Long Island Ducks' 15th-Year Anniversary Team

Autographed 2014 Long Island Ducks 15th-Year Anniversary AARP Team Set

Early in 2014, to mark the 15th anniversary year of the Long Island Ducks playing in the Atlantic League, the franchise asked fans to vote and create a 15th Anniversary Team  -- marking the greatest Ducks in franchise history. The task was to select one player at each position, a manager and final vote selection for a player that may have been overlooked. To commemorate this undertaking, the Ducks released a 15th Anniversary Team baseball card set in May highlighting the final selections.

This is a great keepsake for all Duck fans really highlighting their history! The selections were as follows:

Header Card – Bud Harrelson (Autographed);

Catcher – Francisco Morales (Autographed);

1st Base – Doug Jennings; (Autographed)

2nd Base – Ray Navarrete (Autographed);

Shortstop – Dan Lyons (Autographed);

3rd Base – Bryant Nelson (Autographed);

Outfielder – Justin Davies (Autographed);

Outfielder – Lew Ford (Autographed);

Outfielder – Kimera Bartee (Autographed);

Designated Hitter - Patrick Lennon (Autographed);

Left-hand Starting Pitcher – Randy Leek (Autographed);

Right-hand Starting Pitcher – John Brownell (Autographed);

Reliever – John Valentine (Autographed);

Closer – Bill Simas (Autographed);

Manager – Kevin Baez (Autographed);

Final Vote – Mike Loree (Autographed).

Topps Allen & Ginter Autographed Cards

Assorted Allen & Ginter Autographed Cards

A frequent focus of autograph collectors that attend Atlantic League games is to collect the autographs of players that have reached the Major League level on MLB cards, photos and merchandise.

Although my focus is almost always Atlantic League, I do like to collect autographed Allen & Ginter cards for their attractive artwork and the high-end quality stock that they are produced on.

Here are a couple from recent years featuring former Major Leaguers: Henderson Alvarez, Nolan Reimold, Lew Ford, Brendan Harris, Bill Hall, Jordan Pacheco, Tyler Colvin and John Lannan.

Lew Ford - 2014 Atlantic League Player of the Year

(Top) Autographed 2015  Long Island Duck Yearbook Page
(Center) 2015 SGA Bronze "2014 Atlantic League Player of the Year" Statue(
Left Cent) Autographed 2009 Choice Long Island Ducks Team Set Card #23(
Bot Left) Autographed 2011 Choice Long Island Ducks Team Set Card #7 
(Bot Cent) Autographed 2014 Choice Long Island Ducks Team Set Card #8 (MVP Card)
(Bot Right) Autographed 2015 Choice Long Island Ducks Team Set Card #28 

Out of Beaumont, Texas, Lew Ford spent 5 years (2003-07) in the Major Leagues with the Minnesota Twins playing in 3 Divisional Series.  Ford was American League Player of the Week August 21, 2005.

Ford fought his way back to the big league roster again on July 29, 2012, with the Baltimore Orioles, -- after 5-years of not playing in the Majors -- hitting consecutive-game home runs with the Orioles on August 27th & 28th. Ford batted .375 in the 2012 Division Series and drove in the lone RBI for Baltimore against New York Yankee pitcher C.C. Sabathia in game 5.

Ford has spent parts of 6 different seasons with the Long Island Ducks and set an Atlantic League season record with 189 hits -- and 140 games played -- in 2014 securing himself a .347 batting average for the season and the Atlantic League Player of the Year.

Through the 2014 season, Ford is the Flock's career batting average leader with a .340 lifetime Atlantic League regular season average.

Long Island Ducks 2012 & 2013 "Quack-to-Quack" Atlantic League Champions

Autographed Long Island Ducks' Souvenir Ice Cream Cup Helmets (Clockwise from top left: Adam Bailey, Bobby Blevins Jr., Joash Brodin, John Brownell, Lew Ford, Dan Lyons)

The Long Island Ducks achieved “Quack-to-Quack” Atlantic League Championships in 2012 and 2013.

2012 featured their first league championship in eight years defeating the Lancaster Barnstormers 3 games to 2 in a best-of-five -game series. Series MVP and Duck shortstop Dan Lyons brought home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth in the deciding game with a squeeze bunt to win the championship in dramatic fashion.

John Brownell earned MVP honors in the 2013 Championship; winning games 1 & 5 for the Flock (3.38 ERA; 9 strikeouts) against the series-favorite Somerset Patriots. The intense series featured four of the games in the series being decided by one run, and two extra inning games including a Saturday-night game that went 16 innings and over five hours before being decided.

Some notables players on both years rosters that served as the core of these teams where: Kraig Binick, Joash Brodin, Lew Ford, Dan Lyons, Ray Navarrete, Bryant Nelson, Bobby Blevins Jr., John Brownell, Leo Rosales, Eric Niesen, Bob Zimmermann and the Lansford brothers.