Los Angeles Dodgers Ross was drafted in the 19th round of the 1995 amateur draft by the
Los Angeles Dodgers, but did not sign and accepted a scholarship to attend Auburn University instead. In 1998, the Dodgers drafted Ross again, this time in the seventh round. the Diamondbacks put first baseman
Mark Grace in to pitch after he volunteered, to rest the
bullpen. Ross hit his first major league home run off Grace with two outs in the 9th inning, capping a 19–1 win. Ross's Dodger career was stalled, however, by the large number of catchers in the Dodger system.
Paul Lo Duca was the starting catcher through most of Ross's time in Los Angeles, and teammates like
Brent Mayne,
Koyie Hill, and
Todd Hundley competed with him for playing time. Ross stayed with the team until 2004. After 40 games with the Pirates, he was traded to the
San Diego Padres on July 28, 2005, for
infielder J. J. Furmaniak. He played in 11 games with the Padres.
Cincinnati Reds The Padres traded Ross to the
Cincinnati Reds during
spring training for the 2006 season. On January 15, 2006, Ross signed a two-year, $4.54 million contract with the Reds. on August 22, 2008. He came up to the MLB club on August 29 and became a free agent after the season.
Atlanta Braves The
Atlanta Braves signed Ross to a two-year, $3 million deal on December 5, 2008. In 2009, Ross hit .273 in 54 games. On July 27, 2010, he signed a two-year extension to stay with the Braves through 2012. He managed to hit a career-high .289 for the Braves in 59 games in 2010. Ross was the Atlanta Braves secondary catcher behind
Brian McCann for his four seasons with the Braves. His hot start in the 2011 season (hitting .333 after starting seven games, with three home runs) highlighted his strengths, as Ross has always been known as a strong defensive catcher (in 2009, he committed one
error in 52 games). Ross hit the first ever home run in the
Wild Card Game when the new playoff format was introduced in 2012.
Boston Red Sox (second stint) Ross signed a two-year, $6.2 million deal on November 10, 2012, to return to the Red Sox as "more than a backup but not a starter" behind primary catcher
Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Ross suffered two concussions during the 2013 season and spent over two months on the disabled list; however, his health returned and he played a key role in Boston's run to the
World Series championship over the
St. Louis Cardinals that year, starting in four games during the series and driving in the game-winning run with an RBI double in Game 5. He was also behind the plate to catch the series-clinching out in Game 6 when
Koji Uehara struck out
Matt Carpenter. In 2014, Ross played as
Jon Lester's
personal catcher.
Chicago Cubs The
Chicago Cubs announced on December 23, 2014, that they had signed Ross to a two-year, $5 million contract. On May 9, 2015, in his first appearance as a pitcher in his professional baseball career, Ross recorded a perfect inning against the
Milwaukee Brewers. On July 26, he repeated the feat against the
Philadelphia Phillies, then led off the next inning by hitting a home run off of
Héctor Neris. On April 21, 2016, Ross caught his first no-hitter, against the Cincinnati Reds, his former team, with starting pitcher
Jake Arrieta. Ross hit his 100th career home run off of
Adam Morgan of the Philadelphia Phillies on May 27, 2016. Ross announced his plans to retire following the 2016 season, after playing 15 seasons in the major leagues. During
Game 7 of the 2016 MLB World Series against the
Cleveland Indians,
in his last at-bat of his MLB career Ross hit a home run, making him the oldest player to do so in World Series history at 39 years old. Additionally, Ross would become the only man to hit a homerun in his final at-bat in game 7 of a World Series. The Cubs went on to win Game 7 8–7 in 10 innings, earning Ross his second World Series ring. On January 14, 2017, the Cubs named Ross as a special assistant to baseball operations for the 2017 season.
Kansas Stars Following his retirement from MLB, Ross joined the
Kansas Stars, an independent baseball team made of former MLB stars who play an abbreviated tournament lasting a few weeks out of the year. ==Post-playing career==