Lew Ford
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Hanshin Tigers — No. 55 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born: August 12, 1976 | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| May 29, 2003 for the Minnesota Twins | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through 2007) |
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| Batting average | .272 |
| Runs batted in | 172 |
| Home runs | 32 |
| Teams | |
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Jon Lewis Ford (born August 12, 1976 in Beaumont, Texas) is a professional outfielder for the Hanshin Tigers of the Nippon Professional Baseball league in Japan.
Ford is a 1994 graduate of Port Neches-Groves High School where he played football and baseball and a 1999 graduate of Dallas Baptist University. He also played college baseball at Texas A&M University and Seminole Junior College. He and his wife Corri (née Hernandez) have two children (Jake and Jordan).
In 1998, Ford was a first team All American at Dallas Baptist. He set their single school batting record, batting .507 over the course of more than 50 games. In spite of this, Ford was not chosen in the MLB draft. He came back the following year and had another season at Dallas Baptist, after which he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 12th round of the 1999 amateur draft.
In 2000, he played his first full year of Single-A ball for the Augusta Greenjackets of the South Atlantic League. He had a good season, stealing 52 of 56 bases, and established the team single-season batting record by hitting .315, adding 74 RBI from the leadoff spot. Baseball America named him as the best defensive outfielder in Class A, and The Sporting News identified him as the Best 5-Tool Prospect in the Red Sox organization. He led minor league baseball in runs scored with 122. On September 9, 2000, Ford was traded to the Minnesota Twins for Hector Carrasco. He also led Minor League Baseball in runs scored in 2002.
He is known for an episode of accidentally burning himself with a hotel iron[1], which is often erroneously told as a result of the attempted ironing of a shirt while wearing it.[2]
In 2004, he finished tied for 24th in American League Most Valuable Player balloting, garnering a total 2 points out of a possible 392.
Ford was named AL Player of the Week for the week ending August 21, 2005. He helped the Twins take three of four games from the Seattle Mariners after hitting 12-for-33, including three home runs, and leading the league in RBI and runs for that week.
Ford was outrighted to the minor leagues on October 5, 2007, but refused the assignment and became a free agent.
Ford signed with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan on November 29, 2007.
[edit] References
- ^ Barzilai, Peter. "Twins getting mileage from Ford", USA Today, 2004-05-20. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
- ^ Caple, Jim. "Twins ride Ford's focus", ESPN.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
[edit] External links
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