Whitey Ford, remembered as “The Chairman of the Board,” spent his entire career playing for the New York Yankees. Though his career ended in 1967, he is still remembered to this day as one of the greatest left-handed pitchers to ever play the game.
Ford accumulated many accolades over the span of his career. They included a Cy Young award and World Series MVP, both in 1961. He also led Major League Baseball in ERA in 1956 and 1958. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.
But he’s most remembers as the ace of the Yankees’ pitching staff on a team that dominated baseball in the 1950s and 1960s. Ford won six World Series titles as part of those teams.
Yankees World Series Wins 1903 - Present
Whitey Ford’s Early Life
Edward Charles “Whitey” Ford was born Oct. 21, 1928, in Manhattan. His family moved to Queens when he was five years old. His father worked many years for Consolidated Edison before opening a bar, the Ivy Room, with a friend in Astoria, Queens. His father also played semi-pro baseball.
Under his influence, Ford also played baseball as a kid. He grew up a Yankees fan. His hero, Joe DiMaggio, would later become his teammate. Ford attended the Manhattan School of Aviation Trades because it had a baseball team, traveling every day into Manhattan to attend classes.
Ford eventually got the notice of several big league clubs coming out of high school. But the Yankees outbid the Boston Red Sox and New York Giants. Ford started playing in the Yankees minor league system. He never played for anyone else.
Whitey Ford’s Early Career
Ford spent 1947 with the Yankees’ Class-C team in Butler, Penn. because his manager had a hard time remembering the names of new players, he started calling Ford “Blondie” and “Whitey” because of his hair. Eventually, he stuck with Whitey, and the nickname stuck with Ford.
He spent the next year in Norfolk. Always a small kid, weighing about 150 pounds, Ford gained weight to reach 170. It seemed to help him with his fastball, and he struck out 171 that season. After getting sick while playing winter ball in Mexico, Ford eventually recovered and had a good year the next minor league season.
In 1950, he finally got his chance in the majors when the Yankees, just four games out of first place, needed pitching.
Whitey Ford Becomes A Star
In 1950, at the age of 21, Ford started 12 games for the Yankees. He went a jaw-dropping 9-1, with an ERA of 2.81. In his first season in the majors, he was already a star. The Yankees went on to win the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, with Ford starting Game 4.
Ford served in the Army in the Korean War during 1951 and 1952 before rejoining the Yankees in 1953.
Best Baseball Moments in the 1950s
Ford never threw a no-hitter, but did pitch back-to-back one-hitters in 1955. Rather than depend on a blazing fastball, Ford used pinpoint control to fool batters and paint the corners of the strike zone. He likely would have won more Cy Young awards had there been one for each league, something that did not start until 1967.
Still, he served as the ace of the Yankees staff during one of the franchise’s most glorious periods. Through it all, he developed a reputation for calmness, even in pressure situations.
Teammate Mickey Mantle said of Ford: “I don’t care what the situation was, how high the stakes were – the bases could be loaded and the pennant riding on every pitch, it never bothered Whitey. He pitched his game.”
Ford coached for a time after his retirement in 1967. He attended the final game at the original Yankees Stadium on Sept. 21, 2008. With the death of Yogi Berra in 2015, many now refer to Whitey Ford as the “greatest living Yankee.”
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