Anthony Alford

Anthony Joseph Alford (born July 20, 1994) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent.

Alford attended Petal High School in Mississippi, where he was the quarterback of the football team in addition to playing baseball.

In the 2012 season, he contributed to the team as the starting quarterback in only five games due in part to a suspension for getting into a fight on campus.

Due to a coaching change at Southern Miss and his ineffectiveness at quarterback, Alford transferred to the University of Mississippi where he also struggled.

[5][6] Alford was projected as a first-round talent going into the 2012 Major League Baseball draft, but made it clear that his intention was to continue playing football, leading many teams to pass over him due to signability concerns.

[7] Alford made his professional baseball debut as a member of the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays in 2012 and played in five games, where he hit .167 with one home run and four stolen bases.

Near the end of July, he appeared to find his stroke, raising his season batting average to a high of .249 on August 16.

[8] After the 2016 season, the Blue Jays assigned Alford to the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League.

[18] Alford appeared in 23 games for Mesa during the Fall League season, and hit .253 with three home runs and 15 RBI.

[20] Alford took part in 2017 Major League spring training, and was praised by manager John Gibbons for the improvements he had made over the past year.

[24] In 33 games with New Hampshire, Alford hit .325 with three home runs, 11 RBI, and nine stolen bases before being called up to the majors.

[27] In Toronto's 4–3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on May 23, Alford was called on to pinch-hit in the seventh inning and recorded a double for the first hit of his career.

On September 23, 2019, in bottom of the 15th inning, Alford hit his first major league home run to give Toronto an 11–10 victory over the Orioles.

[35] On September 5, 2020, Alford suffered a fractured right elbow after crashing into the outfield wall attempting to catch a Tucker Barnhart home run in a game against the Cincinnati Reds.

On April 21, 2021, Alford was designated for assignment following the waiver claim of Ka'ai Tom after getting off to a .083/.241/.083 start to the season with no home runs or RBI.

Alford with the Dunedin Blue Jays in 2015
Alford with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2017