Lew Ford rises
If anything, Lew Ford’s return to the Major Leagues on Sunday had the ability to provide some pun-tacular headlines:
“Unbe-Lew-able!”
“Lew gotta be kidding me!”
“Whether or not Lew believe it, Ford is back in the Majors!”
Alas, the Baltimore Sun chose the more conservative rout, deciding against wordplay when describing the incredible story of John Lewis “Lew” Ford’s return to the big leagues after a five-year absence. Ford started in left field and batted fifth for the Orioles, going 0-for-3 with a walk and made the highlight reel with a fantastic throw that caught Oakland rookie superstar Yoenis Cespedes trying to stretch a single into a double. The 35-year journeyman (a term that fits Ford perfectly) was serenaded with chants of “Leeewwwwww.” Not a bad day for a guy who started out the baseball year playing with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League.
“I already feel right at home here,” Ford told the media after the game. “The fans are great, and I had a lot of fun out there today. It’s a great feeling to be back.”
The line, ‘It’s a great feeling to be back,‘ doesn’t do the story justice. For someone just browsing the sports page, maybe Ford is returning from a major injury, or spent a couple seasons in the minor leagues learning to play again. For Ford, “being back” means so much more.
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The brilliance of Lew Ford’s return to the Major League doesn’t derive from a story of a guy who was cut from his college team and ended up moving to junior college to continue playing, working hard enough to get drafted in a later round, moving through the minors and eventually contributing on a big-league level. Nor is this the story of a major league veteran who was left behind by the game before he was ready to go. Instead of giving up, he travelled the world of the independent leagues, trading plane rides for bus trips, using hard-work, dedication, luck and chance to eventually find his way back in The Show. The brilliance of Ford isn’t that he falls under one of those clichés; it’s that he falls under both.
The story of Lew Ford: 2012 Major Leaguer, is almost as unexpected as Lew Ford: 1999 MLB draft pick, or Lew Ford: 2004 Major Leaguer who finished in the Top-25 of MVP voting. Ford was a walk-on on at Texas A&M (he was there on an academic scholarship, but not for baseball) and ended up getting cut. He bounced around junior colleges in the area, playing in Oklahoma (Seminole Junior College) and Baytown, Texas (Lee College), before landing at Dallas Baptist College. He played well at DPC, but despite being draft eligible in 1998, Ford’s name was never called upon by any of the 30 teams drafting. Undeterred, Ford was back at DPC the next year, where he continued playing baseball well and was rewarded in the 1999 draft, chosen by the Boston Red Sox in the 12th round (Ford was actually picked ahead of Albert Pujols and Jake Peavy, so there’s that).
Ford’s stint under the Red Sox umbrella was short; in September of 2000 Ford was shipped to Minnesota in exchange for pitcher Hector Carrasco. It was in Minnesota where Ford became the favorite “Lew” of the fans since Lou Collins in the early 90’s (yes, different spellings. Sue me). Hardly an All-Star, Ford was a solid addition to the Twins roster, his best year coming in 2004 when a slew of injuries to the Twins’ outfield pushed Collins to the forefront. In 154 games, Collins had a line of .299/.381/.446 and 15 home runs. He was 24th in MVP voting (tied with Chone Figgins, Francisco Cordero, Travis Hafner, Carlos Guillen and Hideki Matsui, which is just an awesome stat). At one point he led the league in batting average. Much like at Camden Yards last Sunday, the Metrodome was frequently filled with the chants of “Lewwwwww!”
But the story of Ford wouldn’t be as great if everything was hunky-dory for from that point on. In late 2007, the Twins outrighted Ford to the minors, citing injuries and diminished play as reasons for the demotion. However, Ford refused assignment and became a free agent. But nobody in the majors wanted Ford at that point, so he did what countless other players do when their services are no longer needed in America’s pastime: he went to Japan.
Ballplayers going from America to Japan and back again is not a super-rare achievement (Tom Selleck did it in 1992). Ford wasn’t that great in a short stint with the Hanshin Tigers, hitting .225 with three home runs in 47 games in 2008, but it was good enough to parlay into a minor league deal with the Colorado Rockies. That amounted to pretty much nothing and was released by the team a month after signing his deal. He then did step two of the “older-guy-trying-to-return-to-the-majors” dance by joining the independent league. Ford signed a contract with the Long Island Ducks of the nothing-to-do-with-MLB Atlantic League. Much like Japan, Ford did well enough to garner interest from MLB teams, signing a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Reds in August of 2009. But much like before, he didn’t perform well enough to stay, although he lasted a little longer as a Red then he did as a Rockie – it took three months for the Reds to release him.
A stint in Japan, a stint in the independent league and two release notices from two different teams all within an 18-month span isn’t the kind of profile you find on a Hall-of-Fame plaque. But Ford persevered, whether from stupidity or stubbornness, both or neither, and continued to play ball. But instead of going to Japan or back to the independent circuit, Ford traveled south to Mexico, signing a deal with the Guerreros de Oaxaca, a Triple-A affiliate in the Mexican League. In 39 games as an Oaxaca Warrior, Ford hit .314 with five home runs. It was one of his best stints in a non-MLB setting, but unlike the others, no MLB teams came calling. At the end of 2010, Ford had no team, no prospects and seemingly no hope. So he went back to familiar territory; he once again became a Duck.
To fully appreciate just how independent the Long Island Ducks are, go to their website, and make sure the volume is up (try to imagine MLB teams doing that on their websites). The team’s main rival is the Bridgeport Bluefish. They are as stereotypically independent as it gets with their weird names and fun promotions, and that’s where Ford found himself in the 2011 season.
Given all that happened to Ford in his career, one couldn’t be surprised if he decided to call it quits and pursue other opportunities. His second stint with the Ducks was injury-shortened but successful, hitting .318/.406/.531 with 10 home runs and 36 walks in 72 games. No one called, so Ford ended 2011 the same place he started. His story could have wrapped up there, but Ford decided he wanted to try again by finishing an entire season before hanging up his cleats. It turned out to be one of the better decisions of his baseball career.
Ford was fantastic with the Ducks in 2012, hitting .333/.398/.627 in 19 games. Then the call finally came, two years after the last one. Ford was signed by Baltimore and sent to their Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk. His hot bat stayed hot, and in 62 games Ford hit .331/.390/.550 with 11 home runs. The right injuries happened to the right people, the schedule required an extra bat on the bench, and the Orioles made one of their most inspiring call-ups of the season: Lew Ford was returning to the Major Leagues.
In two games so far for Baltimore, Ford has gone 0-for-7. Given that July 31st is the trade deadline, there’s a chance Ford will be sent down again to make room if Baltimore makes a move.
As good as stories like his are, they don’t always translate into movie-esque plotlines, with walk-off wins for a ballclub and being carried around on shoulders. For a team in contention like the Orioles (a sentence not written since 1998), wins are far more valuable then heart-warming stories.
Maybe Ford will rebound, stick with the club and become one of the best stories in baseball. Maybe he’ll be sent down and never see the big leagues again. Whatever happens, Ford has made his mark on the annals of baseball history and given more evidence to the cliché (but seemingly true): “Never Give Up.”
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