“I don’t think I was a guy that ever thought I would get to the big leagues.”
Cubs manager David Ross was shown a picture on Sunday morning and he immediately started cackling.
“Oh my Lord. Oh my,” Ross said. “That’s my Triple-A…”
More laughter.
“Oh my God,” he said after composing himself. “I used to look good. What happened? Oh my goodness. That is scary. That hair… What is that thing on my chin?”
The photo was Ross’ headshot from his days with the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s (now called the Aviators).
Ross spent parts of the 2002–03 seasons suiting up for the 51s. In that ’02 season, they won 85 games. Ross appeared in 92, hitting .297 with 15 homers, 16 doubles, 68 RBIs and a .903 OPS.
“A lot of high-scoring games,” Ross recalled with a chuckle. “Yeah, the ball traveled well. It was a fun league. We had a really good team.”
It was also in ’02 when Ross received his first call to the big leagues, during stretch at old Cashman Field. On Sunday morning, the Cubs manager sat with a small group of reporters in the manager’s office at the new and gorgeous Las Vegas Ballpark, reminiscing about that first trip to The Show.
Here’s story time with Rossy:
“I just remember my manager calling everybody together in left during stretch. And we’re out there stretching and I had no idea. He calls everybody together and he’s like, ‘Hey, I’ve got an announcement to make. This guy’s bustin’ his tail and we’ve got a guy leaving us, so we’re going to be missing him.’ Everybody’s just dumbfounded. Nobody knows what he’s talking about. I don’t think we had one guy that had gotten called up that year for the first time. So, it was out during stretch. It was the first time.
“He said, ‘David, you’re going to the big leagues.’ I was like, ‘What? Huh?’ You don’t hear anything after that. And then I went in and I remember grabbing my phone and calling my parents and getting a little emotional. I’m an emotional crybaby anyways, but I don’t think I was a guy that ever thought I would get to the big leagues. I just enjoyed playing baseball and where I played. I don’t know if that makes any sense. I just enjoyed it. I never looked at what’s next. It was just, ‘I love playing baseball. I’m in Double-A. Let’s see the best I can do in Double-A.’ And, ‘Oh, I’ve got Triple-A this year. And you get called up and it’s more chaos. The big leagues was never really on my radar, to be honest with you.
“Chad Kreuter got hurt and I got called up. I think I played one game, sat on the bench for like 15 games. (laughs) I was like, ‘This sucks! I want to go back to Triple-A and play.’ And you get to your hotel room and it’s the first time you don’t have a roommate ever in your career. And you’re like, ‘What am I going to do?’ I spent like $30 a night watching movies and nobody to talk to. Renting movies. I was like, ‘This is costing me way too much money and I’m not getting to play!’
“But, yeah, that’s kind of what I remember. The main thing was calling my parents. It was a cool feeling to be able to say, no matter what ever happens, nobody can ever take away, ‘I’m a big leaguer.’ That was a neat feeling.”
Ross made his MLB debut on June 29, 2002, against the Angels, whose bench coach at the time was Joe Maddon. Aaron Sele was spinning a gem that day and Ross’ first big league at-bat ended with a swinging strikeout in the ninth inning. Sele finished off a complete game in a 7–0 shutout against the Dodgers.
Next, Ross caught an inning on July 2 and then finally got his first career start on July 6. He caught all 11 innings of a 4–2 win over the Cardinals. That included seven on the front end by Hideo Nomo and one at the end for Eric Gagne’s 32nd save of the year.
Ross’ first career hit didn’t arrive until Sept. 2, when he also belted his first Major League home run. That blast was off — believe it or not — Mark Grace in the ninth inning of a 19–1 drubbing of the D-backs.
Ross was asked if more players could benefit from trying to have the same mind-set he did as a Minor Leaguer. By never thinking too far ahead about the big leagues, Ross was able to just stay in the moment wherever he happened to be playing.
“Yeah,” Ross said. “I preach that now. That’s kind of one of my things, about like at-bats. It’s easy to look towards the ninth in the sixth, but if we do, that’s when we’re going to get caught up in trouble and lose that focus. So, yeah, that mind-set. And, too, guys are trained differently [nowadays]. There’s more hype. There’s more people in their ear, more expectations.
“Whether that was just how I was raised or what, I just always have just been work. When you’re at work, you work and try to do the best you can and go home. The big leagues was never on my radar. Not that I was a bad player, It’s just backup catcher, I had never been a prospect, never been somebody that was really on the radar.
“I caught a bunch of bullpens in big league camp like every backup catcher, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is cool. I get extra meal money!’”
Ross let out another laugh.
“And then, when you get that call, like I said, nobody can ever take that away no matter what happens. It’s a pretty special group and an opportunity that doesn’t come along for everybody.”
— JB
