Inductees for 2023

Theodore Henry (Ted) Ford

Ted-Ford
Athlete

Ted was born on February 7, 1947 in Vineland, NJ. and knew from age 8 he wanted to be a professional baseball player.

At Vineland High School, Ted excelled at playing the four major sports with baseball definitely his favorite. In ’66, he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 1st Round (11th player taken overall – just after the Phillies’ John Vukovich) in the Amateur Draft.

Assigned to the Dubuque (AA) Packers, Ted, an outfielder with a strong arm, hit .263 in 71 games, with 6 HR’s and 25 RBI’s in 262 AB’s. He played winter ball with future major leaguers Reggie Jackson, Cito Gaston and Rick Monday.

Promoted in ’67 to Pawtucket (AA) hitting .210 with 42 RBI’s in 132 games, his season was shortened when drafted into the Army to serve state-side in Louisiana.

Discharged in ’69, and working his way back into shape, Ted made the ’70 Cleveland Indians club and debuted vs. the Orioles on April 7, facing Dave McNally, going 0-2 with a BB. After only 50 plate appearances, Ted was sent to Wichita (AAA) hitting .326 with 12 HR’s and 57 RBI’s in 106 games.

After shuttling between AAA and Cleveland in ’71, Ted played winter ball in Venezuela with Rod Carew, Dave Concepcion and Graig Nettles.

Ted was traded to the expansion Texas Rangers (Washington Senators) in ’72 for Tommy McGraw after catching the eye of Manager Ted Williams. In his Rangers debut on April 28, Ted hit a game-winning 3-run HR, driving in Frank Howard and Tom Grieve. He played in 129 games in ’72, leading the team in HR’s with 14, hit .235 with 19 doubles and 50 RBI’s AND lead the American League with 10 Assists from right field!

Between ’73 and ’82 Ted played for the Rangers, Indians and San Diego Padres affiliates as well as several Mexican teams, before retiring to Hammonton, NJ. He returned to Texas in 2012, opened a youth baseball camp and was an assistant coach for his youngest son’s (Tim) college baseball team.

Ted, 76, had a younger brother, Lambert (1949 – 2022) and a grandson, Darren, 38, both who played professional baseball.

Theodore Henry (Ted) Ford2023-06-05T09:23:37-04:00

Darren Rodell Seabrooks Ford

Darren Ford
Athlete

Darren was born in Vineland, NJ on October 1, 1985. He excelled in the South Vineland baseball leagues and was a stellar athlete at Vineland High School on the varsity baseball, football and indoor track teams. Upon graduation, Darren attended Chipola Junior College in Marianna, Fla.

Darren began his professional baseball career in 2004 when he was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 18th Round of Major League Baseball’s Amateur Draft. Assigned to the Brewer’s Rookie team in Helena, Montana, the ultra speedy outfielder hit .271 in 61 games in 2005 and .283 in 125 games in 2006 with the Brewer’s Single-A team, the West Virginia Power, playing alongside teammates Ryan Braun, Michael Brantley, Ned Yost and Lorenzo Cain. As a defensive stalwart and a stolen base specialist, he played in the Brewer’s minor league system until July 2008, when he was traded to the San Francisco Giants organization for all-star Ray Durham.

Darren made his major league debut with the Giants on September 1, 2010 when he scored the winning run vs. the Colorado Rockies. In case of an injury to a rostered player, he traveled with the team during the Giants’ post-season run to their 2010 World Series title.

In 2011, Darren played in 26 games for the Giants before an ankle injury ended his major league season. From 2012 through 2016, Darren signed minor league free agent contracts with the Giants, Seattle Mariners and the Pittsburgh Pirates before signing Independent League contracts from with the Somerset Patriots and New Britain Bees from 2017 – 2019. When the Covid pandemic closed down the entire Minor League system in 2020, Darren opted to retire.

Darren, nicknamed “The Bullet” for his blazing speed, played in a total of 1,592 professional games, garnering 6,481 plate appearances, a career .262 batting average, and 583 stolen bases while playing with hundreds of major leaguers over his 15 years in professional baseball. His career took him to cities throughout the U.S., Hawaii and Venezuela.

Currently, Darren resides in Burlington County and is a Coach for the Trenton Thunder, a MLB Draft League team. Darren is the proud father of daughter, Alahnia, and is the grandson of former major leaguer, Ted Ford.

Darren Rodell Seabrooks Ford2023-06-05T08:23:13-04:00

Recent Induction: Sal Paolantonio

Sal Paolantonio
Media Contributor

Sal Paolantonio, National Correspondent for ESPN since 1995, was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the All Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey on Saturday, March 11, 2023 at the Ramblewood Country Club in Mt. Laurel, NJ.

Sal Paolantonio, a national correspondent for ESPN since 1995, is the longest serving reporter at the network. He has been the host of the NFL Matchup Show for 20 years, currently the longest serving host of an NFL studio show at ESPN.
On the ESPN national radio network, Paolantonio calls NFL games as a booth analyst. He is a voting member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee in Canton, Ohio. In 2018, he was awarded the Jack Newfield Courage in Journalism Award given by the New York Daily News. Including his tenure at the Philadelphia Inquirer, Paolantonio has been a NFL reporter for 30 years.

Sal has been honored with seven Emmy’s for his contributions to SportsCenter (1996, 2003, 2005 and 2020-21) and Sunday NFL Countdown (2001, 2003 and 2006). Sal is the author of four books: Philly Special: The Inside Story of How the
Philadelphia Eagles Won Their First Super Bowl Championship (2018), How Football Explains America (2008) ; The Paolantonio Report: the Most Overrated and Underrated Players, Coaches, Teams and Moments in NFL History (2007) and Frank Rizzo: The Last Big Man in Big City America (1993), the all-time No. 1 local bestseller in the Philadelphia region and adapted for the stage by
playwright Bruce Graham, running for two years at the Suzanne Roberts Theater on the Avenue of the Arts.

From 1985 to 1995, Sal was a sportswriter and national political correspondent at the Philadelphia Inquirer, covering the 1988 and 1992 presidential campaigns, and the 1991 race for mayor of Philadelphia. In 1994, Philadelphia Magazine named him the best sportswriter in Philadelphia. In 1993, Philly Mag named Paolantonio the city’s top author. In 1985, while at the Albany Times Union, Paolantonio received an Associated Press Enterprise Reporting Award for his writing and photography of the
famine in Kenya and Ethiopia.

Paolantonio was a Surface Warfare Officer, serving as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific and Indian Oceans from 1978-83. In 1981, he was awarded the United Nations Meritorious Service Medal for his role in the rescue of Vietnamese refugees in the South China Sea.

Paolantonio has a bachelor’s degree in history from SUNY Oneonta, named one of the 100 most prestigious graduates for the college’s Centennial Celebration. He has a Master’s degree in journalism from NYU. In 2013, he received an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from SUNY.

Sal has lived in South Jersey with his wife, Lynn, for 38 years. They have three married children and four grandchildren.

Presented by
The All Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey
March 11, 2023

L- R: Ron Jaworski, Mike Quick, Dick Vermeil, Sal Paolantonio, Harold Carmichael, Joe Decamara
Recent Induction: Sal Paolantonio2023-05-25T17:52:09-04:00
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