Dans Hamptons

There are very few people from the Hamptons who have not heard of Ross Gload. For East Hampton baseball players, he is a hero, and for those that knew him growing up, watching him play on the field was like watching a home run machine. At both Springs School and at East Hampton High School, Ross Gload broke home run record after home run record and just about everybody felt that he was due for the majors. It turned out they were right.

His old East Hampton High School coach, Jim Nicoletti, remembers watching Ross play in Florida during a Spring Break training trip and seeing a dazzling play made in the outfield. He was quoted in a newspaper as saying, "If this kid doesn't make it, then I don't know anything."

Well now, nearly fifteen years later, it is safe to say that Ross Gload not only has made it, but that he is continuing to make an impact at the plate for his new team, the Kansas City Royals.

Having an East Hampton boy, well a Brooklyn born East Hampton boy, head out to the majors was no short journey. But now at 31, Ross is a seasoned pro and has just this year been traded from his original major league team, the Chicago White Sox, to the Kansas City Royals. So far, his batting average with the Royals has been good. As of April 17, he is hitting .314. Indeed, Ross' batting average has never been below .300 this season. This first baseman and outfielder knows how to hit a baseball.

During his four years at East Hampton High School, Gload played four years of varsity baseball under the watchful eye coach Nicoletti. From there, Ross Gload headed to the University of South Florida and was drafted in 1997 by the Florida Marlins' minor league team. Ross spent seven seasons in the Cactus Leagues and became one of the best players in that league. After he played in the minors with a batting percentage well above .300, Ross caught the eye of a National League team. At 24 years old, Ross headed to the Chicago Cubs, where he earned himself 31 at bats and a modest .194 batting average. This would be the first time in his career that Ross Gload went below a .300 batting average. After two seasons with the Cubs, Ross went to the Colorado Rockies, where he also had a modest season. It really wasn't until two years later, when an impressive showing at a spring training camp with the Chicago White Sox that Ross found himself stepping up to the plate consistently.

At 28 years old, Ross Gload was fulfilling his dream and having an impact. The Chicago White Sox signed Ross with a $302,000 contract in 2004. With the entire town of East Hampton behind him, Ross had 234 at bats and pulled off a .321 batting average and a .479 slugging average. This was big news in the small town of East Hampton, as everybody around the village suddenly became White Sox fans to watch Gload in action. After three impressive seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Ross has now been traded to the Kansas City Royals where he is expected to get more at bats and will earn nearly double the salary of what he is accustomed to getting.

Ross went through Spring Training with amazing numbers. In late March, he was batting above .400 at one point, but wound up Spring Training around .348. How many times he will be able to get up to the plate depends on how well the guys that he is backing up are going to hit this season. If he keeps hitting as well as he has, there has been talk that he might start at first base. His old high school coach doesn't think that is going to happen, though, because he has been backing up a young star at first base. Nicoletti does think, however, that he is going to get a lot more at bats this season.