Thomas Steven Ashford (born December 4, 1954) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. He was drafted second overall (to

Roy Smalley III Roy Frederick Smalley III (born October 25, 1952) is a former professional baseball shortstop, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1975 through 1987 for the Texas Rangers (1975–76), Minnesota Twins (1976–82; 1985–87), New York Y ...

) in the January Draft by the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

. In addition to the Padres, Ashford also played for the Texas Rangers (),

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

(),

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

() and

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 ...

().

Early years

Ashford attended Covington High School in

Covington, Tennessee Covington is a city in central Tipton County, Tennessee, United States. Covington is the second largest city and county seat of Tipton County. The city is located in West Tennessee, east of the Mississippi River. The city's population was 9,038 at ...

, and was the starting

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

of the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team his senior year. After a short stint at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

, Ashford transferred to

Southwest Tennessee Community College Southwest Tennessee Community College is a public community college in Memphis, Tennessee. As the product of a merger between two colleges in 2000, the school has two campuses in Memphis and several satellite centers. It is operated by the Ten ...

. He played

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

ball for Post 1 in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

, and was the George W. Rulon Player of the Year in .

San Diego Padres

Upon being drafted by the Padres in the 1974 January Draft, Ashford was assigned to the

Walla Walla Padres The Walla Walla Padres were the primary name of a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, located in Walla Walla, Washington. Named after their parent club, the Padres were members of the Class A short-season Northwest League fo ...

of the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Maj ...

. Playing primarily

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

, Ashford batted .243 with four

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s & thirty

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. His transition to third base began the following season with the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

Alexandria Aces The Alexandria Aces were a baseball team based in Alexandria, Louisiana. The last version of the Aces played in the United League Baseball in 2013. The Aces have played their home games at historic Bringhurst Field, which was built in 1933 for the ...

. His twelve home runs & 67 RBIs for the

Amarillo Gold Sox The Amarillo Gold Sox was the name of an American minor league baseball franchise that represented the city of Amarillo, Texas, in the Class D West Texas–New Mexico League, the Class A Western League and the Double-A Texas League at various t ...

in 1976 earned him a September call up to the Padres. He went 3-for-5 with a

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ov ...

, a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

& two

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s in six

plate appearance In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

s. Ashford began the season in triple A. On June 8, the Padres sold

Doug Rader Douglas Lee Rader (born July 30, 1944), nicknamed "The Red Rooster", is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball who was known primarily for his defensive ability, winning five straight Gold Glove Awards from 1970 to 1974. Rader's career ...

's contract to the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. A week later,

Bobby Valentine Robert John Valentine (born May 13, 1950), nicknamed "Bobby V", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He also served as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University. Valentine played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (196 ...

, his replacement at third base, was traded to the New York Mets. The Padres experimented with

Gene Tenace Fury Gene Tenace (; born Fiore Gino Tenacci; October 10, 1946), better known as Gene Tenace, is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played as a catcher and first baseman in Major League Baseball from through , most notab ...

Dave Kingman David Arthur Kingman (born December 21, 1948), nicknamed "Kong," "King Kong," and "Sky King", is a former Major League Baseball left fielder, first baseman, third baseman, and designated hitter who was a three-time MLB All-Star with 442 career hom ...

(acquired for Valentine) at third before calling Ashford back up at the beginning of July. He collected his first major league RBI in his second start. On July 5, he hit his first major league home run off the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

Bo McLaughlin Michael Duane "Bo" McLaughlin (born October 23, 1953) is a former baseball relief pitcher Major League Baseball relief pitcher from 1976 to 1982 for the Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, and Oakland Athletics. McLaughlin is best known for being h ...

with two

outs In baseball, an out occurs when the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out. When a batter or runner is out, they lose their ability to score a run and must return to the dugout until their next turn at bat. When three outs are recorded in a ha ...

in the ninth

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

to send the game to

extra innings Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie. Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...

. In the twelfth, he singled in the winning

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

. He won the starting job at third for the remainder of the season, and batted .217 with three home runs & 24 RBIs. In , new

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Roger Craig awarded the third base job to the Padres' number one overall pick in the 1974 Major League Baseball draft, Bill Almon. Ashford batted .245 with three home runs & a career high 26 RBIs as a back up

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

Rangers & Yankees

After spending all of in triple A, Ashford was traded to the Texas Rangers with Gaylord Perry & minor leaguer Joe Carroll for

Willie Montañez Guillermo Montañez Naranjo (born April 1, 1948) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball first baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the California Angels (), Philadelphia Phillies (–, ), San Francisco Giants (–), A ...

. Once again, he spent all of 1980 in triple A with the Charleston Charlies, with the exception of a brief call up to the majors when starting third baseman Buddy Bell sustained an injury. During the off season, he was traded to the New York Yankees for fellow infielder Roger Holt. Despite batting an even .300 with seventeen RBIs and 86 RBIs to beat Greg Wells out for the

International League Most Valuable Player Award The International League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual award given to the best player in Minor League Baseball's International League based on their regular-season performance as voted on by league managers. Broadcasters, Minor Le ...

in 1981, Ashford only saw his way into the late innings of three Yankee games that October, never receiving an

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

. A poor performance in

Spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

took Ashford "out of the picture" for , according to Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. After another season at triple A, he was traded to the crosstown rival Mets for two minor leaguers.

New York Mets

Ashford got off to an exceptional start with the Mets' triple A affiliate, the Tidewater Tides. A .327 batting average through twelve games earned him a call to the majors. His call up to the Mets received much fanfare, as he was called up with

1980 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1980 Major League Baseball draft. Compensation Picks Other notable players *Tim Teufel, 2nd round, 38th overall Minnesota Twins *Dan Plesac, 2nd round, 41st overall S ...

number one overall pick

Darryl Strawberry Darryl Eugene Strawberry (born March 12, 1962) is an American former professional baseball right fielder and author who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Throughout his career, Strawberry was one of the most feared sluggers in th ...

. His first hit as a Met was his only career

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a "treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * In ...

. He also made his only career appearance behind the plate against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

on July 13. Just as the 1984 season was set to begin, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals for pitcher

Tom Edens Thomas Patrick Edens (born June 9, 1961) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets (), Milwaukee Brewers (), Minnesota Twins (–), Houston Astros (–), Philadelphia Phil ...

. He earned a spot on the Royals' bench to start the season, but after batting just .154 through nine games, he was sold to the Baltimore Orioles. He finished out the season in triple A for the Orioles, and spent one more season at triple A for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

before retiring.

Career statistics

Ashford married his high school sweetheart, Sherry. They had three children, Jason, Monica & Leslie, who also graduated from Covington High School.

References

External links

, o
Baseball Almanac
o
The Ultimate Mets Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashford, Tucker 1954 births Living people Major League Baseball third basemen Baseball players from Memphis, Tennessee San Diego Padres players Texas Rangers players New York Yankees players New York Mets players Kansas City Royals players Hawaii Islanders players Portland Beavers players Columbus Clippers players Tidewater Tides players Rochester Red Wings players Amarillo Gold Sox players Alexandria Aces players Walla Walla Padres players Charleston Charlies players Ole Miss Rebels baseball players International League MVP award winners Southwest Tennessee Saluqis baseball players