WHITEY FORD







Born: October 21, 1928 New York, New York


Although he was the ace of the New York Yankee pitching staff for fifteen years, Ford was never really in the team's starting rotation for most of that time. Manager Casey Stengel used him when he thought Ford would be most effective, and Ford had his own preferences. For example, he hated to pitch in Boston's Fenway Park, and rarely did.

A clever left-hander, who specialized in the curve ball and, as he later admitted, a trick pitch that involved cutting the ball to give it an unusual break, Ford was a high-percentage winner who specialized in big games.

He joined the Yankees during the 1950 season, won 9 consecutive games down the stretch, and beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the deciding fourth game of the World Series.

After two years in the Army, Ford returned to the Yankees in 1953, when he had an 18-6 record. He led the AL in victories with an 18-7 mark in 1955, and in winning percentage, .760 on a 19-6 record, and ERA, with 2.47, in 1956. Ford was the ERA leader again in 1958 at 2.01, and he also led the league in shutouts with 7, though he had only a 14-7 record.

Although Ford pitched two shutouts in the 1960 World Series, the Yankees lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates in seven games, and Stengel was replaced by Ralph Houk, who made Ford his top pitcher. Ford responded by winning more than 20 games for the first time. He led the league in victories and percentage with a 25-4 record in 1961, when he won the Cy Young Award, and he led in both categories again with a 24-7 mark in 1963.

After going 17-6 in 1964 and 16-13 in 1965, Ford developed shoulder problems. He won just 4 games in limited action over the next two seasons and retired. He coached with the Yankees for a year, then left to pursue business interests. However, he returned to the Yankees as pitching coach for the 1974 season and later became a spring training instructor with the team.

In 498 games, Ford had a 236-106 record, a .690 winning percentage, and a 2.75 ERA. He recorded 45 shutouts and struck out 1,956 hitters while walking 1,086 in 3,170 innings. When he retired, he held World Series records for most games, 22; most wins, 10; most losses, 8; most innings, 146; most strikeouts, 94; and most walks, 34.