Science Hill High School

Jeff Forney

Jeff Forney 1982

Started at shortstop as a junior and senior. The '81 team finished runner-up in the state and the '82 team set a school record with xx wins.

Forney and Patton had Science Hill's RBIs in a 6-2 state championship loss to Germantown in Memphis. Forney was 3 for 5 and scored three runs as Science Hill beat Baylor 19-10 in Chattanooga to reach the state championship.

Jeff Forney made Triple-A with his beloved Cincinnati Reds organization, coached at Notre Dame and was the strength coach of the Arizona Diamondbacks. But 1976 still stands among his best years.

Forney was on the Johnson City National Little League team that went to St. Petersburg, Fla., and got within a victory of the Little League World Series in 1976. He played for Charlie Bailey's state-runner up Science Hill team as a junior in 1981.

Forney went on to Roane State Community College, where each of his two seasons got him drafted, before playing at Florida Atlantic in 1985.

Following a six-year minor league career with the Cincinnati Reds, Forney coached at Notre Dame, Arizona State and with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

These days he's producing and hosting “Baseball Player University”, an instructional show that's been picked up by Fox Sports Net.

Forney played just one season at FAU, but many of his numbers are still prominent in the record book. Forty-six stolen bases remain a season mark, as do his seven triples. His .575 on-base percentage is third all-time.

Forney was drafted 19th overall by Cincinnati after that season, an almost predetermined sensation for a young man who'd grown up cheering for Joe Morgan, Pete Rose and Johnny Bench.

Forney made it all the way to Triple-A in the Reds organization, twice being named an All-Star (in Class A and the Double-A Southern League with the Chattanooga Lookouts).

When Forney's playing days ended in the Reds organization he became an assistant at Notre Dame under Pat Murphy, who had recruited him from Harriman to Boca Raton, Fla., seven years earlier.

Forney followed Murphy to Arizona State before beginning a four-year run as Arizona Diamondbacks strength coach in 1996. Since 1999, Forney, who majored in exercise science and physiology and has written books and designed training bats, has been his own boss.

He and Murphy co-authored “Conditioning for Baseball.” Buck Showalter wrote the foreword.

His latest venture, “Baseball Player University”, is a training show which he also hosts. It was intended to be a local program, but caught the eye of Fox Sports Net.

Forney lives in Gilbert, Ariz., with his wife Sandy. They have been married nearly 16 years. They have a son, Tyler (15), and three daughters, Hollyn (11), Reya (5) and 3-year-old Emery.