Results tagged ‘ Cody Ross ’
Torres back tonight?
We made it to Colorado, getting into the hotel around 2:20 in the morning and getting to bed around 3:30 after finally getting the luggage. What a trip to Chicago. Warm and breezy at Wrigley. And Juan Uribe had one of those nights. The ball just jumped off his bat. Two home runs. Cody Ross with a no-doubter as well. And Buster Posey in his last 13 games has four home runs. So this ball club, one thing you can count on is them going out every night and pitching. The Giants have the best pitching in baseball right now – and if the bats can stay hot, they’ll be tough to beat.
Seems like last night’s meeting had an effect. Bochy took the hitters all under the stands at Wrigley Field and told them if they do their job, this team can go deep in the playoffs. It was very similar to the meeting Brian Sabean had with the pitchers before they went on this amazing streak – 17 games in a row giving up three earned runs or less. That’s about 150 innings of baseball without a bad inning. That’s an amazing streak.
Another good sidelight last night was getting to see Minnie Minoso, one of the great players of all time. He came up with the Cleveland Indians. Played for the Chicago White Sox back in the early ’50s. You look at his stats and he should be considered for the Hall of Fame. It was great to see him talking to Juan Uribe, who got to know Minoso when Uribe was with the White Sox. You could see the look in Uribe’s eyes, how much he admired Minnie Minoso. It was a very nice scene – and maybe had something to do with Uribe’s big night at the plate.
Last night’s game showed how Bruce Bochy handles his veterans. Everybody played last night except The Bullet, Darren Ford, and Ryan Rohlinger and Edgar Renteria, who’s hurt, and Andres Torres. Torres is moving around really well. He took batting practice yesterday. And I would not be surprised to see him in the game tonight or certainly tomorrow.
It’s a very exciting time for this team. They’re very loose. very calm. They’re having a good time. On the Giants plane last night, Jim Moorehead of the team’s PR staff, was giving us play-by-play of the Dodger-Padres game right down to the last out – and, of course, announced that the Giants were back in first place.
And then the Rockies-Arizona game. It was a wild one that finally ended up with the Rockies losing. They’re in a position now where they have to sweep the Giants here in Colorado to really keep their season going. They’re 31-46 on the road, and that’s been the big problem for them.
Traveling on the team plane is really interesting. Michael “Kel” King, the traveling secretary, he is like the Mad Hatter. He gets everything done. He gets everyone on and off the buses and planes. And of course Jim and his associate Matt Chisholm in the PR department, they have all the stats and all the information for you on the plane. It’s an interesting ride because you’re talking baseball all the way. You see Kruke and Kuip and Jon Miller and Dave Flemming, and they have every electronic device. They’re watching games from all over the country and it keeps the chatter going.
And the players are very relaxed on the plane. Tim Lincecum is funny, he really is. He was wearing this purple bow tie and he’s got a hat on. He just keeps everybody very loose. And then you get the veterans like Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell. It’s pretty much all business with them.
This is a very good ballclub right now. They can feel it. They have these three games then come home against Arizona and the Padres – who are going to have their hands full with the Cubs in San Diego.
That’s what’s happening here. I’m heading out to the ballpark to see if I can find the humidor . . .
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.
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