When people hear I’m an engineer at Ford and a former Major League Baseball player, they usually think those worlds couldn’t be more different. The truth is, they’re built on the same foundation.
At the highest levels of baseball, everything comes down to design. The design of a swing, a pitch, a set of mechanics refined to the smallest detail. Today, players and coaches spend hours studying video and pouring over data — spin rate, movement, grip, angles — things we never talked about when I was younger. The game changed because the data changed it. To keep up, players had to become part-engineer.
Over the course of my baseball career, I came to learn that the best coaches and the best players think like engineers. They’re relentless problem solvers, obsessed with optimization, always searching for ways to make something work better, stronger, and more efficiently. That mindset — the constant drive to improve — is what separates the good from the great.
That mindset never left me.
“As an engineer at Ford, I’m guided by the same mindset I learned on the mound: there’s always something to learn, adjust, and improve. ”
Now, as an engineer at Ford, I’m guided by the same mindset I learned on the mound: there’s always something to learn, adjust, and improve. I work with data every day, but at the heart of my role as a vehicle integration supervisor is people — bringing teams together to solve problems, make smart tradeoffs, and look at the vehicle through the customer’s eyes so we can make it just a little better than it was before.
Today, Ford and Major League Baseball — two institutions where I’ve dedicated most of my life — announced a multiyear partnership. This makes sense to me on a gut level.
Baseball is America’s Pastime, and Ford, recently named America’s most iconic company by TIME, has been part of America’s movement forward for generations. Both institutions are deeply rooted in America, built on the idea that when you keep showing up and keep pushing, you find new ways to win.
Over time, these two organizations have evolved to meet the needs and desires of their customers and their fans — faster, more exciting, and fun.
Why This Partnership Feels Authentic
What moves me most about Ford's new partnership with MLB is that it extends to Minor League Baseball and Little League. Like so many people in this country, I grew up with both Ford and baseball. I played at every level, from Little League to the minors to the big leagues.
With this announcement, Ford is making a statement: we're with you for a lifetime. Whether you're a kid picking up a glove for the first time, a player grinding through the minors chasing a dream, or a family heading to the ballpark after a long day of work, Ford will be there.
That kind of presence across every stage of the game feels authentic — because both Ford and baseball have earned their places in American culture the same way. Not with a single moment, but with generations of showing up.
Some of my favorite moments in baseball had nothing to do with stats or scoreboards. They were about people. Kids running the bases on Sundays, completely free of worry. Kids leaning over the bullpen rail asking for an autograph, eyes wide with excitement.
That joy — that sense of wonder — is what makes the game matter. And it's exactly what this partnership is built to preserve and celebrate.
So, when I think about seeing Ford in ballparks this season — from the little fields all the way up to the big leagues — I feel pride. Pride in the work we do. Pride in the vehicles we build. And pride in watching two things I love come together in a way that simply feels right.
I can't wait to take my kids to a game this summer and see them sharing the same space. Because that's what all of this is really about. The reward at the end of the journey.
Trystan Magnuson is a Vehicle Integration Supervisor on the Ford Explorer & Lincoln Aviator and a former Major League Baseball pitcher with the Athletics
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