Ford drives in

One of the very few spring training TTM requests I sent this year found its way back to me last week.

I only sent six or seven requests, as spring training TTMs are no longer a source for a high success rate. That's a trend that's really been happening the last ten years or so. I've limited it to trying to send the latest Topps flagship issues for my project, and then one or two others. No sense in wasting stamps.

One of the players I did send to was Mike Ford, a rookie last year who finally made it to the Bronx after signing as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He was both the hitter and pitcher of the year for the 2013 Ivy League season while at Princeton, which is certainly a pretty cool feat.

Ford slowly but surely made his way through the minors. Never a shiny prospect, his rise was steady with a combo of power and OBP.

Finally, he made his debut last season, and was very good, hitting 12 homers at the big league level with a .350 OBP. He had an OPS+ of 137.

He was kind enough to sign my card just as the Yankees were heading to Summer Camp. I like it because it's his Update RC. He is also a part of 2020 Series 2, so I may need to send a request his way again as I try and knock of 2020 for my Topps Yankees Project.