David Ross accepted a spanking-new Cubs cap from crew president Theo Epstein, situated its rightful dwelling atop his dome and grinned broadly.
“It feels good to put [this] back on,” he mentioned.
There’s no taking it off now.
After the formality of Monday’s official introduction of, and press convention with, the 55th supervisor in Cubs historical past, Ross, 42, is locked into the duty — as Epstein put it, the “personal mission” — of reworking the tradition and surroundings on the main league degree.
The mere destiny of considered one of baseball’s blue-blood franchises now hinges on a first-time supervisor’s reputed next-level folks abilities.
“In the end, I think we came back to David’s special gifts as a leader,” Epstein mentioned. “The things you just can’t teach, he excels at so much.”
Those issues could be broadly outlined as management and communication abilities. More particularly, Epstein described a supervisor able to telling gamers issues they didn’t need to hear, however with out shedding their ears. Rather, Epstein believes Ross has the “magnetism” to get in gamers’ faces whereas solely strengthening the bonds between the clubhouse and its skipper.
Predecessor Joe Maddon was a strolling, speaking cult of positivity, and that labored wonders for some time. If the entrance workplace sees Ross’ method as being totally different from Maddon’s in a single crucial space, it’s recognizing — after which confronting — issues on the participant degree head-on.
“It’s hard to get away with things around him,” Epstein mentioned.
Ross — signed by 2022, with a membership choice for 2023 — was a beloved member of the 2016 World Series-winning Cubs within the final of his 15 seasons as a big-league catcher. He alluded Monday to the truth that his historical past with Cubs followers isn’t being written in indelible ink.
If he doesn’t win — large — as supervisor, the love affair would possibly start to bitter in a rush.
“It’s not about 2016,” Ross mentioned. “It’s an expectation of profitable. It’s about profitable championships. It’s about holding your self accountable to the stuff you’ve present in profitable. …
“Let’s maintain one another to a excessive customary, as a result of I need to win a championship. I need to win a number of championships. I need to carry championships again to Chicago.”
Ross was the favourite all alongside to interchange Maddon, however the interview course of was rigorous. It concerned about 13 hours of conventional interviewing, however one should additionally think about the three years earlier than it throughout which Ross — along with working as an ESPN analyst — gained expertise within the Cubs entrance workplace.
He collaborated with minor-league workers and immersed himself within the processes of making ready for video games in varied non-playing roles. He labored with scouts and assisted the Cubs’ higher-ups on draft preparation.
“I understand now as the head of this, I’m representing all those guys,” Ross mentioned.
His second interview was intense from the beginning.
“A lot of guys sitting in front of me with iPads, firing questions,” Ross mentioned. “And the more they fired the questions and I talked about what I believed to the core, I knew that this is something I want to do because I was passionate. I sat up in my chair. I was getting emotional. I could feel the fire that I had inside me.”
Ross was much less vivid in his makes an attempt to explain the kind of supervisor he’ll be throughout video games.
“I’m going to be a manager that wants to watch the game and see how it plays out,” he mentioned.
If Ross has a most urgent weak spot, it’s clearly an absence of managerial expertise. Upping the expertise degree of the teaching workers would appear to be an apparent transfer and could be anticipated.
He’ll want that type of steerage throughout video games. The extent to which he’s guided by the entrance workplace is one other matter. About any “puppet” speak:
“I will be making my own decisions,” Ross mentioned.
“I think if you’re a front office and you want a puppet, you don’t hire David Ross,” Epstein mentioned. “Anyone who is aware of Rossy is aware of…