David Ross (baseball)

David Ross
Catcher David Ross with the Atlanta Braves in 2009.
Atlanta Braves — No. 8
Catcher
Born: March 19, 1977 (1977-03-19) (age 34) Bainbridge, Georgia
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 28, 2002 for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Career statistics (through July 13, 2011)
Batting average	.236
Home runs	73
Runs batted in	216
Teams
Los Angeles Dodgers (2002-2004) Pittsburgh Pirates (2005) San Diego Padres (2005) Cincinnati Reds (2006-2008) Boston Red Sox (2008) Atlanta Braves (2009-present)

Ross with the Cincinnati Reds on May 11, 2008.

David Wade Ross (born March 19, 1977) is an American professional baseball player who has been a catcher for eight Major League Baseball seasons. 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 played for six different Major League teams. Ross currently plays for the Atlanta Braves.

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

Dodgers, Pirates and Padres

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 major league 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 into pitch, after he volunteered, to rest the bullpen. Ross' Dodger career was stagnated, however, by the high number of catchers in the Dodger system. Throughout his Dodger tenure Ross would battle teammates like Brent Mayne, Koyie Hill, and Todd Hundley for the role as starter. In 2005, Ross split time between the San Diego Padres and the Pittsburgh Pirates. As a Pirate, he was traded to the Padres for infielder J. J. Furmaniak.

Cincinnati Reds

He was signed as a free agent by the Cincinnati Reds during spring training for the 2006 season. 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 Valentin, should have been dealt (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.

However, on November 20, 2006, LaRue was traded to the Kansas City Royals for a player to be named later. On January 15, 2006, David Ross signed a two-year, $4.54m deal with the Reds. Ostensibly, Ross was the number one catcher.

Arguably, one of David Ross' most memorable moments as a Cincinnati Red occurred 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) Ramon 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 12,907 feet (144.7 m).

Ross' 2007 season started with an abysmal 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 1st and 2nd, 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

On August 22, 2008, Ross signed a minor-league contract with the Boston Red Sox,^[2] and came up to the major league club on August 29.^[3]

Atlanta Braves

On December 5, 2008, the Atlanta Braves signed David 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]

Ross is 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) has highlighted his strengths, as Ross has always been known as a strong defensive catcher (as of May 5, 2011, he has made only eight errors in the previous three complete seasons). He is frequently named by television broadcast crews as one of the best backup catchers in Major League Baseball, prompting speculation that he may be "trade bait" should the Braves need help in the 2011 season. He is also frequently cited as one of the most-liked players on the Braves' bench, and can be seen encouraging his teammates almost any time the cameras are turned on the dugout.

See also

	Baseball portal
	Biography portal

• Auburn Tigers
• Florida Gators
• List of Florida Gators baseball players

References

1. ^ ^{a b} September 2, 2002 Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks Play by Play and Box Score - Baseball-Reference.com
2. ^ Steve Silva (2008-08-21). "Report: Sox sign catcher Ross to minor-league deal". Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2008/08/report_sox_sign.html. Retrieved 2008-08-21. 
3. ^ Mark Remme (2008-08-29). "Sox call up Ross, send Casey to DL". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080829&content_id=3386053&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb&partnerId=rss_mlb. Retrieved 2008-08-30. 
4. ^ Bowman, Mark (2008-12-05). "Braves sign Ross to two-year deal". MLB.com. http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081205&content_id=3703974&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl. Retrieved 2009-11-18. 
5. ^ Rosenthal, Ken (2010-07-27). "Report: Ross, Braves reach two-year extension". FoxSports.com. http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/38432113/ns/sports-player_news/. Retrieved 2010-07-27. 
6. ^ Fantasy news. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?roster_year=2010&player_id=424325&c_id=atl

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Persondata
Name	Ross, David
Alternative names	Ross, David Wade; Ross, David W.
Short description	American college baseball player, Major League Baseball player, catcher
Date of birth	March 19, 1977
Place of birth	Bainbridge, Georgia, United States
Date of death
Place of death