Former Gator David Ross Advances To World Series
Tuesday, October 22, 2013 | Baseball
Former University of Florida catcher David Ross (1998), a member of the American League Champion Boston Red Sox, will become the 12th Gator to participate in the World Series when Boston meets the St. Louis Cardinals in a best-of-seven series starting on Wednesday, Oct. 23. The Red Sox eliminated the Detroit Tigers in six games to advance to the Fall Classic for the third time since 2004 and the 12th time in franchise history (1903-12-15-16-18-46-67-75-86-2004-07-13).
Now in his 12th Major League season, Ross played in 36 regular-season games this year and hit .216 with 11 runs, 10 RBI, five doubles and four homers. In the Red Sox A.L. Divisional Series triumph over Tampa Bay, he was 1-for-5 (.200) with a double and scored a run and then went 2-for-4 (.500) against the Tigers in the A.L. Championship Series, highlighted by an RBI double in Boston's 4-3 win in Game 5 that secured a 3-2 series advantage. Ross batted .332 with 69 RBI, 21 doubles and 19 round-trippers in helping the Gators to the 1998 SEC Championship and a berth at that season's College World Series.
Ross will join 11 former Gator players who have been a part of organizations reaching the World Series, while six – David Eckstein (2002, 2006), Witt “Lefty” Guise (1940), Steve Lombardozzi (1987), Randy O'Neal (1984), Lance Richbourg (1924) and Al Rosen (1948) – have won a total of seven rings.
Former Gators in the World Series (years at Florida in parentheses)
Lance Richbourg (1919) – Washington Senators, Chicago Cubs
1924 World Series: Washington 4, New York Giants 3
1932 World Series: New York Yankees 4, Chicago Cubs 0
Witt “Lefty” Guise (1929-30) – Cincinnati Reds
1940 World Series: Cincinnati 4, Detroit 3
Al Rosen (1941-42) – Cleveland Indians
1948 World Series: Cleveland 4, Boston Braves 2
1954 World Series: New York Giants 4, Cleveland 0
Randy O'Neal (1981) – Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals
1984 World Series: Detroit 4, San Diego 1
1987 World Series: Minnesota 4, St. Louis Cardinals 3
Marc Sullivan (1977-79) – Boston Red Sox
1986 World Series: New York Mets 4, Boston 3
Steve Lombardozzi (1980-81) – Minnesota Twins
1987 World Series: Minnesota 4, St Louis 3
Robby Thompson (1983) – San Francisco Giants
1989 World Series: Oakland 4, San Francisco 0
Herbert Perry (1998-91) – Cleveland Indians
1995 World Series: Atlanta 4, Cleveland 2
David Eckstein (1994-97) – Anaheim Angels, St. Louis Cardinals
2002 World Series: Anaheim 4, San Francisco 3
2006 World Series: St. Louis 4, Detroit 1
Josh Fogg (1996-98) – Colorado Rockies
2007 World Series: Boston 4, Colorado 0
Darren O'Day (2003-06) – Texas Rangers
2010 World Series: San Francisco 4, Texas 1
David Ross (1998) – Boston Red Sox
2013 World Series: Boston vs. St. Louis
