LOS ANGELES – Cubs manager David Ross knew outfielder Ian Happ would be on guard when he called a pregame meeting Sunday morning. So, he started it with a decoy: All-Star break schedule and travel details.
Only after did Ross deliver the news that Happ had earned his first All-Star selection, voted in by MLB players, managers and coaches.
“He just put his head in his hands, got super emotional,” Ross said. “And all his teammates started clapping really loud, and lots of hugs. … That’s a guy that puts a lot of pressure on himself, believes in himself, and to see that pay off – I’m super happy for him.”
Major League Baseball announced All-Star pitchers and reserves, including Happ, on Sunday. While starters are named through a fan vote, pitchers and reserves are chosen through player balloting and commissioner’s office selections.
Asked if he could describe what he was feeling when he got the news, after a pause, Happ said: “No.”
“It’s just years of hard work and everything that goes into it,” Happ said. “You think about all the people that helped along the way, family, friends.”
Plenty more tears, on both sides, fell when Happ called his family.
The Cubs are set to send two players, Happ and NL All-Star starting catcher Willson Contreras, to Los Angeles for the All-Star Game next week. Head athletic trainer P.J. Mainville was also one of two trainers selected to work with the NL squad.
Contreras has been lobbying for Happ’s All-Star campaign for weeks.
“The work he’s done this year is impressive,” Contreras said over a week ago, pointing to Happ’s breakout stats. “And I 100% know that he deserves to be there with me.”
Entering play Sunday, Happ ranked third among NL outfielders in on-base percentage (.372) and in the top 5 in batting average (.277) and wins above replacement (2.2), according to FanGraphs.
“Happer has been as consistent of a player as I’ve ever seen him be,” Ross said. “And the fact that he gets rewarded for that, being an All-Star, he’s deserving of that. I think he’s upped his game — not just offensive numbers, but his defense, his base running, his all-around game has been stellar.”
A year ago, at about this point in the season, Ross called Happ into the visiting manager’s office at Dodger Stadium. The Cubs were tied for first in the NL Central entering the four-game series in L.A., but Happ was hitting .182.
“He basically said that I wasn’t going to play for the series much,” Happ said, “and would kind of be coming off the bench because I was struggling so bad. And I cried in his office.”
Cubs fans know the rest. Happ finished the year on a two-month tear, and his success at the plate carried over into this season.
Now, Happ said, that conversation feels so long ago. But it’s come full-circle at Dodger Stadium.
Happ — a former first-round pick who debuted two years after he was drafted, was sent down to Triple-A for half the season in 2019, and has now established himself as an All-Star — had plenty come to mind when asked what he was most proud of in his journey.
“I don’t know if there’s one specific thing,” he said. “But just sticking with it. Everybody in their careers has ups and downs. You think back to some of those really low moments where you’re questioning your confidence and your ability. And to be able to come to the other side of that and feel like you’ve gotten to a point where you’ve gotten a recognition like this, it’s really special.”
Happ had one request of Ross after the manager announced Contreras’ All-Star selection on Friday in front of the team.
“I told him, ‘I’m gonna be waterworks,’” Happ said. “You’ve got to call me in the office or something.”
Said Ross: “So, I couldn’t wait to give the news in front of everybody.”
