Originally signed by the Giants in 1948, he made his major league debut on April 15, 1954 at the age of 24. He pinch ran for Ebba St. Claire in his debut game. He was used as a pinch runner/defensive replacement in his first three appearances in the majors, so he had to wait until his fourth game to get an actual at bat. He went 0 for 3 in that game, striking out once. He played a total of twelve games that season, collecting no hits in five at bats. He wore number 17 in 1954.

A small man at 5'11", 156 pounds, he played in only one game in 1955, stepping up to the plate once. He failed to get on base—in fact, he struck out. He wore two numbers in 1955, according to Baseball-Almanac—25 and 37.

He did not play any major league ball in 1956, so he had to wait until 1957 to collect his first major league hit, which he got on April 30 against the New York Yankees and pitcher Duke Maas. He singled to center field, but the Tigers (who selected him off waivers from the Giants in 1955) lost to Maas in a 10-inning game, 2–1. Maas pitched the entire game. Samford ended up hitting .220 in 54 games for the Tigers that year. He wore 27 in 1957.

Again, he failed to make the majors in 1958. On December 6, he was sent from the Tigers with Reno Bertoia and Jim Delsing to the Senators for Eddie Yost, Rocky Bridges and Neil Chrisley.

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