Judging by the last week one could have surmised that this offseason was one long party for Cody Ross.

For starters, Monday he watched the ABC show "The Bachelor" at his home with the actual Bachelor, Ben Flajnik.

"He's a buddy of mine," Ross said from his Arizona home. "He's a big baseball fan. He came out of the game one time and he was just on The Bachelorette, just one of those guys. This guy comes out to the game and I'm thinking, 'That guy looks familiar.' I'm thinking, 'Who is this guy? Did I go to school with him? Does he own a restaurant I've been to?' So he comes over and then I realized, 'You're on The Bachelorette!'' It's kind of weird how it all came about. He was just another guy on The Bachelorette, but now he's big-time."

Then, the next night, it was dinner with new teammate Dustin Pedroia, a get-together the Red Sox second baseman described on The Big Show as "a good time" (despite 2 1/2-year-old Dylan Pedroia throwing dough at "an 80-year-old lady eating pasta").

"Somebody said, 'Wow, you had dinner with The Bachelor last night, you're having dinner with Pedroia tomorrow, what's next?" joked Ross.

But the recent wave of excitement has hardly been a microcosm of life for Ross following his eighth major league season.

After the Giants decided not to offer the 31-year-old outfielder arbitration, there was an initial sense of optimism as he glided into the free agent market. Ross anxiously dove into preparation for the 2012 season, taking no more than a few days off after the final game of the '11 regular season, doing all the things he does to get ready for a new campaign. There was film study. There was another go-round at Athletes Performance in Phoenix. And in the midst of it all, there was Jeremy Hermida's wedding in Boston.

And it was while at the early December nuptials of his former teammate that Ross first started to feel the excitement of being a free agent, meeting with Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington.

"I expressed I was interested, and they expressed they were interested," he said by phone from his Arizona home. "That was when both sides said, 'Yes, we're interested, so let's try and make something happen.'"

The problem was that for the next 1 1/2 months, nothing did happen. 

Ross, like many of the free agents on the market this offseason, was forced to play the waiting game. There was no denying the right-handed hitter's value, carrying the ability to play all three outfield positions while coming off a year just two seasons ago in which he hit 24 home runs while playing 151 games for the Marlins. He was also the guy who helped carry the Giants past the Phillies in the National League Championship Series in '10 by hitting .350 with three home runs in the six-game series.

But with his '11 season with the Giants not unfolding exactly like he had hoped -- hitting .240 with a .730 OPS and 14 homers in 121 games while battling a calf injury early and a hamstring ailment late -- the son of a professional bull rider was left playing the waiting game.

"This offseason was definitely tough," he said. "There were a lot of teams I thought would be interested that weren't. There were teams that were interested that I didn't think would be. It was tricky. I can't say it was exciting and I had fun with it, that's for sure. There was a lot of waiting around, and a lot of, 'Hey, we'll get back to you next week. We'll talk to you at this meeting, or after the new year.' It just seemed they kept putting it off. And I know there's a strategy behind it, but it was nerve-wracking at times. I knew something was going to happen, and something good was going to come of it, and it did." 

What did happen was that the Red Sox freed up some money by trading shortstop Marco Scutaro, paving the way to sign Ross to a one-year, $3 million deal to man both right and left field.

"There were a handful of teams that were interested, or had more interest. But I just felt this was the best fit for me," he said. "Even though I'm switching leagues and I don't know the pitching as well in the American League, it was something I knew I could handle and wouldn't be an issue. I just felt like it was a good fit. I knew a lot of guys over there. I love what the organization is about. They want to win and that's what I want to do.

"It was tough because I had no idea about the situation, but I knew I was going to have somewhere to play. It's different for some guys because they're looking for jobs still. I didn't foresee that as an issue at this stage. I didn't take very much time off this offseason. I came as soon as the season was over, maybe took a week of not doing anything baseball-related or weight room or anything, and after that I got right back into it. I was pretty upset at the way my year went last year. I knew I was a better player than what the numbers showed. I was determined to get back in there and get back to the old me."

Ross is convinced that after weathering an uneven '11 season, the pitfalls of free agency, and even a Red Sox physical he described as "about 12 hours long," he has rediscovered a place of contentment. Along with his everyday visits to Athletes Performance -- the elite training facility where he first became acquainted with Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury -- he has used the momentum garnered in the final month of the '11 season (in which he hit .309 with a .974 OPS) to help hit his stride heading into the upcoming spring training.

"I've been doing some things here and there, especially with my swing," he explained. "I'm really focusing on just driving the ball and staying on top of the ball as opposed to swinging with more of an upper-cut. I've been working on little things here and there, focusing on things I need to improve on. At the end of the season I watched some video of myself and just noticed a couple of things I was doing that I kind of got away from last year.

"I started working on those things exactly the last month of the season. I worked with (former San Francisco teammate) Carlos Beltran a lot on the field and in the cage, so I've carried that over into the offseason and I'm really focusing on using my legs as opposed to anything else."

And while there is some adjustments to be made regarding American League pitching and playing in the expanse of the Fenway Park outfield, where he has previously played two games (one in right, one in center), Ross firmly believes Boston is the place he should be. And judging by the days following his late January signing, it's hard to argue.

It's an excitement that can be found both in his tone of voice and on his Twitter account (which already has him wearing a Red Sox hat in his avatar).

"I've always been against Twitter, but I'm getting involved with this drink company that is going to launch in the next couple of months. But then I got on it and thought this was kind of fun, to interact with people, fans, celebrities or whoever," said Ross, who instantly became the team's most prolific tweeter. "I started having fun with it. It's been fun. I enjoy it."

For Ross, those dog days of December and early January seem so far away.

"I can't wait," he exclaimed. "It's going to be fun."