#17 Darren Ford, OF. AA: .251/.315/.365, 20 2B, 9 3B, 5 HR, 37 SB, 15 CS in 463 AB's.
It was a rough year for Darren Ford in many ways, but somehow he managed to add his name to a long list of players the Giants might not have won the World Series without. The year started off with an offseason incident in which Darren, who was working for a car dealership, reported being held up at gunpoint and robbed of a bag of cash he was delivering to the bank for the dealership. A couple of months later, near the beginning of the season, he was arrested and charged with making a false police report and with theft of the cash in the bag. At that point, you had to figure Darren's baseball career was pretty much toast. He isn't exactly young for a prospect and I figured he would be suspended until his legal situation was resolved, minimum of 1 full lost season. He played the whole season after all. I'm not sure where his legal proceedings are at this point. He is currently playing winter ball in Venezuela where he's managed just a .063 BA in 32 AB's.
Coming off a great 2009 season in the Cal League, Darren's AA season in Richmond was a disappointment. Somewhat surprisingly, he was one of the first minor leaguers called up for September and may have won the season for the Giants in his very first MLB appearance. The game was against the Colorado Rockies on September 1, game 3 of the series. The Giants had lost the first game 2-1, in what seemed like a season-destroying loss when Carlos Gonzalez hit a broken bat RBI triple and then came around to score on a throwing error by Freddy Sanchez. Game 2 went to the Giants and they desperately needed to take game 3 to win the series and possibly gain ground on the Pesky Padres who were in the midst of their 10 game losing streak.
Tim Lincecum and Ubaldo Jimenez hooked up in a classic pitching duel between two aces, and the score was tied 1-1 going to the bottom of the 8'th inning. Mike Fontenot led off the inning with a walk. Bruce Bochy, made one of his best moves of the season by bringing in Darren Ford to pinch run. Tim Lincecum sacrificed him to second. With Andres Torres batting, Jimenez threw a wild pitch and Darren took off for 3B. Miguel Olivo quickly recovered the ball and thought he had a chance to get Darren but threw wide left and the ball went into LF. Darren jumped up and raced home with what proved to be the winning run. It's quite possible, even likely, that a slower runner might not have advanced to 3B on the WP nor come home on the throwing error by Olivo. Had the Giants lost this game, it is quite possible, even likely, that they would not have won the NL West.
Darren Ford's final MLB line for the season was 7 G, 0 AB, 1 R, 2 SB, 1 CS. That one run may well have saved the season for the Giants! That 1 run made the trade of Ray Durham to the Brewers for Darren Ford a success even if Darren never makes another appearance in a Giants uniform.
Darren will undoubtedly start the 2011 season in the minors. Hopefully he has a better season at the plate. With the Giants logjam in the OF, plus OF prospects like Thomas Neal, Gary Brown and Francisco Peguero coming along fast, Ford would not seem to have much of a future in SF. I think he can help a team out as a 5'th OF for defense and speed. It just might have to be with another team. If that is the case, he will be remembered as a Good Giant, maybe the best career a player ever had without even so much as 1 AB!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Given the plethora of CF prospects coming up in the Giants' system, there is a good chance that Ford will become another Moonlight Graham. But, that 1 run..., he'll always be able to tell his grandchildren about it.
ReplyDeleteWasn't Ford hitting well 2010 spring training?
ReplyDeleteI think I remember Ford having a good spring training. If he can hit at all, he could be a fairly valuable player.
ReplyDeleteFord (and I assume Giants lawyers) worked out a plea bargain since (if I recall correctly) it was his first offense and he will do a big load of community service but don't have to do any time in jail (or worse).
ReplyDeleteYeah, Ford could be our Herb Washington, if you remember him. He might get pushed to AAA - Timpner just signed with Twins I believe - so that Peguero can advance to AA, though maybe they are not mutually exclusive, didn't you say that Peguero played corner in 2010? I would think Brown would start in San Jose. Being in an offensive league should charge up his batting line, he did get some amount of walks, though not good, and he strikes out a lot.
I am willing to give him a break on 2010. He probably had a lot on his mind with that stunt he pulled, then being in limbo all season as to what his future faced. But he will need to put together a pretty good 2011 season or he'll probably move on in 2012 as Peguero or Brown might be up there by then.
Yes, I recall Ford having a great spring, there was talk he might come up mid-season the way he was playing, if I recall right. I think if he can just get on base more, with better discipline at the plate in taking more walks, he won't have to hit that well to be valuable, because of his speed.
Wow, Fairley have been fairly disappointing, he was suppose to be a future CF candidate and he'll probably be in San Jose again at age 23, and playing corner again. Looks like they are preparing him for utility OF role. He at least can take a walk.
But injuries appear to have held him back. He probably should have took slot when he signed and got in that extra half season of play, he might have been further developed.
Still, his questionable behavior before being drafted were signs of immaturity, despite being a year older, and thus were warning signs that maybe he'll take longer to develop.
Sorry for OT, just thought of him when thinking about CF future.
A good topic for the future is a review of the organization depth chart for each of the position and starting/relief pitching. The Giants don't have clear stars for most of the positions, but have a lot of the B- to C type players jockeying for roster space. I am interested in hearing your opinion as to where each fits, and who you think will be the eventual starter in the majors.
ReplyDeleteOGC,
ReplyDeleteI saw Wendell Fairley about mid-season in Lake Elsinore and then again late in the season in SB and in the Cal League Playoffs in RC. He was a much different looking player later in the season. Tentative swings with no authority in LE, solid AB's with strong swings in SB and RC. He finally hit a HR late in the season and he pulled one out to RF in the playoffs that had a real charge in it. I won't give up on him just yet, but yeah, it's getting late for him.
Anon,
I've tried organizational depth charts before and it's a lot harder than it seems like it should be. Maybe I'll give it another try.