Ross ‘stock standard’ response: Wrigley ‘one of the best’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
David Ross didn’t pile up like the North Side’s loyal Twitter crowd.
But that doesn’t mean the Cubs manager appreciates what Red Sox pitcher Josh Winckowski had to say about Wrigley Field after the Cubs defeated him Saturday night.
“Amazing”?
“I don’t know about his life experience, but I really appreciate this place,” Ross said. “I have a lot of history here. This is one of the best [ballparks] I’ve been there once.”
Ross played all or parts of three seasons with the Red Sox, winning a World Series there in 2013 and spending the final two seasons of his playing career with the Cubs, winning in 2016.
Winckowski, 24, is a Southwest Florida rookie who has less than three weeks of service in the major league.
Besides calling Wrigley “a little disappointing,” Saturday night’s losing pitcher said this when asked about the second-oldest stadium in the majors (to Boston’s Fenway Park):
“Fenway kind of has a presence here. I didn’t really get that here, honestly. I said to my mom last night, this place is very standard if you ask me. I didn’t really feel anything, to be honest. It felt a bit like another baseball field.”
Of course everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. And give the kid credit for the candid sharing (and for some impressive pitching, even on this night). But unless he was trying to put up a public fight with a sizable cross-section of Chicagoans and the city’s hefty sports fanatics, it was — as our Dave Kaplan put it in one of those stackable tweets, a “clown comment.”
At least not smart.
“Stock Standard”?
“Oh man, my experience in those ballparks is pretty amazing,” Ross said when asked about both teams’ parks in the context of “stock standard.”
“I’ve competed in a World Series in both games,” Ross said. †[Saturday] night at Wrigley felt pretty awesome. It was nice to have fans around, the ‘Go, Cubs, Go’ packed house. It was fun.
“Fenway is the same,” he added. “Historical. You walk in, just like here, beautiful baseball field – lots of history there. Very similar from my point of view. Two great stadiums and great places to play, great fan bases, intense. Nice atmosphere.”
Maybe Winckowski just needs more time here to appreciate the ivy, roofs and “Go, Cubs, Go”.
Maybe the Cubs should trade for him?
“He’s a pretty good pitcher,” Ross said. ‘So I do not know. You can talk to Jed and… [his staff] about trade.”
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