by the large number of catchers in the Dodger system. Paul Lo Duca was the starting catcher through most of Ross' time in Los Angeles, and teammates like Brent Mayne, Koyie Hill, and Todd Hundley competed with him for playing time.
Ross hit 6 home runs in his first 27 career at-bats, spanning from 2002–2003, the 3rd most HR in the first 27 career at-bats in Dodgers history.
Pittsburgh Pirates/San Diego Padres[]
Ross was sold by the Dodgers to the Pittsburgh Pirates on March 30, 2005. After 40 games with the Pirates, he was traded to the San Diego Padres on July 28, 2005 for infielder J. J. Furmaniak. He played in only 11 games with the Padres.
Ross playing for the Cincinnati Reds in 2008
Cincinnati Reds[]
He was traded by the Padres to the Cincinnati Reds during spring training for the 2006 season. On January 15, 2006, Ross signed a two-year, $4.54m deal with the Reds. On April 26, 2006, against the Washington Nationals at the Nationals' former home field, the expansive, pitcher-friendly RFK Stadium. Facing right-hander (and former Red) Ramón Ortiz in the third inning, Ross blasted a pitch deep into the upper deck stands in right-center field. The home run traveled an estimated 474 feet (144.7 m).
While Ross was most often used as the "personal catcher" for right-hander Bronson Arroyo, whom the Reds received in a spring training trade with the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Wily Mo Peña, the consensus among Reds fans was that Ross had proven himself deserving of being the number one catcher due to his better offensive numbers and that one of the other Reds catchers, Jason LaRue or Javier Valentín, should have been traded (possibly as part of a package deal) for a relief pitcher. LaRue was the one most frequently cited, but no deal was made by the July 31 trade deadline. Ostensibly, Ross was the number one catcher.
On November 20, 2006, LaRue was traded to the Kansas City Royals for a player to be named later. Ross' 2007 season started with a 4 hits in 38 at-bats with no home runs and 17 strikeouts. On April 21, 2007, his slump hit rock bottom when with runners on first base and second base, he grounded into a rare 5–4–3 triple play against the Philadelphia Phillies. Ross finished the 2007 season with a .203 batting average and 17 home runs. On August 10, 2008, Ross was designated for assignment and was released on August 18.
Boston Red Sox[]
Ross signed a minor-league contract with the Boston Red Sox.[2] on August 22, 2008. He came up to the MLB club on August 29, though he became a free agent after the season.[3]
Atlanta Braves[]
Ross with the Atlanta Braves in 2012
On December 5, 2008, the Atlanta Braves signed Ross to a two-year, $3 million deal.[4]
On July 27, 2010, he signed a two-year extension to stay with the Braves through 2012.[5]
For four seasons Ross was the Atlanta Braves secondary catcher behind Brian McCann.[6] His hot start in the 2011 season (batting .333 after starting 7 games, with 3 home runs) highlighted his strengths, as Ross has always been known as a strong defensive catcher.
Second stint with the Boston Red Sox[]
On November 10, 2012, Ross signed a two-year, $6.2 million deal to return to the Red Sox as "more than a backup but not a starter"[7] behind primary catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Ross suffered concussions twice during the regular season and spent over two months on the disabled list; however, his health returned and he played a key role in Boston's run to the championship, starting four games during the 2013 World Series and driving in the game-winning run with an RBI double in Game 5. In 2014, he played as Jon Lester's personal catcher.
Chicago Cubs[]
On December 23, 2014, the Chicago Cubs announced that they had signed Ross to a two-year, $5 million contract. Ross played his first game with them as a pitcher throughout his entire career on May 9, 2015.[8]
Ross announced that he was retiring following the 2016 season, after playing 15 seasons in the major leagues. During Game 7 of the 2016 MLB World Series, Ross hit a home run making him the oldest player to do so in World Series history. On January 14, 2017 the Cubs named Ross as a special assistant to baseball operations for the 2017 season.
Career Stats[]
Yr Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB K AVG OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP GIDP ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2002 25 LAD NL 8 10 2 2 1 0 1 2 0 0 2 4 .200 .385 .600 6 0 0 0 1 0 2003 26 LAD NL 40 124 19 32 7 0 10 18 0 0 13 42 .258 .336 .556 69 0 1 0 2 4 2004 27 LAD NL 70 165 13 28 3 1 5 15 0 0 15 62 .170 .253 .291 48 0 5 1 5 3 2005 28 PIT NL 40 108 9 24 8 0 3 15 0 0 6 24 .222 .380 .380 41 1 3 0 1 3 2005 28 SD NL 11 17 2 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 .353 .389 .471 8 1 0 0 1 0 2006 29 CIN NL 90 247 37 63 15 1 21 52 0 0 37 75 .255 .353 .579 143 4 5 7 3 4 2007 30 CIN NL 112 311 32 63 10 0 17 39 0 0 30 92 .203 .271 .399 124 5 2 4 0 9 2008 31 CIN NL 52 134 17 31 9 0 3 13 0 1 32 36 .231 .381 .366 49 5 1 4 1 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TOTALS 423 1116 131 249 53 3 60 154 0 1 135 339 .223 .310 .437 488 16 17 16 14 26 7 Seasons
Stats as of August 18, 2008
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 September 2, 2002 Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks Play by Play and Box Score – Baseball-Reference.com
- ↑ Steve Silva. "Report: Sox sign catcher Ross to minor-league deal", Boston Globe, August 21, 2008. Retrieved on October 23, 2013.
- ↑ Mark Remme (August 29, 2008). Sox call up Ross, send Casey to DL. MLB.com. Retrieved on August 30, 2008.
- ↑ Bowman, Mark (December 5, 2008). Braves sign Ross to two-year deal. MLB.com. Retrieved on November 18, 2009.
- ↑ Rosenthal, Ken (July 27, 2010). Report: Ross, Braves reach two-year extension. FoxSports.com. Retrieved on July 27, 2010.
- ↑ Fantasy news. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?roster_year=2010&player_id=424325&c_id=atl
- ↑ Rosenthal, Ken (November 10, 2012). Red Sox, Ross agree to two-year deal. Fox Sports.
- ↑ Sullivan, Paul (December 23, 2014). Catcher David Ross officially signs two-year deal with Cubs. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on December 23, 2014.
External links[]
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube