By Jon Paul Hoornstra
Copyright newsweek
Ted Ford struggled to hit over parts of two major league seasons with the Cleveland Indians. A former first-round draft pick, Ford hit just .190 through his first 100 big league games.But in a 1971 game against the Washington Senators, Ford hit a baseball to the wall that caught the eye of the opposing manager — Hall of Famer Ted Williams.More news: Former Phillies, Orioles, Cardinals Catcher Passes Away”When they moved to Texas and were looking to make some moves the next spring, Williams recommended me,” Ford said in a 2015 interview.Traded to the inaugural Rangers team prior to the 1972 season, Ford was one of few bright spots in Williams’ lineup. Monday, the team announced that Ford died at age 78.Despite Williams’ credentials, the first Major League Baseball team to call Arlington, Texas home couldn’t hit a lick. They combined for 56 home runs as a team — a number that might well be surpassed in 2025 by two individual players.Ford was the only hitter in the Rangers’ lineup to hit more than 10 home runs in their first season after moving from Washington, D.C. He hit 14.Ford played 129 games for the 1972 Rangers, the most in any of his four MLB seasons (1970-73). The team lost 100 games, Williams resigned at the end of the season, and Ford was traded back to Cleveland the following year. He played just 11 games with the Indians in 1973, the final chapter of his big league career.More news: Original Astros Pitcher Passes AwayThe 11th overall pick by Cleveland in the 1966 draft out of Vineland (N.J.) High School, Ford was immediately assigned to the Indians’ farm team in Dubuque, Iowa.”He hit a grand slam homer his first time up and then triple,” the Cleveland Plain-Dealer wrote of Ford. “After that debut, there’s nowhere to go but down.”More news: Original Mets Outfielder, Former Cubs Manager, Dies at 94In 1970, his fifth season in the minor leagues, Ford hit .326 for Triple-A Wichita to earn his first promotion to the majors at age 23. But he struggled to maintain his place on Cleveland’s roster, and was ultimately traded to the Rangers for slugger Roy Foster, whose shoddy defense left him buried in the minor leagues.Although his time in the big leagues was brief, Ford would go on to coach youth baseball in New Jersey, then in Texas at Huston-Tillotson University, an NAIA school.More news: Former Yankees, Cubs Outfielder Passes AwayFord’s grandson, Darren, appeared in parts of two major league seasons (2010-11) with the San Francisco Giants.For more MLB news, visit Newsweek Sports.
