Tyson Ross-Cedar Herald Index

Tyson William Ross (born April 22, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Detroit Tigers. Ross was drafted by the Athletics in the 2nd round of the 2008 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut in 2010 and was an MLB All-Star in 2014.

Amateur career

Ross is a native of Berkeley, California, and was raised in Oakland, California. He attended Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland. In his junior year in 2004 he batted .366 with seven home runs, and was 9-2 with a 1.53 ERA. He was the 2005 North Coast Section CIF Player of the Year, after going 12–1 with an 0.71 ERA and 130 strikeouts as a senior.

Tyson Ross

He attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he majored in American Studies and played college baseball for the California Golden Bears baseball team. He won the college 2007 Rawlings Gold Glove award as the country's best fielding pitcher. He was an All Pac-10 Conference selection in 2007 and 2008. For his career, Ross had 271 strikeouts (third on Cal’s career list) in 278.2 innings, with 19 wins and a 3.20 career ERA.

Tyson Ross

Professional career

Ross was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 2nd round of the 2008 MLB draft. He signed for a $694,000 signing bonus.

Tyson Ross

Minor leagues

Ross made 6 appearances (4 starts, 0-1) in 2008 for the Single-A Kane County Cougars of the Midwest League, posting a 4.66 ERA. He went 19.1 innings, giving up 11 runs (10 earned) on 16 hits while striking out 16 and walking 5.

In 2009, he began the season with the Single-A Stockton Ports of the California League, starting 18 games, posting a 5-6 record with a 4.17 ERA. He pitched 86.1 innings, allowing 49 runs (40 earned) on 78 hits with 82 strikeouts and 33 walks. He finished the season with the Double-A Midland RockHounds of the Texas League, making 9 starts, going 5-4 with a 3.96 ERA. In 50 innings, he allowed 22 runs (all earned) on 40 hits, fanning 31 and walking 20.

Oakland Athletics

Coming into the 2010 season, Ross was ranked as Oakland's 6th-best prospect. Despite not having pitched above Double-A, Ross made MLB roster while making only 5 spring training appearances. Ross made his MLB debut on April 7, 2010, against the Seattle Mariners. He went 2.1 innings, allowing no runs on one hit. He struck out the first batter he faced, his childhood idol Ken Griffey Jr., and walked one. In his next appearance, on April 11, he pitched 3 innings against the Angels and recorded his first career MLB save. On May 11 against the Texas Rangers, he picked up both his first MLB career win and first MLB blown save. Ross worked out of the bullpen until July 6, when he was sent down to Triple-A to be groomed back to a starter role. Ross had a 5.49 ERA in 39 innings with the A's, and posted a 3.55 ERA in six starts for the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats of the Pacific Coast League with 30 strikeouts in 25.1 innings.

Ross was one of the A's final cuts in spring training 2011, but was recalled to join the bullpen in early April. He took the place of the injured Dallas Braden in the rotation, making six starts until he himself was injured and placed on the DL with a strained oblique. Ross had a 2.75 ERA in 36 innings at the time of the injury. He did not return to the Oakland A's that season, finishing out 2011 in Triple-A, where he had a 7.61 ERA in 9 starts.

Ross was pegged as the A's fifth starter out of spring training in 2012, but was sent down to the Sacramento River Cats at the start of the season because Oakland would not need a fifth starter until mid-April. He made his first start for the A's on April 17, and continued to start until he was optioned back to Sacramento on May 31 with a 6.51 ERA. He then shuttled between Triple-A and the A's, starting until the September roster expansion, when he rejoined the parent club as a reliever. In his five stints with Oakland, Ross was 2-9 in his 13 starts and had a 6.50 ERA overall. He had a 2.99 ERA in his 15 games (13 starts) with the River Cats.

During his tenure with the Oakland Athletics, Ross wore number 66 for the name of the street where he first played baseball, 66th Avenue, located on the northwestern boundary of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum.