Edward “Whitey” Ford won 70% of his decisions during the regular season. He was elected to the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1974. But he saved some of his best pitching performances for the World Series leading the New York Yankees to six World Championships. Here is the story of this crafty lefty from Long Island…..
Whitey Ford was a diminutive 5’10” left handed pitcher who played with the New York Yankees in the late 1950’s thru the mid 1960’s. His lifetime winning percentage of .690 puts him at number three on the all time list (Note: Clayton Kershaw currently is sixth) in that category. He was elected to the Hall Of Fame in 1974 and had his number “16” retired by the Yankees that same year.
If he were pitching today, he would be likened more to a Rich Hill who tops out in the high 80’s and who might affectionately be known as a “junkball artist “. But it’s that word artist that best describes Whitey Ford. He was one of the first to perfect the art of changing speeds and eye level on the hitters he faced. All he did was record outs. And perhaps that is why he earned the title as “Chairman of the Board ” while leading the Yankees to 6 World Championships.
Whitey Ford Led The Yankees To Six Titles
Because it was in those World Series contests that he saved his very best. No one, in fact, has more Series victories than Whitey Ford (10). He also ranks first in strikeouts while pitching a record 146 innings in the Fall Classic.
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It gets even better though. In 1960 and 1961, Ford started four games for the Yankees. He won all four games and all of them were shutouts.
Whitey Ford’s journey to the big leagues began In April 1946, Ford’s senior year in high school, he attended a Yankees tryout camp at Yankee Stadium as a first baseman. Paul Krichell, a Yankees scout, noticed Ford’s strong arm during fielding practice. He told Ford he thought he was too small to play first base, but had him throw a few pitches on the sideline and showed him how to throw a curveball.
That curveball would propel him to 236 wins in the majors, a pitch he would throw over and over again up to 50-75% of the time.
Surprisingly though, Ford’s curve wasn’t the drop off the table kind featured by Sandy Koufax and Clayton Kershaw today. Hit was a sweeping curve that buckled the knees of lefties and paralyzed righties trying to time the pitch. Then occasionally, much like a Tom Glavine, he would drop a fastball on a corner and send the batter to the dugout shaking his head.
The “Team Of Two” Meets Manhattan
Raised on Long Island, Whitey Ford had a familiarity with the Big City that he was only too happy to share with his teammates, and especially Mickey Mantle a “Team of Two” as they affectionately became known as in Manhattan. Everyone wanted to buy them a drink and the duo seldom turned anyone down.
Following his playing days, Ford would settle down to a quiet lifestyle while Mantle would continue his carousing ways. Later, Mantle would rue his partying nights saying, “If I’d known I was gonna live this long, I’d of taken better care of myself “.
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Today, Whitey Ford remains the last of the Yankee notables to be alive from those championship teams. At the annual Yankees Old Timer’s Day, he is still introduced as “The Chairman Of The Board ” and both young and old stand to remember all the reasons why his plaque sits in the Baseball Hall Of Fame.