Matt Ford

Matthew Lee "Matt" Ford (born April 8, 1981) is an American left-handed professional baseball pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

Baseball career

High school

Ford attended J. P. Taravella High School in Coral Springs, Florida. Ford was named Broward County High School player of the year in 1998–99.^[1] He was USA Today All-USA honorable mention in 1999.^[2]

Professional career

In June 1999 he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 3rd round of the draft.

In his first season in the minor leagues, in 1999, he was 4–0 with a 2.05 ERA at Medicine Hat, averaging 6 hits and 13 strikeouts per 9 innings.

In 2002 he was 9–5 with a 2.37 ERA at Dunedin, winning the Florida State League's ERA title.

In December 2002 he was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers from the Toronto Blue Jays in the Rule V Draft.

In 2003 he pitched in 25 games for the Milwaukee Brewers, with a 0–3 won lost record and a 4.33 ERA. Ford appeared in the 2004 Baseball America Prospect Handbook as the # 2 left-handed reliever on Milwaukee's minor league depth chart. He had bone spurs removed from his pitching elbow at the end before the 2004 season. In May 2005 he was released by the Brewers.

In June 2005 he signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals, but they released him the next month.

In 2006 he played for Rochester, the AAA team of the Minnesota Twins, and in 33 games was 1–2 with a 4.50 ERA, while throwing a 93 mph (150 km/h) fastball.

In 2007 he signed with the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and he then played with the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League to start 2008. He finished the season with the Schaumburg Flyers of the Northern League.

After not playing from 2009-2013, he signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates in January 2014.

Pitching

Ford throws a fastball, sinker, 2-seamer, changeup (probably his best pitch; a 14 mph (23 km/h) difference off his fastball), and slider.

Miscellaneous

• While he is not particularly religious, Ford, who is Jewish, views being a Jewish ballplayer as an honor. “I’m proud of what I am. I got the (major league Jewish baseball players) card set when I was in the majors in 2003, and I was on a card set with Sandy Koufax, so I thought that was pretty neat and there weren’t too many of us, so it was pretty special that way,” Ford said.^[3]

• His agent is Matt Sosnick.^[4]

References

1. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20030619153614/http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brew/apr03/135794.asp
2. ↑ "Baseball". USA Today. June 29, 1999. Retrieved January 9, 2011. 
3. ↑
4. ↑ http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/25358/edition_id/494/format/html/displaystory.html

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• BR Bullpen profile
• "Ford Aims for Show," 2006
• "Minor League's Top Jewish Prospects," 5/10/06
• "Chatting with Revs' Matt Ford," 4/30/07