Cody Ross

Cody Ross
Free agent
Outfielder
Born: December 23, 1980 (1980-12-23) (age 30) Portales, New Mexico
Bats: Right	Throws: Left
MLB debut
July 4, 2003 for the Detroit Tigers
Career statistics (through 2011 Season)
Batting average	.261
Home runs	100
Runs batted in	371
Teams
Detroit Tigers (2003) Los Angeles Dodgers (2005-2006) Cincinnati Reds (2006) Florida Marlins (2006-2010) San Francisco Giants (2010-2011)
Career highlights and awards
World Series Champion (2010) 2010 NLCS MVP

Ross at Marlins spring training in February 2008.

Cody Joseph Ross (born December 23, 1980) is an American professional baseball outfielder. He has played with the Detroit Tigers (2003), Los Angeles Dodgers (2005–2006), Cincinnati Reds (2006), and Florida Marlins (2006–2010) and San Francisco Giants (2010-2011). Ross is one of the few major league position players who bat right-handed and throw left-handed.

Early life

Ross was born in Portales, New Mexico, and played high school baseball in Carlsbad, New Mexico. In his early life, he wanted to be a rodeo clown, with his father being a professional bull rider.^[1]

Professional career

Early career

Ross was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the fourth round of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft. In 2003, Ross was named the Tigers Minor League Player of the Year. The following offseason, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for pitcher Steve Colyer.

He was traded to the Marlins from the Cincinnati Reds for cash or a player to be named later (Ben Kozlowski). In 2006, Ross posted modest statistics for three different teams but had two seven-RBI games and a three-home run game. On April 13, 2006, as a member of the Dodgers, he hit a tie-breaking grand slam and a three run home run.

Florida Marlins

On May 26, 2006, the Florida Marlins purchased Ross from the Reds. ^[2] On September 11, 2006, he hit a three-run home run and a pair of two-run home runs. The five home runs and 14 RBI for the two games were more than any other month for Ross that season. In his five years with the Marlins, Ross hit .265 with 80 home runs and 297 RBIs. After falling out of contention in the 2010 season and due for a pay raise the following year, the Florida Marlins placed Cody Ross on waivers in order save money and give their young players more playing time. ^[3]

San Francisco Giants

On August 21, 2010, Ross was awarded to the San Francisco Giants on a waiver claim, in part to block a similar claim by the San Diego Padres.^[4][5] He appeared in 33 regular season games for the Giants, batting .288 with three home runs, who won the National League West Division title, overtaking the Padres late in the season in the process.

In the ensuing 2010 National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, Ross started all four games in right field, hit a home run to tie the deciding fourth game, and knocked in the winning runs in two of the Giants' three wins.^[6] Ross hit two home runs off of Roy Halladay in Game 1 in the following 2010 National League Championship Series,^[7][8] and hit a solo home run against Roy Oswalt in Game 2.^[9] Following the Giants' Game 6 win of the 2010 NLCS, Ross was awarded the MVP award for the series, in which he hit .350 with three home runs, three doubles and recorded five RBI.^[10] Three of his five postseason home runs broke up no-hitters. His home run off the Braves' Derek Lowe was the Giants' first hit in Game 4 of the NLDS. His first home run off Roy Halladay in Game 1 of the NLCS was the first hit off Halladay in 11 innings, as Halladay had thrown a no-hitter in his prior start. His home run off Roy Oswalt in Game 2 of the NLCS was the Giants' first hit of the game.^[11] In Game 3 of the World Series he hit the first home run off Colby Lewis.

Ross has become a very popular player in San Francisco, earning the nickname "Ross the Boss" for his timely and sometimes powerful hitting, and above average fielding skills.^[12]

Personal life

Ross and his wife, Summer, live most of the year in Scottsdale, Arizona, with their two small children, Haven Leigh and Hudson.^[13][14]

References

1. ^ Ostler, Scott (2010-10-14). "Rodeo clown Ross comes to the Giants' rescue". San Francisco Chronicle. http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-10-14/sports/24133993_1_ross-free-e-editions-rodeo. Retrieved 2011-6-15. 
2. ^ Fay, John. "Cody Ross, we barely knew you". Cincinnati Reds Blog. Cincinnati Enquirer. http://cincinnati.com/blogs/reds/2010/10/18/cody-ross-we-barely-knew-you/. Retrieved 2011-6-15. 
3. ^ D'Angelo, Tom (2010-8-22). "Florida Marlins lose Cody Ross to San Francisco Giants on waiver claim". The Palm Beach Post. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/marlins/florida-marlins-lose-cody-ross-to-san-francisco-873121.html. Retrieved 2011-6-15. 
4. ^ Shea, John (2010-08-24). "Beat: Wanted or not, Ross happy to be here". The San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/24/SPFE1F26EA.DTL. Retrieved 2010-08-26. 
5. ^ "Sources say Giants made claim for Florida Marlins' Cody Ross - Florida Marlins". MiamiHerald.com. 2010-08-21. http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/21/1785809/sources-say-giants-made-claim.html. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
6. ^ Haft, Chris (2010-10-11). "Giants' Ross is Braves' pain; epic career over". MLB.com (sfgiants.com). http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101011&content_id=15583562&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf. Retrieved 2010-10-12. 
7. ^ Shea, John (2010-10-17). "NLCS, Game 1". The San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/17/SPJJ1FTQS6.DTL. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
8. ^ Stark, Jayson (October 17, 2010). "Cody Ross steps into starring role". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=5692154&type=story. 
9. ^ Maaddi, Rob (October 18, 2010). "Philadelphia Phillies Take Game 2, Even NLCS at 1-1". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/18/philadelpha-phillies-win-nlcs-game-2-giants_n_766252.html. Retrieved 2010-11-15. 
10. ^ Ortiz, Jorge (2010-10-24). "Accidental Giant Cody Ross named MVP of NLCS". USA Today. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2010/10/accidental-giant-cody-ross-named-mvp-of-nlcs. Retrieved 2010-10-25. 
11. ^ Schulman, Henry (2011-01-08). "Philadelphia Phillies even series with Giants". The San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?type=sports&f=/c/a/2010/10/17/SP0E1FU1A2.DTL. 
12. ^ Ortiz, Jorge L. (2011-05-11). "Giants' winning formula has a familiar feel to it". USA Today. 
13. ^ http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/272331297405newsstate10-27-10.htm
14. ^ http://codyross.org/?p=398

External links

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

Persondata
Name	Ross, Cody
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 23, 1980
Place of birth	Portales, New Mexico
Date of death
Place of death