I’m going to give you an unwanted earworm in a moment, but first let’s get to the good news: Lew Ford, the outfielder who last played for the Twins in … wait, that can’t be right … 2007 (wow, I’m old) and last appeared in the majors in 2012 is still playing professional baseball.
And not only that: He’s an All-Star!
Granted, Ford is playing as he has for the past several years with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. But an All-Star is an All-Star.
Ford is hitting .268, which frankly doesn’t sound that great but what do I know about the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball? He is tied for fourth in the league in RBI with 37 AND he is a player/hitting coach for the squad.
Ford will be 42 next month, so more power to him.
His best year with the Twins was 2004, when he hit .299 with 15 home runs and finished 24th in the AL MVP voting.
He and I also had a memorable exchange about computers in 2006 during a Q&A that ran in the paper:
Q: You have a reputation for being into computers. Where doesthat come from?