Interview with Cody Ross: Discovered in the Desert

Marty: You grew up in Carlsbad, N.M., and I always wondered how scouts find players who live in such out-of-the-way places.

Cody: We always said in Carlsbad that in order to get scouted in high school, people had to really want to find you because it’s not easy to get there. You fly in to El Paso then drive two-and-half hours to a little city in New Mexico called Carlsbad. There’s nothing in between. It’s just all desert. But there’s a really good baseball program there and has been for years. There are guys who have come out of there and played in the major leagues. Shane Andrews is probably the most well known. He played for about six years in the majors and had a pretty good career. Fortunately some college and pro scouts came and watched me play and gave me an opportunity and here I am today. 

Marty: Were you one of those kids who traveled so people could see you play?

Cody: Oh, yeah. I played for a few different traveling teams. I played for a team out of Dallas, Texas. I played for a team out of Albuquerque, New Mexico and one out of Euclid, Ohio. We had a traveling team in Carlsbad but to get national exposure you had to go to a team outside of the state. Fortunately, as I said, I caught somebody’s eye and it worked out well. 

Marty: I know you hunt and fish. So many players do, dating back to the 1930s or so. What do you get out of it?

Cody: I think it’s the peace of mind. You just get away from everything. You sit in your little tree stand, or you sit by the river and throw your pole in and just relax. You just clear your mind of everything and concentrate on pretty much nothing. During the regular season, you think about so much stuff that goes on every single day. So to get away and just sit by a lake, it’s peaceful. 

Marty: What’s the most unique thing you’ve hunted or actually bagged?

Cody: I’m not too adventurous when it comes to that. I stick to the normal stuff: the deer, some antelope, elk. Nothing too crazy. (Laughs.)

Marty: With the Internet, people can know more about you than you know about yourself. When the Giants claimed you off the waiver wire, it was all over the Internet that they claimed you more to block the Padres than to get you. What did you think when you were reading and hearing all this?

Cody: When reporters asked me about it, I said, “I have no idea what it’s about. I have no clue.” They tried to explain it to me and it’s like you said, they knew about me than I did. I just took it for what it was worth. I didn’t worry about it. I just went out and did my job. I was in a lot of talks back in July about getting traded. It was all in the rumor mill and that can put added stress on you. But I tried to just block that out. And once this did go down, my initial feelings were sad because I was leaving a bunch of my friends I had played with for five years in Miami. But once I got over that, I was extremely excited to be coming over here to the Giants. It’s a great team and a great organization, and my wife and family are loving the Bay Area.