BIOGRAPHY
Mike Ford was born July 4, 1992, in Belle Mead, New Jersey. He is a first baseman in the MLB.
When he was 12 and 13, he was part of Montgomery's Babe Ruth League teams that went to the Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth World Series. He attended Montgomery High School as a freshman before transferring to the Hun School of Princeton.
Ford played college baseball at Princeton University for the Tigers from 2011 to 2013. He was both a first baseman and a pitcher. In 2013, he became the first player in Ivy League history to be named both the Player and Pitcher of the Year, after batting .320 and ranking in the top 10 in the Ivy League in walks (#1, with 31), home runs (#2, with 6), RBIs (#3, with 38), and on-base percentage (#4, at .443), while going 6–0 on the mound with a league-leading 0.98 ERA. In 2012 and 2013, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball League.
After going undrafted in the 2012 Major League Baseball draft, Ford signed with the Yankees as an undrafted free agent. He made his professional debut in 2013 with the Staten Island Yankees and spent the whole season there, batting .235/.346/.374 with three home runs and 17 RBIs in 33 games. Ford started 2014 with the Charleston RiverDogs. In May, he hit four home runs in one game against the Hickory Crawdads. He was promoted to the Tampa Yankees in August and he finished the season there. In 105 total games between both teams, he batted .292/.383/.458 with 13 home runs and 56 RBIs. He was named a South Atlantic League Mid-Season All-Star.
On August 15, in a blowout game against the Cleveland Indians, Ford made his pitching debut. He pitched two innings, including a 1-2-3 ninth inning. On August 26, Ford recorded his first multi-home run game in his MLB career by hitting two home runs against the Seattle Mariners.
On September 1, Ford hit his first career walk-off hit, a solo home run off of Liam Hendriks in a 5–4 win over the Oakland Athletics.
On January 13, 2023, Ford signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners organization. He began the season with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. He played in 49 games for Tacoma, hitting .302/.427/.605 with 13 home runs and 56 RBI before he exercised the opt-out clause in his contract on June 1. The following day, Ford was formally selected to Seattle's active roster.
Ford signed a one-year deal with the Cincinnati Reds for the 2024 season.
