David Ross is back in baseball and shares his thoughts on the game, his future, and his time with 2013 Red Sox

David Ross spent two years out of baseball after he was fired as manager of the Cubs following the 2023 season. He filled the void by spending more time with his kids and starting a podcast with former teammate Anthony Rizzo.

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Having so much time on his hands during baseball season was something new. Ross played professionally from 1998-2016, then spent three years in the Cubs front office and working for ESPN before being named Chicago’s manager ahead of the 2020 season.

The Cubs missed the postseason by a game in 2023, and the expectation was Ross would return. But when Craig Counsell’s contract with the Brewers expired, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer fired Ross and hired Counsell on the same day.

“It was an adjustment,” Ross told the Globe. “I watched my daughter play volleyball, and my son plays football. I did some speaking engagements. Little things here and there.”

Ross is now getting back involved in the game. He was the bullpen coach for Team USA during the World Baseball Classic, then rejoined ESPN and did his first game at Fenway Park on Thursday night with Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez. He’s also interested in managing again in the right situation.

“It was an easy decision with ESPN,” Ross said. “Being around those guys and the whole group there is very enjoyable.”

The job also provides Ross the opportunity to see people around the game in person and investigate where that could lead. At 49, he still has a lot of baseball in front of him.

Could that future include the Red Sox?

Ross played eight games for the Sox in 2008, then rejoined the team as a free agent in 2013. He played only 36 games in the regular season because of a severe concussion, but returned in late August and started seven postseason games, including the final four of the World Series.

Every time Ross walks into the press box at Fenway Park, he stops to look at the photo of him hugging Koji Uehara after the final out of Game 6.

“It’s super cool,” he said. “Such a great memory.”

After firing Alex Cora and naming Chad Tracy as interim manager, the Sox could be looking for a manager after the season.

“It [stinks] for Alex and for the people who are running the team there,” Ross said. “It’s part of the business, and everybody understands that. Losing is a difficult thing, and you understand the expectations there are high — and they should be. It’s really hard to win when everybody’s not pulling on the same end of the rope.”

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow played with Ross on the ’13 Sox. Ross caught him for two batters in Game 4 of the Series.

Breslow started working in the Cubs front office in 2019 when Ross was a special assistant in baseball operations. Breslow ran the team’s pitching department when Ross was manager.

“I miss managing, and I know from working with Craig that he wants to do everything he can to win,” Ross said. “I don’t know what the future would hold there, but I do know they have a talented roster and that Boston is a special place.

“I feel that every time I’m back there. Playing there was such a great experience.”

Here’s Ross on a few other topics:

Baseball’s new rules: “I love the pitch clock. The game moves a lot faster, and the dead time we used to have is gone. The players adjusted well. [Automated ball-strike challenge system] has been a positive, too. There’s accountability for the umpires now.

“It feels like players are still getting used to the strike zone. I think it’s going to benefit catchers who are good receivers because once they learn the ABS zone, they’re going to be able to steal a few strikes.

“For me, the rules have been a positive. It’s a better game now.”

Calling pitches from the dugout: “It could be something that takes over the game. There’s so much information now, which I love. But as a catcher, I do think we see things they can’t see from the bench. There are so many variables. I think you need to trust the catcher in certain situations.

“Ultimately, you want to maximize the success of the players. That’s a way to do it. But if I’m managing and my catcher has a feel for a certain pitch, I wouldn’t second-guess him.”

His memories of the 2013 Red Sox: “What a group of guys we had. After the tragedy at the Marathon, it seemed like we all felt so close to the city so fast, and that we were playing for more than ourselves.

“I think about David [Ortiz], Jonny [Gomes], Dustin [Pedroia], and Nap [Mike Napoli] and all those guys and how they responded to the fans. It felt like something so much bigger than us.”

Jon Lester’s induction to the Red Sox Hall of Fame on Thursday raises a good question: What logo should be on his cap if he makes it to Cooperstown?

Lester will be on the ballot for the first time for 2027 induction. And while he surely won’t be a first-ballot choice, Lester won 200 games, was a five-time All-Star, and was 9-7 with a 2.51 ERA in 26 postseason games. That includes a 1.77 ERA in six World Series games en route to earning three rings.

“I’m biased, but his postseason record is a difference-maker,” Ross said. “He was a role model, too, with how he came back from cancer.”

It may take a few years, but Lester is good candidate for enshrinement.

Lester played parts of nine seasons with the Sox and six with the Cubs. But he’s been more identified with the Cubs in retirement. The Hall has the final choice on the logo after consulting with the player.

A few other observations on the Red Sox:

▪ Tracy mentioned in Detroit that the Sox will give Ceddanne Rafaela some pregame work at second base in case they want to use him there.

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What an indictment of the roster that would be. Rafaela is one of the best center fielders in the game. Putting him at second base to accommodate one of the extra outfielders would weaken two up-the-middle positions defensively.

Roman Anthony going on the injured list makes that move far less likely in the near future. But the logjam will again be a problem once he returns.

▪ The Sox went into the weekend with a 48 percent success rate on ABS challenges. That was fifth worst in the majors. They were 50 percent on fielder challenges, which have all been by the catchers. Only the Nationals (45 percent) and White Sox (41) have been worse.

Carlos Narváez was 6 of 16, and Connor Wong 5 of 6.

Tracy said he and the coaches have been talking to the players about being more judicious about challenges. They also need to be more cognizant about leverage. Narváez has had four unsuccessful challenges in the first or second inning.

On the hitter side, Willson Contreras (1 for 4) hasn’t figured it out yet. That Rafaela (2 for 5) is the most frequent challenger among Sox hitters is interesting when you consider his free-swinging ways.

▪ Will Carroll, who tracks MLB injuries, reported the Sox are advertising for a “seasonal assistant athletic trainer” who would be assigned to Triple-A Worcester for the remainder of the season or possibly in Fort Myers following the amateur draft in June.

The listing reads, “Chosen candidates should expect a great learning opportunity in an advancing field of evidence-based practice while gaining valuable experience working within a professional sports medicine team.”

The team is paying $15 an hour, which is the minimum wage in Massachusetts.

That’s $7 less than CVS is paying store associates at its location near Fenway Park and $3 less than McDonald’s is paying maintenance workers in East Boston. That job description includes cleaning the restrooms.

You had to be a Yankees fan to truly love John Sterling. But you needed only to be a baseball fan to have appreciated him.

Sterling, who died on Monday at 87, was wholly original. He was a radio announcer who arrived at the ballpark for every game wearing a suit, complete with a tie and pocket square.

In a sport that treasures reliability, Sterling called 5,060 consecutive games until he turned 81. He was a Broadway showman behind the mike, his bombastic home run calls and bias toward the Yankees all part of the act.

But it was genuine. Sterling saw himself as an entertainer and wasn’t afraid to criticize the Yankees when it was called for.

“There was nobody like him. I called him the Iron Horse of broadcasters,” said retired Sox radio announcer Joe Castiglione, who was Sterling’s contemporary. “He did every game, and I usually did, too, except for weddings and funerals. But John never missed a game. He was always there, and he did games his way.”

Sterling and Castiglione became good friends and appeared together at offseason events, including a yearly visit to the Hebrew Home in Riverdale, N.Y.

Suzyn Waldman, the Newton native and groundbreaking Yankees broadcaster, was part of that group.

It was David Pomeranz, the facility’s president and a Sox fan, who came up with the idea of the team broadcasters occasionally switching booths when the Sox and Yankees played.

“John had such fun with that,” Castiglione said.

You may be surprised to learn Don Orsillo studied Sterling while he was a minor league broadcaster to improve his delivery and cadence. Sox radio voice Will Flemming was also a fan and ended his call of Monday night’s victory at Detroit with a Sterling-like, “Theeee Red Sox win.”

Among his peers, Sterling was respected.

“John influenced so many people,” said Castiglione, who plans to call the remaining Sunday home games for the Sox this season. “I really believe he deserved the Frick Award [from the Hall of Fame]. He was so unique.”

Sterling also had some New England ties. He attended Boston University for a time and, early in his radio career, worked at WPRO in Providence. He also loved coming to Fenway Park.

“Isn’t this great?” he’d say, looking out at the view of the ballpark from the press level.

In 2023, during a Red Sox-Yankees game at Yankee Stadium, Justin Turner fouled off a ball that conked Sterling in the head.

“Ow! Ow! Ow! It really hit me,” Sterling said before going on with his call of the game as if nothing happened.

The ball was recovered and presented to Turner to sign.

“To John,” he wrote. “No matter where you sit at a ballgame, you’re never safe!”

Sterling got a big kick out of it, as seemed to be the case with everything he did. That’s how to live your life.

Tarik Skubal, Garrett Crochet, and Hunter Brown finished in the top three of the American League Cy Young Award voting last season, and now they’re all on the injured list. Skubal topped out at 105 pitches over 31 starts last season, then played for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic on the condition that he start only one game. He still ended up needing elbow surgery. Carlos Rodón, who finished sixth, has been out all season recovering from elbow surgery but is due back on Sunday. He’ll join a Yankees rotation that has been the best in the American League … Strange but true: The Dodgers are 7-13 in games started by Shohei Ohtani the last two seasons despite his having a 1.82 ERA over 84 innings … Say this for the late Ted Turner: Putting the Braves on TBS turned people all over the country into fans of his team. How many of you grew up knowing as much about Bob Horner and Dale Murphy as you did about players from your hometown team? … The Cubs have won 15 consecutive games at Wrigley Field, six on walkoffs. They are 18-5 at home and have outscored opponents by 43 runs … Eduardo Rodriguez’s four-year, $80 million contract with the Diamondbacks was a bust over the first two seasons. He made only 39 starts and was 12-13 with a 5.02 ERA. But the 33-year-old lefthander is 3-0 with a 2.50 ERA through seven starts this season, allowing two or fewer earned runs in five of those games. Rodriguez is throwing his changeup and curveball 41 percent of the time compared with 25 percent last season. Credit the World Baseball Classic, too. Rodriguez worked harder over the offseason to be ready to play for Venezuela, lost 25 pounds, and pitched well in two starts … Munetaka Murakami’s first 14 extra-base hits for the White Sox were home runs before he doubled on Monday. That was the longest such streak to start a player’s major league career since at least 1900 … Anthony Volpe and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders wrap up their series against Worcester on Sunday. It’s certainly not where the 25-year-old Volpe expected to be after three seasons as the starting shortstop of the Yankees. But he was optioned to Triple-A after being activated off the injured list last Sunday. New York preferred to stay with Jose Caballero, a journeyman infielder who has played very well defensively and been close to league average as a hitter. “We’re paid to make very difficult decisions,” general manager Brian Cashman said. “This year’s New York Yankees team — we have a lot more choices, and Caballero has emerged with his play. We had to honor that.” Volpe has hit for power (52 homers) but not for average (.222) in three seasons and regressed defensively, although not to a point where he was necessarily a detriment … As Bishop Feehan lefthander Brody Bumila builds up innings and increases his velocity, there is a growing belief that he could be the first high school pitcher taken in the draft. That would likely mean Bumila is gone before the Red Sox make the 20th pick … Congratulations to UConn coach Jim Penders, who won his 800th career game this past week. He’s 27th among active Division 1 coaches … Happy birthday to Marino Santana, who is 54. The righthander from the Dominican Republic had a 10-game major league career from 1998-99. That included three games with the Red Sox in July of 1999. His first two appearances were scoreless. Santana then allowed seven runs on five hits and three walks over 1⅓ innings in a 14-5 loss at Detroit in relief of Tomo Ohka. Gregg Jeffries, Jason Wood, and Luis Polonia homered. “I felt bad for the kid, you want to give him some help, but there is nothing you can do,” manager Jimy Williams said. Santana was sent back to Triple-A Pawtucket two days later and never appeared in another major league game.

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