Ross Gload

Ross Peter Gload is a professional baseball player from the USA and plays as a first baseman. Gload went to the East Hampton high school and was honoured with the Carl Yastrzemski award after a year spent in breaking a number of high school records. The award was given to him as the most outstanding high school baseball player from Suffolk County, an award given by their coaches association. Gload was primarily known of his performance in the finals of the Long Island Championship game when he hit four homers in four at-bats to send his school over the victory line.

Gload was picked up by the University of South Florida where he played at the collegiate level before moving off into the pros in 1997. The Florida Marlins picked Gload in the 13th round of the 1997 Amateur Draft and placed in the rookie league. In 2000, Gload was traded out to the Chicago Cubs and was immediately given an opportunity to play in the Majors. He got 18 games that season and the following year, was picked up on waivers by the Colorado Rockies.

Spending 2001 in the minors, Gload returned to the MLB roster in 2002 for 26 games although this time, he batter at .258 and showed immense potential for the future. However, this run came after a trade melee in January of 2002. First, Gload was traded out to the New York Mets as part of a massive 3-team, 11-player trade that saw him move to New York however, the Rockies bought his contract and gave him his run in the majors.

In 2003, Gload was traded out to the Chicago White Sox and spent the year in the minors. In 2004, he finally got a chance to play in the majors and saw 110 games with 234 at-bats. Gload repaid the favour with 75 hits and 44 RBI, scoring 28 runs at an average of .321 for the season. After an injury and poor form filled 2005, Gload returned to the White Sox starting rotation in 2006 with a career high batting average of .327 with 51 hits.

Gload moved to the Kansas City Royals in December 2006 and had career-high stats in at-bats and RBIs in his 2 seasons with the Royals. With 320 at-bats in 2007 and 51 RBI, Gload also had 141 hits, his highest so far, with a .288 batting average. In 2008, some of those numbers went further upwards as he had 388 at-bats, a career high, with 106 hits at an average of .273.

With more starts than ever before, Gload was traded out to the Florida Marlins in April 2009 and has played 61 games for the Marlins including one as a pitcher when he threw a scoreless ninth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays. He is batting at .284 in 2009 and has 33 hits and 12 RBI to his name.