Matthew Lee Ford (born April 8, 1981) is an American former left-handed professional baseball pitcher. He played part of one season for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

, and currently works as a coach in the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

organization.

Baseball career

Ford was born in Plantation, Florida, and is Jewish.

High school

Ford attended

J. P. Taravella High School J. P. Taravella High School is a secondary school located in Coral Springs, Florida which teaches grades 9–12. The school is a part of the Broward County Public Schools district. The school was named after Joseph Phillip Taravella (1919–1978), ...

in Coral Springs, Florida. Ford was named Broward County High School player of the year in 1998–99. He was '' USA Today'' All-USA honorable mention in 1999.

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

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s per 9

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

. In 2002, he was 9–5 with a 2.37 ERA at Dunedin, winning the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

's ERA title. In December 2002, Ford was drafted by the

from the Blue Jays in the Rule V Draft. In 2003, he pitched in 25 games for the Brewers, with a 0–3 win–loss record and a 4.33 ERA. Ford appeared in the 2004

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

Prospect Handbook as the # 2 left-handed reliever on Milwaukee's minor league depth chart. He had bone spurs removed from his pitching elbow 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 The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

, but they released him the next month. In 2006, he played for

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, the AAA team of the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

, and in 33 games was 1–2 with a 4.50 ERA, while throwing a fastball. In 2007, he signed with the York Revolution of the independent

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

, then joined the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League to start 2008. He finished the season with the Schaumburg Flyers of the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

. After not playing from 2009–2013, including a stint as the assistant baseball coach at the University of Akron, he signed a minor league contract with the

in January 2014 in an attempt to make a comeback, although he never pitched a game in their system. Ford was hired as a

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

for the Greensboro Grasshoppers in 2021.

Miscellaneous

Ford is proud of his Jewish heritage. "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. His agent is

Matt Sosnick Matt Sosnick is a former San Francisco-based sports agent. He attended Burlingame High School and the University of Southern California. His business partners are Paul Cobbe and Adam Karon. Their client list includes, or included at one time, Ma ...

.http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/25358/edition_id/494/format/html/displaystory.html

References

External links

"Minor League's Top Jewish Prospects," 5/10/06"Chatting with Revs' Matt Ford," 4/30/07
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Matt 1981 births Living people Baseball players from Florida Bridgeport Bluefish players Charleston AlleyCats players Dunedin Blue Jays players Hagerstown Suns players Huntsville Stars players Jewish American baseball players Jewish Major League Baseball players J. P. Taravella High School alumni Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players Minor league baseball coaches Medicine Hat Blue Jays players Omaha Royals players People from Plantation, Florida Rochester Red Wings players Schaumburg Flyers players Sportspeople from Coral Springs, Florida York Revolution players 21st-century American Jews