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The beautiful improbability of Designated Hitter Lew Ford

by Rob Neyer

Through two innings in Game 5, it's just more of the same: 12 batters up, and 12 batters down. Hats off to CC Sabathia and Jason Hammel, etc.

In the top of the third, Lew Ford will come up second for the Orioles. Now, it's fair to ask why a .183 hitter with no power is DH'ing for a playoff team. I mean, you can ask. I don't think anybody's got a good answer.

So instead of wondering why the O’s couldn’t come up with a good or even decent right-handed hitter for the biggest game of their season, let’s instead simply celebrate Jon Lewis Ford.

He’s 36. He opened this season with the Long Island Ducks in the independent Atlantic League. Before joining the Orioles in August, he hadn’t played in the majors since 2007. He hadn’t played well in the majors since 2004 (when he finished 24th in the American League Most Valuable Player balloting!).

And yet here he is, with a chance to become more than just a footnote in this sport’s grand history. If you’re an Orioles fan, you probably should wonder. If you’re a baseball fan, you probably should rejoice. Lew Ford is one of the reasons why we love this game so much.

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