David Ross, the popular and personable backup catcher from the Chicago Cubs’ 2016 World Series championship team, has reportedly been chosen to replace Joe Maddon as the team’s manager – a move that has been expected since the team cut ties with Maddon in late September.
The news, first reported Wednesday morning by NBC Sports Chicago, is unlikely to be confirmed by the team until Thursday, owing to Major League Baseball’s preference that teams not make news during the World Series.
Ross, 42, has no previous managing or coaching experience, but was considered a strong leader during a 15-year playing career that culminated with World Series championships in Boston (2013) and Chicago (2016). Ross played three games with the Portland Sea Dogs in 2013.
Ross has spent the past three seasons as a special assistant in the Cubs’ front office, and has also worked as an analyst for ESPN and appeared on “Dancing With the Stars.”
Among the other known candidates who interviewed for the Cubs job was Houston Astros bench coach Joe Espada, who twice traveled to Chicago during off-days of the 2019 postseason to interview. Joe Girardi, Gabe Kapler, Mark Loretta and Will Venable also reportedly received interviews.
PIRATES: Frank Coonelly’s 12-year run as president of the Pittsburgh Pirates is over after another losing season.
The club announced it is parting ways with Coonelly effective immediately. The team said Coonelly’s replacement will be introduced on Monday.
He helped oversee a brief renaissance that resulted in three straight playoff berths from 2013-15.
Coonelly said he understood that “change was necessary” following a stunning second-half collapse in which the Pirates went 25-48 and plummeted to last in the NL Central. The team dismissed Manager Clint Hurdle on the final day of the regular season.
The Pirates have fallen off the pace in recent years, finishing below .500 in three of the last four seasons.
TV RATINGS: The World Series opener narrowly averted setting a record low.
Washington’s 5-4 victory Tuesday night averaged 12,194,000 fans, according to national numbers from Nielsen. That edges the 12,191,000 who tuned in for San Francisco’s 7-1 win over Kansas City in the 2014 opener.
The numbers are down 11.4 percent from last year’s Game 1 between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, which averaged 13.76 million viewers. The 2017 opener between Houston and LA averaged 14.7 million.
The game Tuesday still won the night for Fox. It was also the most-watched game of the postseason, surpassing the 7.47 million who watched Saturday’s Game 6 of the AL Championship Series between Houston and the New York Yankees.
According to Major League Baseball, the League Championship Series averaged 5.15 million viewers, which is down slightly from the 5.31 million average last season.
ASTROS: Manager AJ Hinch has made a couple of tweaks to his lineup for Game 2.
A night after designated hitter Yordan Alvarez had two hits and drew a walk, Hinch moved the rookie up one spot in the lineup to bat sixth on Tuesday night. Alvarez switched places with shortstop Carlos Correa, who had a single and three strikeouts in Game 1. Robinson Chirinos was in the lineup to catch Justin Verlander after Martin Maldonado caught on Monday night.
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