ANAHEIM, Calif. — This one was simple, John Sterling said, and you can understand why. Mike Ford is a baseball player with a long backstory and a simple name, both of which come in handy. You can fill some air time during long at-bats telling tales of Ford’s long journey from Princeton through parts of seven minor league seasons.
More useful, it made things much easier for Sterling when, in the top of the fifth inning Tuesday night at Anaheim’s picturesque ballpark, Ford crushed a pitch from the Angels’ Chris Stratton well over the right-field scoreboard for the first home run of his career.