Background
Sanford was born to Doctor and Mistress T. Ryland Sanford in about 1907.
Sanford was born to Doctor and Mistress T. Ryland Sanford in about 1907.
He later attended Hargrave Military Academy where he was an all-state athlete in football, basketball and baseball.
He served as the head baseball coach at Randolph–Macon College from 1942 to 1949 and at Wake Forest University from 1951 to 1955. He led the Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball team to the 1955 College World Series championship. He then enrolled at the University of Richmond.
Sanford was captain of the Richmond Spiders football, basketball, and baseball teams, and set school records in the shotput and discus.
He then played baseball professionally in the Bi-State Development Agency and Piedmont leagues while also coaching prep and college teams. He ended his professional career in 1946, having never climbed higher than Class B.
He was listed as a scout for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball in 1948.
Sanford began his coaching career at Hargrave, coaching for thirteen years at the prep school. He became athletic director and coach of the baseball and basketball teams at Randolph–Macon.
In his second year at Wake Forest, he added baseball to his coaching duties while continuing in various assistant coaching roles with the football team
During the College World Series, a rainout forced a game on Sunday, sparking a small controversy at the Baptist school when word reached Wake Forest. Sanford therefore resigned from Wake Forest on January 31, 1956, citing his "feeling of insecurity" and that he had "no assurance that I will have a job after the current season is over."
Sanford returned to Virginia after stepping down at Wake Forest, and served as Athletic Director at Fort Lee. He died on August 8, 1966 in St. Petersburg, Virginia.
In 1977, Sanford was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.