Baseball: Ford '14 signs with New York Yankees

He made history this spring by becoming the first player ever to be named Ivy League Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year. He wowed fans andevidentlyscouts alike over the last two months in the Cape Cod League. And, though he was not drafted in June like fellow ace Zak Hermans ’13, senior Mike Ford will play in the pros.

“I’ve honestly never heard of that happening,” said outfielder Johnny Mishu ’13, Ford’s teammate for three seasons. “A junior going undrafted and then signing before senior year with a team—it’s just amazing.”

Ford officially signed with the New York Yankees organizationTuesdayand will leave the Cape for New York’s Class A Short Season affiliate in Staten Island, delaying his senior year at Princeton.

Ford hit .320 and led the Tigers with 38 RBI and six home runs last season, hitting .297 and knocking in 100 runs over his three years at Princeton. He went 15-8 on the mound over that span, going undefeated and posting an astounding 0.98 ERA his junior year.

Some expected Ford to be drafted in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft in June, but he was passed up.

“I think that from the scouts’ standpoint, a lot of the scouts just weren’t sure whether they liked him better as a pitcher or whether they liked him better as a hitter,” head coach Scott Bradley said.

“I mean, he had possibly the best season in Ivy League history, and he doesn’t go drafted,” Mishu said. “It really upset me … and it made me question the way the whole scouting part of it looks at guys like Mike who are just really good players and might not have the size that the teams want, but they can play at any level.”

After Ford hit .407 during his time with the Cotuit Kettleers in Cape Cod, however, the scouts came around.

“We pretty much told him, ‘Have a good summer, and you’re a free agent now—all the teams can talk to you,’” Bradley said. “He just had a phenomenal first half of the season—I mean a phenomenal first half—and all of a sudden, they had a number of teams bidding for his services.”

Bradley and Mishu agreed that Ford will likely be used as a hitter and not a pitcher, despite his .284 ERA over three seasons at Princeton and his Pitcher of the Year honor.

“He's what we call a professional hitter,” Bradley said. “He draws walks, he hits some home runs, he takes pitches, he works the count—he rarely ever has a bad at bat, and that showed in the Cape Cod league against some of the best college pitchers in the country.”

“He has a beautiful swing, and that’s what’s going to translate to hits at the next level,” Mishu said.

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Ford will not play in a Tiger uniform again, but Bradley emphasized that players who sign with professional teams complete their studies in consecutive fall semesters, taking the spring off to play in the pros.

“Mike’ll be back on campus in the fall doing his schoolwork,” he said. “I don't want anybody to think that they leave, and they don't get their Princeton degrees.”

Ford was the second Tiger to sign with an MLB franchise this season—Hermans was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in June. He is also the second playerin as many yearsto delay his senior year to pursue big-league dreams—seniorMatt Bowman, star pitcher and shortstop,took time off last year to join the New York Mets organization.

“It’s your approach to how you come up to the ballpark every day,” Bradley said when asked if Ford has what it takes to succeed in the pros. “You can’t have highs and lows, you gotta just plug along, and I think Mike’ll do very well with that.”

He also had advice for Ford’s next coach in Staten Island: “Put his name in the lineup. It’s as simple as that.”