BOSTON — Dec. 2.
According to David Ross, that’s Judgment Day for his beard. The Red Sox catcher plans to leave a little stubble for the misses, but other than that, it’s sayonara to one of Boston’s most recognizable facial hair displays.
Perhaps then a clean-shaven Ross can get back to a sense of normalcy, which is something that’s been lacking since the Red Sox won the World Series just over a month ago. The extra attention and fanfare that comes with a championship triumph is nice, but it’s also a whole new beast for the 36-year-old, career-long backup catcher.
“The recognition. I don’t know that I was ready for that,” Ross said Monday while discussing his whirlwind month in the limelight. “I can’t walk into the grocery store without someone knowing who I am or wanting to take a picture or say, ‘Hello,’ which is great. But there comes a point when I think my kids are over that. My daughter said the other day, ‘Can’t we just have a normal dinner?’ So I’m just ready to get back to normal.”
Things will probably never be the same as they were before October. If you win a title in Boston, your days of flying under the radar are over. It’s a trade-off that most athletes, including Ross, are willing to make, even though it takes some getting used to. In fact, Ross still hasn’t completely wrapped his head around the idea of being called a World Series champion.
“I’m so happy. I don’t know that it ever sinks in. I know everybody wants to ask that question. I don’t know,” Ross said. “I’ll still text some buddies. We’ve got a group text going that in the middle of the night. It’ll just be everybody texting each other and talking about everything. I don’t know that it has set in for anybody.We’ll just text every once in a while, ‘Do you believe what we did?’ I don’t have any words for it.”
Maybe everything will finally sink in for Ross when the beard comes off Dec. 2. But probably not.
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