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Tim Ferguson, recently hired to bring in more business in Pasco County for a national mortgage firm, has quite the unusual side job: major league baseball scout.

A left-handed pitcher, Ferguson played minor league baseball in the Montreal Expos organization; coached a variety of minor league teams; and coached college baseball at Palm Beach State College. He also was a scout for the Cleveland Indians and is currently an associate scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Ferguson recently joined Wisconsin-based GSF Mortgage Corp., working out of the company's New Port Richey branch. Ferguson, who started in the mortgage industry in 1999, says he likes the “competitiveness” and “challenge” of the mortgage industry. “Baseball is a very numbers-oriented sport,” he tells Coffee Talk.