all of in triple A, Ashford was traded to the Texas Rangers with Gaylord Perry & minor leaguer Joe Carroll for Willie Montañez. Once again, he spent all of 1980 in triple A with the Charleston Charlies, with the exception of a brief call up to the majors when starting third baseman Buddy Bell sustained an injury. During the off season, he was traded to the New York Yankees for fellow infielder Roger Holt. Despite batting an even .300 with seventeen RBIs and 86 RBIs to beat Greg Wells out for the International League Most Valuable Player Award in 1981, Ashford only saw his way into the late innings of three Yankee games that October, never receiving an at bat. A poor performance in Spring training took Ashford "out of the picture" for , according to Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. After another season at triple A, he was traded to the crosstown rival Mets for two minor leaguers. New York Mets Ashford got off to an exceptional start with the Mets' triple A affiliate, the Tidewater Tides. A .327 batting average through twelve games earned him a call to the majors. His call up to the Mets received much fanfare, as he was called up with 1980 Major League Baseball draft number one overall pick Darryl Strawberry. His first hit as a Met was his only career triple. He also made his only career appearance behind the plate against the Cincinnati Reds on July 13. Just as the 1984 season was set to begin, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals for pitcher Tom Edens. He earned a spot on the Royals' bench to start the season, but after batting just .154 through nine games, he was sold to the Baltimore Orioles. He finished out the season in triple A for the Orioles, and spent one more season at triple A for the Philadelphia Phillies before retiring. Career statistics Ashford married his high school sweetheart, Sherry. They had three children, Jason, Monica & Leslie, who also graduated from Covington High School. References External links , or Baseball Almanac, or The Ultimate Mets Database 1954 births Living people Major League Baseball third basemen Baseball players from Memphis, Tennessee San Diego Padres players Texas Rangers players New York Yankees players New York Mets players Kansas City Royals players Hawaii Islanders players Portland Beavers players Columbus Clippers players Tidewater Tides players Rochester