Erath's Ross Granger gets called up to the "Big Leagues'

The news came Friday night just around 8 o’ clock. Ross Granger got called up to play in the “Big Leagues.”
Even better news, he is expected to pitch this week against the greats such as Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Joe DiMaggio to name a few.
Granger, 19, was called up by the big coach himself, God, who needed a fresh left handed pitcher.
For his 19 years on Earth, Granger dreamed about playing baseball for a living. He loved the sport.
His favorite major league baseball team is the Houston Astros. His favorite player is left-handed Houston Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel.
His favorite high school team is the Erath Bobcats, a team he played on for four years.
His second love was the LSU-E baseball team, a school he had planned on playing for right after high school. He signed a scholarship to pitch for LSU-E, but never got a chance because of his illness.
On Monday, he was buried in his LSU-E baseball uniform. He also left this Earth with a baseball in his left hand, ready to throw when called on.
Close to 1,000 people paid their respects to the Granger family Sunday and Monday at David’s Funeral Home in Abbeville.
Erath Middle School and Erath High School closed on Monday, so students and faculty could attend the funeral.
His best friend, Taylor Abshire, showed he was a true best friend and stayed with Ross 24-7 until he passed away. He wore Ross’s athletic jacket and his baseball jersey all weekend.
Athletes from throughout Acadiana, paid their respects to Ross and the Granger family. LSU-E baseball players came to wish him well in the Big Leagues.
They were the honorary ball bearers and they crowded into Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High.
The church in Erath could not hold any more people during a Mass on Monday. They put the overflow crowd into a hall next to the church.
His father, Nathan, spoke in church. He made everyone cry and he made everyone laugh.
It was a great send off to the Big Leagues.
No one was surprised by the amount of people who attended Ross’s funeral because of the type of person he was.
Jeremy Picard, who is now the head baseball coach at Erath, was an assistant baseball coach at Erath when Ross played.
“Ross was a selfless person who always put the good of everyone else before himself,” said Picard Monday morning. “He was a leader who led by example, both on and off the field. He was loved and will be missed by many. His spirit and drive will continue to live on and carried by all who put on that Bobcat baseball uniform.”
In the near future, the Erath High baseball field may be named the “Ross Granger Memorial Baseball Field.”
Ross loved baseball so much, that he compared baseball to life in a video he created in hopes of being accepted into Tulane University in New Orleans. He submitted the video to Tulane to show he could think outside of the box.
He narrated the video and he also starred in the video pitching, hitting and fielding.
“All my life all I wanted to be is a baseball player. Baseball may be just a game, but it is much more. It is life.”
He said people should only worry about what they can control, such as “work ethics and attitude.”
“Do the best you can, and don’t like to be perfectionist,” he said in the video. “Stay positive and don’t let the world get to you. If you do, the world will win.”
Ross said life is a base path. First, there is the swing, then you head to first base. Along the way in life (towards first base), you learn to crawl, take your first steps, ride a bike, lose a tooth, and becoming more independent, he narrated in the video.
Rounding first base, he compares that in life to starting school, doing well in school, finding and losing your first love, making friends, and graduating high school and being accepted into college.
Heading to third base, its off to college and graduating college, falling in love and getting married, getting a career, and having kids.
He rounds third base and heads for home.
“That (heading home) is the final part of life, because we get older. It is a time to think back on the life we have lived and hopefully, we have no regrets.
“We have to have lived our lives the best that we could. Change a few lives maybe. And left our mark on the world,” said Ross.
In his short 19 years of living, Ross has made more of an impact than most people who live to be 70 will ever do.