Theodore Henry Ford (born February 7, 1947) is an American former right-handed

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

who played for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

and Texas Rangers from 1970 to 1973. He is the grandfather of Darren Ford, who debuted with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in 2010.

Career

Drafted by the Indians 11th overall in the 1966 amateur draft, Ford began his professional career with the

Dubuque Packers Minor league baseball teams have operated in the city of Dubuque, Iowa under a variety of names in various leagues, playing in 52 seasons between 1879 and 1976. Dubuque teams were an affiliate of the Houston Astros (1975–1976), Kansas City Royal ...

. In 71 games with them in , he hit .263 with six home runs and 25 RBI in 262 at-bats. The following year, , he played for the Pawtucket Indians. He hit only .210 in 443 at-bats with them. He missed the entire 1968 and 1969 seasons due to military service. In 1970, he mostly played for the

Wichita Aeros The Wichita Aeros were an American minor league baseball franchise based in Wichita, Kansas, that played in the Triple-A American Association from 1970 through 1984. The Aeros were established as an expansion franchise when the Association grew ...

, hitting .326 with 12 home runs and 57 RBI in 383 at-bats with them. However, he started the season with the big league club. On April 7, he made his major league debut with the Indians. Facing star pitcher

Dave McNally David Arthur McNally (October 31, 1942 – December 1, 2002) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from 1962 through 1975, most notably as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dyn ...

of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

, he went 0–2 with a walk in his first game. He spent time in both the majors and minors in 1971 as well. In the majors, he hit .194 in 196 at-bats. In the minors - playing for the Aeros again - he hit .330 in 176 at-bats. On April 3, 1972, Ford was traded to the Texas Rangers for Roy Foster and

Tommy McCraw Tommy Lee McCraw (born November 21, 1940) is an American former professional baseball player and coach (baseball), coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and outfielder for the Chicago White Sox (1963–70), Washington Senat ...

. He played in 129 games with the Rangers that year, hitting 14 home runs and driving 50 runs in in 429 at-bats. His batting average was .235. Ford spent nine games with the

Denver Bears Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of th ...

that year as well, hitting .222 in 36 at-bats. Ford returned to the

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

along with Dick Bosman from the

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

for

Steve Dunning Steven John Dunning (born May 15, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher between and for the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, California Angels, Montreal Expos an ...

on May 10, 1973."Bosman Sent to Indians By Rangers for Dunning," ''The Associated Press'' (AP), Thursday, May 10, 1973.
Retrieved January 21, 2023. He appeared in only 11 big league games that season, hitting .225 in 40 at-bats. He played his final game on September 29. Although his major league career was over after 1973, he was still involved in notable trades after that. On April 24, 1974, for example, he was traded back to the Rangers for

Charlie Hudson Charles Hudson (born August 18, 1949) is an American former left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1972 to 1975 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers and California Angels. He was 6'3" tall and he weighed 185 pounds. He ...

. Overall, Ford hit .219 in 240 major league games. In 711 at-bats, he hit 17 home runs and drove in 68 runs.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Ted 1947 births Living people African-American baseball players Alacranes de Durango players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Arizona Instructional League Athletics players Baseball players from Cumberland County, New Jersey Broncos de Reynosa players Charros de Jalisco players Cleveland Indians players Denver Bears players Diablos Rojos del México players Dubuque Packers players Florida Instructional League Indians players Hawaii Islanders players Major League Baseball outfielders Oklahoma City 89ers players Pawtucket Indians players Sportspeople from Vineland, New Jersey Saraperos de Saltillo players Spokane Indians players Texas Rangers players Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Tigres del México players Wichita Aeros players United States Army soldiers 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen