Against the Phillies in the NLCS, Ross belted two homers off Roy Halladay in Game 1 and another off Roy Oswalt in Game 2. He also homered against Colby Lewis of the Rangers in Game 3 of the World Series.
But in 2011, Ross had a miserable season, batting only .240 with 14 homers and 52 RBIs.
Ross, who signed with the Red Sox as a free agent in the offseason and arrived in camp yesterday, said that he might have suffered from a World Series letdown.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel that last year,’’ he said, “but after the first week went by, you realize you’re not going to do that every time you come to the plate.
“That quickly came out of my head and then I tried to figure out what I did in the past to get to that point.
“I do feel like I contribute something on a daily basis, and I do feel if we get to the playoffs, it’s a different feeling. You have to have a different mind-set. Some guys perform and some guys don’t. I feel I can bring that.’’
He described his 2010 postseason success as basically an adrenaline rush.
“I just had a different mind-set in the playoffs,’’ he said. “You go through the daily routine, playing baseball every day for 162 games, and it’s a grind. It’s tough, but once you get to the playoffs, you say, ‘Wow, this is what we played every day for. This is why we play the game.’
“You sort of have that mentality. You either do it or you don’t. Fortunately for me, I did it.
“It’s something a lot of guys in here have - a lot of playoff experience. They know what it takes to get there. That helps on teams. You realize that you need to win this game because it matters in Game 161 when you’re down the stretch.’’
So after the down season, he became a free agent, and the Giants, who made deals with the Royals for Melky Cabrera and the Mets for Angel Pagan, believed his asking price was far too high.
