"'Chairman of the Board' is the term applied to Whitey Ford, the fair-haired lefty who tops all others in lifetime ERA effectiveness. In 11 seasons he has a 2.78 figure, a 175-71 standard, and none has more Series triumphs (10).
Turned down as a schoolboy first baseman by Giants, Ford has paced the league twice in ERA and percentage and has never gone above a 3.21 ERA."
-Don Schiffer, 1963 Major League Baseball Handbook
"Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford has provided New York and Yankee fans with the outstanding post-war pitching story, surpassing even the greats of a decade ago ... Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi and Ed Lopat. The popular southpaw, frequently troubled by arm and shoulder ailments, nevertheless has compiled one of the outstanding pitching records of the century.
Going into the 1963 season, Whitey had won 175 games, lost only 71 for a winning percentage of .711. This is the highest winning percentage of any pitcher with over 150 wins since 1900. In 2296 innings of pitching, Ford has yielded only 1954 hits and has posted a remarkable 2.78 earned run average. Over the years, he has gained an edge on every American League club.
He established a new World Series record last fall by completing 33 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings. He has won more games (10), fanned more men (82) and started more Series contests (19) than any pitcher in history.
Whitey has won a host of awards including The Sporting News' designation of the American League pitcher of the years 1955 and 1961, and the Sport Magazine Corvette and the Babe Ruth Award as the outstanding player in the 1961 World Series.
In his top season of 1961, Ford won 25 games and copped the Cy Young Award as the game's greatest pitcher. This he surely has been. And the little lefty is confident he can contribute to more Yankee victories in the future."
-The New York Yankees Official 1963 Yearbook
Signed by Yankee organization, October 4, 1946.
Pitched two consecutive 1-hitters, September 2 and September 7, 1955.
Named No. 1 American League Pitcher by The Sporting News, 1955.
Tied American League record by fanning six men in a row against Kansas City, July 20, 1956.
Struck out 15 men in 14 innings in 1-0 win over Washington, April 22, 1959.
Tied Yankee record for most consecutive wins (14), 1961, also held by Jack Chesbro, 1904.
Winner of Cy Young Award, 1961.
Named World Series Most Valuable Player [Babe Ruth Award] by Sport Magazine, 1961.
Holds World Series record, most consecutive scoreless innings (33.2), 1960-1961-1962, including three shutouts: 10-0 and 12-0 against Pirates in 1960 and 2-0 against Reds in 1961.
Named No. 1 American League Pitcher by The Sporting News, 1961.
Won 1962 pennant clinching for Yankees against Washington Senators, September 25.
Has highest won-lost percentage (.711) of all active major league pitchers, lifetime.
Has lowest ERA (2.78) of all active major league pitchers, lifetime.
Has most World Series wins (10), lifetime.
Has most World Series games started (21), lifetime.
Has most World Series strikeouts (90), lifetime.
-1963 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide
"While not quite as sharp as in 1961 when he won the Cy Young Award as the outstanding pitcher in the major leagues by virtue of a 25-4 record, Whitey Ford still was good enough to compile a 17-8 mark in 1962.
As a matter of fact, the little lefty from Lake Success even lowered his earned run average a bit, from 3.21 in '61 to 2.90 in '62.
His shoulder bothered him quite a bit during the '62 season, forcing Ford to miss a few turns, not to mention having to leave the mound during several games.
On one occasion, versus the Los Angeles Angels on May 22, Whitey had a no-hitter going, but because of a strained shoulder, left the contest in the seventh inning.
Ford nailed down the Yanks' flag clincher on September 25 by downing the Senators, 8-3.
The 34-year-old blond, who has compiled a 175-71 won-lost record for a percentage of .711, besides owning an ERA 2.78 for his 11 big league campaigns, both marks tops among active major league hurlers, joined the Yankee organization on October 4, 1946.
After pitching at Butler (13-4 in '47), Norfolk (16-8 in '48), Binghamton (16-5 in '49) and Kansas City (6-3 in '50), Ford was called up by the Bombers for the last half of the 1950 season to help the Yanks edge the Detroit Tigers for the flag. He captured nine of 10 decisions while compiling a 2.81 ERA.
After seeing military service in 1951 and 1952, Whitey returned to the Bronx in 1953, where he was 18-6 in his first full major league campaign.
After a 16-8 season in 1954, Ford was 18-7 in 1955, being named the American League's top pitcher by The Sporting News.
Whitey pitched two consecutive one-hitters that season.
In 1956, when he was 19-6, Ford tied an A.L. mark by striking out six A's in succession on July 20. His won-lost percentage of .760 and ERA of 2.47 led the junior circuit.
After an 11-5 mark in 1957, Whitey was 14-7 in '58, with his 2.01 ERA pacing the loop. In 1959, a season which saw him compile a 16-10 record, Ford fanned 15 men during a 14-inning 1-0 victory over Washington on April 22.
Considered passe after a disappointing 12-9 season in 1960, Ford reached the heights in '61. On his way to 25 victories, he captured 14 straight decisions, tying him with Hall-of-Famer Jack Chesbro for the all-time Yankee record.
Ford holds the following World Series records: most consecutive scoreless innings (33 2/3), most starts (19), most strikeouts (82) and most wins (10).
Much depends on Whitey and his aches and pains if the Yanks are to have clear sailing again this season."
-1963 Jay Publishing New York Yankees Yearbook
"The New York Yankees had just beaten the San Francisco Giants, 6-2, at Candlestick Park to win the opening game of the 1962 World Series, and the visiting players moved quickly into their dressing room. 'I told you he'd do it,' said Yankee pitcher Ralph Terry to rookie Jim Bouton. 'Whitey always comes through in the big ones.'
In his ninth World Series, 34-year-old Edward Charles Ford, a red-raced left-hander the Yankees call Whitey, had won another big one- carefully spreading ten hits to achieve a record tenth Series victory. 'Sure I'm happy,' said Ford, who preferred talking about Willie Mays who had gone three-for-four against him, 'but I'm really happy about the way I handled Mays. I definitely think I've improved against him. He's hitting .857 against me in All-Star Games and I held him to .750 today.'
Mays' success is the exception. In his eleven seasons with the Yankees, Whitey Ford has grown chubbier, wiser, wittier and more impressive. He has won a remarkable 175 major league games and lost only 71, striking out 1,369, and compiled a brilliant 2.78 earned run average. As the dean of American League pitchers, he no longer is as fast as he once was, but he blends exceptional control with a good fastball and a dazzling variety of other pitches- a curve, a screwball, a slider and several changeups. 'If I could get away with it now, I'd throw nothing but fastballs,' says the 5-feet-10, 182-pound left-hander. 'No matter how fast you throw it, the fastball doesn't put real strain on your arm because the motion is natural. But you can't get a big league hitter out on fastballs alone, no matter how fast you throw the ball.'
Ford, who continues to pitch in a four-man rotation, has remained remarkably free of arm strains and pulled muscles. 'I've taken good care of myself and I've been lucky,' he said last winter. 'It's got to end sometime, but I want to win 200 first.'"
-Bill Wise, 1963 Official Baseball Almanac
"Whitey Ford, the Yankees' left-handed ace, didn't have the year he enjoyed in '61 when his 25 victories brought him the Cy Young Award. But he maintained the best record of any active pitcher and deserves all-star inclusion [Sports All-Stars 1963 Baseball all-stars]. Check that with any club, from the lowliest one in the American League up to the Giants, whom he bested in the opener of the World Series for a record-shattering total of 10 Series victories.
Ford's all-time mark is now an eye-popping 175-71. In World Series competition over a 12-year period, he's 10-5.
Whitey is pushing 35, and the chances of his having another year as big as '61 seem remote. But with the Yankees pennant favorites again this year, Whitey might be afforded further opportunity to burnish up his half-dozen Series records.
One which he can't improve on is his 33 2/3 scoreless innings of Series competition, a mark ended by a Giant run in the second inning of the opening game in San Francisco last October. That will be a plateau at which future pitching greats will have to aim. It won't be an easy target."
-Harold Rosenthal, Sports All-Stars 1963 Baseball
No comments:
Post a Comment