Former major league catcher David Ross didn’t enter Game 7 of the World Series until the fifth inning, but his presence was immediately felt and not in a great way. Starter Kyle Hendricks issued a two-out walk to Carlos Santana, prompting manager Joe Maddon to make a double-switch. Ross replaced Willson Contreras behind the plate and Jon Lester relieved Hendricks. On the first at-bat, Jason Kipnis hit a tapper to the left side. Ross pounced on it but made a poor throw to first base, allowing Santana to move to third base and Kipnis to second. Then, with a 0-1 count on Francisco Lindor, Lester uncorked a wild pitch that Ross couldn’t handle. The ball caromed off of his mask towards the first base dugout. Ross got up to give chase but immediately lost his footing. Both Santana and Kipnis scored on the play, reducing the Cubs’ lead to 5-3.
Ross would redeem himself the next inning by drilling a solo home run to center field off of feared lefty reliever Andrew Miller, his former teammate with the Red Sox. The Cubs, as we know, would eventually defeat the Indians 8-7 in 10 innings to win the 2016 World Series. It was a storybook ending for Ross, who planned to retire no matter what happened. He was hoisted on the shoulders of his teammates as they celebrated at Progressive Field.
Ross appeared on MLB Network to discuss all of that and it’s rather interesting, especially the way he broke down his at-bat against Miller.
