Gload gets the nod at first for White Sox

[Papa_Bull]

04/17/2004  6:30 PM ET

Notes: Gload gets the nod at first

Utility player played college ball in Tampa

By Anthony Gagliano / Special to MLB.com  

ST. PETERSBURG -- Ross Gload is living the life of a backup. At 28, he made his first Opening Day roster this year with the White Sox, his fourth organization in eight years as a professional.

Ross Gload  /   1B  

Born: 04/05/76

Height: 6'0"

Weight: 185 lbs

Bats: L / Throws: L

However, Saturday's start against Tampa Bay possessed a little extra meaning. His first start for Chicago came across the bay from where Gload starred in college. He played three years at the University of South Florida in Tampa before the Marlins drafted him in the 13th round of the 1997 draft. The last week has been a reunion tour for Gload, a native of East Hampton, N.Y., who played his first game for the Sox in Yankee Stadium on April 9. Saturday's game was Gload's first at Tropicana Field.

"I've got some people I went to school with coming, and we were just in New York and I had people there," Gload said. "And my college coach (Eddie Cardieri) will be here."

Gload's route to the Majors has been anything but direct. USF and Cardieri were the only major school to offer him a scholarship coming out of East Hampton High School.

"They already had two or three guys from New York in school, and I think he came up and saw me late because they got knocked out of regionals," Gload said. "It was like my second-to-last game."

Gload took his only recruiting visit to USF and jumped at the opportunity to play in the warm Gulf Coast weather. He worked his way through the Marlins' minor league system for three years before being dealt to the Cubs in a deadline deal in 2000 for Henry Rodriguez. Gload made his Major League debut with the Cubs on Aug. 31, 2000 against San Francisco. Four days later, he connected with his first home run, going deep at Coors Field.

Interestingly enough, Gload returned to the Majors as a member of the Rockies in 2002. In between, he spent all of 2001 at Triple-A Iowa, where he hit .297 with 15 home runs and 10 triples. He was also traded from Colorado to the Mets and then back to the Rockies in a five-day span in January of 2002. Gload got 31 at-bats with the Rockies before they traded him to the Sox in March 2003. For Triple-A Charlotte last season, Gload was an All-Star, hitting .315 with 18 home runs in the International League.

"I've been traded, waived, designated and taken off the roster," Gload said. "I had four straight Spring Trainings with four different teams. You get used to it."

Manager Ozzie Guillen gave Gload the nod Saturday in place of Paul Konerko after Gload had appeared in three of Chicago's first 10 games.

"I don't know yet (what his role is)," Guillen said. "I saw him in Spring Training, but the regular season is different. I like that he makes our bench stronger and I can use him in any situation. He's not afraid of that pinch-hitter role.

"It's hard to be a backup in the big leagues because you don't get many opportunities to hit. But we're going to find spots to play him and get him some at bats."

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/cws/news/cws_news.jsp?ymd=20040417&content_id=719600&vkey=news_cws&fext=.jsp

[bulls96go]

make us proud

hope he earns a starting job

[Markeymark]

I was at the game, it was a nice surprise to see a USF alum representing.

He singled and was HBP twice by Zambrano (both times a pitch in the dirt hit his feet.) I think he might have scored a run, too.

They announced over the PA system that Cardieri as well as the TCU baseball team were in attendance.

[smazza]

that is good to see  a usf guy make it to the show