Whitey Ford

Ford was born in Manhattan. At age five, he moved to the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, a few miles from the Triborough Bridge to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.Berkow, Ira. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5DC173EF934A2575BC0A9669C8B63 "ON BASEBALL; Ford Highlight Film Started Early"], The New York Times, August 17, 2000. Accessed November 3, 2007. "Vivid in my memory is Stengel's shrug, palms up at his sides, gesturing in response to the mixture of cheers for Ford and boos for his removal. It was a display of sympathy for the kid from Astoria, Queens, who just a few years earlier was playing in street stickball games, and now under a national spotlight and World Series pressure had pitched so beautifully." He attended public schools and graduated from the Manhattan High School of Aviation Trades.{{cite news |last=Travers |first=Bill |date=January 20, 1974 |title=Whitey's Old Teammates Recall Early Triumphs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-whiteys-old-teammates-recall/163563960/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |newspaper=New York Daily News |page=116NL |via=Newspapers.com}}

In 1951, Ford married Joan at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Astoria.Ford, Whitey. Slick: My Life In And Around Baseball, New York: William Morrow, 1987.

They lived in Glen Cove, New York on Long Island for a period during the 1950s, and had two sons and a daughter together.{{cite web|title=Whitey Ford photos|url=https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/whitey-ford-pictures-1.50032081|access-date=October 9, 2020|publisher=Newsday}}

Ford was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1947 and played his entire career with them. While still in the minor leagues, he was nicknamed "Whitey" for his light blond hair.[http://www.queenstribune.com/guides/2005_TheyCameFromQueens/sports/people.htm "They Came from Queens"], Queens Tribune. Retrieved on November 4, 2007. "He once lived in Little Neck and attended Aviation High School."

Ford began his Major League Baseball career on July 1, 1950, with the Yankees. He won his first nine decisions before losing a game in relief. Ford received a handful of lower-ballot Most Valuable Player (MVP) votes despite throwing just 112 innings, and won the Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award.{{cite news |date=November 13, 1950 |title=Sporting News Tabs Ford Rookie of Year |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/press-and-sun-bulletin-sporting-news-tab/163563984/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |newspaper=Binghamton Press |page=16 |via=Newspapers.com}}

File:Whitey Ford (Right) In the military.jpg

During the Korean War era, in 1951 and 1952, Ford served in the United States Army.{{cite news|title=Whitey Ford, 91, pitcher who epitomized mighty Yankees, dies|url=https://apnews.com/article/sports-mlb-new-york-baseball-new-york-yankees-24523a8767249feb6dd50305d08b38bf|first=Ronald|last=Blum|date=October 9, 2020|access-date=October 9, 2020|work=Associated Press}} He rejoined the Yankees for the 1953 season, and the Yankee "Big Three" pitching staff became a "Big Four", as Ford joined Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi, and Eddie Lopat.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kkaHDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA71|title=The New York Yankees of the 1950s: Mantle, Stengel, Berra, and a Decade of Dominance|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|date=April 1, 2019|last=Fischer|first=David|page=71|isbn=9781493038930}} Ford wore number 19 in his rookie season,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6TNODwAAQBAJ&pg=PA177|title=Casey Stengel: Baseball's Greatest Character|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|year=2018|last=Appel|first=Marty|page=177|isbn=9781101911747}} but upon his return he changed to number 16, which he wore for the remainder of his career.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fordwh01.shtml|title=Whitey Ford Statistics and History|work=Baseball-Reference.com|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|access-date=October 9, 2020}}

Ford eventually went from the number-four pitcher on a great staff to the universally acclaimed number-one pitcher of the Yankees. He became known as the "Chairman of the Board" for his ability to remain calm and in command during high-pressure situations. He was also known as "Slick", a nickname given to him, Billy Martin, and Mickey Mantle by manager Casey Stengel, who called them Whiskey Slicks. Ford's guile was necessary because he did not have an overwhelming fastball, but being able to throw several other pitches very well gave him pinpoint control. Ford was an effective strikeout pitcher for his time, tying the then-AL record of six consecutive strikeouts in 1956, and again in 1958. Ford never threw a no-hitter, but he pitched two consecutive one-hit games in 1955 to tie a record held by several pitchers. Sal Maglie, star pitcher for the New York Giants, thought Ford had a similar style to his own, writing in 1958 that Ford had a "good curve, good control, [a] changeup, [and an] occasional sneaky fastball."{{cite web|last=Terrell|first=Roy|url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1958/03/17/part-1-sal-maglie-on-the-art-of-pitching|title=Part 1: Sal Maglie on the Art of Pitching|publisher=Sports Illustrated|work=SI.com|date=March 17, 1958|access-date=August 7, 2020}}

File:Whitey Ford 1954.png

In 1955, Ford led the American League in complete games and games won; in 1956 in earned run average and winning percentage; in 1958, in earned run average; and in both 1961 and 1963, in games won and winning percentage. Ford won the Cy Young Award in 1961; he likely would have won the 1963 AL Cy Young, but this was before the institution of a separate award for each league, and Ford could not match Sandy Koufax's numbers for the Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League (NL).{{cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/whitey-ford/|title=Whitey Ford|first=C. Paul|last=Rogers III|publisher=Society for American Baseball Research|access-date=October 9, 2020}}

Some of Ford's totals were depressed by Yankees' manager Casey Stengel, who viewed Ford as his top pitching asset and often reserved his ace left-hander for more formidable opponents such as the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. When Ralph Houk became the manager in 1961, he promised Ford that he would pitch every fourth day, regardless of the opponent; after exceeding 30 starts only once in his nine seasons under Stengel, Ford had 39 in 1961. Indeed 1961 was his first 20-win season, a career-best 25–4 record, and the Cy Young Award ensued, but Ford's season was overshadowed by the home run battle between Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. As a left-hander with an excellent pick-off move, Ford was also deft at keeping runners at their base: He set a record in 1961 by pitching 243 consecutive innings without allowing a stolen base.

In May 1963, after pitching a shutout, Ford announced he had given up smoking. He said, "My doctor told me that whenever I think of smoking, I should think of a bus starting up and blowing the exhaust in my face."

Ford ended his career in declining health. In August 1966, he underwent surgery to correct a circulatory problem in his throwing shoulder.{{Cite news |date=1966-08-26 |title=Whitey Ford Undergoes Surgery on Shoulder |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/york-daily-record-whitey-ford-undergoes/163564009/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |work=York Daily Record |page=22 |via=Newspapers.com |agency=Associated Press}} In May 1967, Ford lasted just one inning in what would be his final start, and he announced his retirement at the end of the month at age 38.

After retiring, Ford admitted in interviews to having occasionally doctored baseballs. Examples were the "mudball", used at home in Yankee Stadium. Yankee groundskeepers would wet down an area near the catcher's box where the Yankee catcher Elston Howard was positioned; pretending to lose balance, Howard would put down his hand with the ball and coat one side of the ball with mud and throw it to Ford. Ford also engaged in ball scuffing, sometimes used the diamond in his wedding ring to gouge the ball, but he was eventually caught by an umpire and warned to stop. Howard sharpened a buckle on his shinguard and used it to scuff the ball.

Ford described his illicit behavior as a concession to age:

I didn't begin cheating until late in my career when I needed something to help me survive. I didn't cheat when I won the twenty-five games in {{baseball year|1961}}. I don't want anybody to get any ideas and take my Cy Young Award away. And I didn't cheat in {{baseball year|1963}} when I won twenty-four games. Well, maybe a little.

Ford admitted to doctoring the ball in the 1961 All-Star Game at Candlestick Park to strike out Willie Mays. Ford and Mantle had accumulated $1,200 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|1200|1962|r=0}}}} today) in golf pro shop purchases as guests of Horace Stoneham at the Giants owner's country club. Stoneham promised to pay their tab if Ford could strike out Mays. "What was that all about?" Mays asked. "I'm sorry, Willie, but I had to throw you a spitter," Ford replied.{{cite book|last=Mays|first=Willie|title=Say Hey: The Autobiography of Willie Mays|location=New York|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1988|isbn=0671632922|page=269}}

{{MLBBioRet

|Image = WhiteyFord16.jpg

|Name = Whitey Ford

|Number = 16

|Team = New York Yankees

|Year = 1974

|}}

Ford is tied with Dave Foutz for the fourth-best winning percentage in baseball history at .690.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/win_loss_perc_career.shtml|title=Career Leaders & Records for Win–loss %|website=Baseball-Reference.com}} His 2.75 earned run average is the third-lowest among starting pitchers whose careers began after the advent of the live-ball era in 1920. Through 2023, only Clayton Kershaw (2.48) and Jacob deGrom (2.53) have a lower earned run average.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/earned_run_avg_career.shtml|title=Career Leaders & Records for Earned Run Average|work=Baseball-Reference.com|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|access-date=May 2, 2024}} Ford's worst earned run average in a single season was 3.24.

He appeared on eight AL All-Star teams between 1954 and 1964, going 0-2 with an 8.25 ERA in the All-Star game.

During his MLB career, Ford had 10 World Series victories, more than any other pitcher. Ford also leads all starters in World Series losses (8) and starts (22), as well as innings, hits, walks, and strikeouts. In 1961, he broke Babe Ruth's World Series record of {{frac|29|2|3}} consecutive scoreless innings. The record eventually reached {{frac|33|2|3}}, although MLB rule-makers retroactively reduced the record to 33 innings since Ford did not complete a full inning before allowing the streak-ending run. It is still a World Series record, although Mariano Rivera broke it as a postseason record in 2000.{{cite book|title=Whitey Ford: A Biography| first=Miles Jr. |last=Coverdale|publisher=McFarland & Company|location=Jefferson, NC|year=2006|page=155}} Ford won the 1961 World Series MVP Award.

He batted .082 (4-for-49) with 4 runs, 3 runs batted in, and 7 walks in the Fall classic.

File:Whitey Ford Plaque.JPG in Yankee Stadium]]

In 1974, Ford and Mickey Mantle were both elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame;{{cite web |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-danville-register-mickey-mantle-and/163564046/ |last=Bock |first=Hal |date=January 17, 1974 |title=Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford Reach Baseball's Hall of Fame |access-date=2025-01-21 |newspaper=The Danville Register |page=3-D |via=Newspapers.com |agency=Associated Press}} at that time, the Yankees retired his number 16.{{cite web|first=R.J. |last=Anderson |date=October 9, 2020 |url=https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/whitey-ford-yankees-legend-and-hall-of-fame-pitcher-dies-at-age-91/ |title=Whitey Ford, Yankees legend and Hall of Fame pitcher, dies at age 91 |publisher=CBSSports.com |access-date=October 9, 2020}}

In 1984, Ford was elected to the Long Island Sports Hall of Fame.{{Cite web |title=Sports Briefs |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/09/21/Sports-Briefs/6117464587200/ |access-date=2022-08-19 |website=UPI |language=en}}

In 1987, the Yankees dedicated plaques for Monument Park at Yankee Stadium for Ford and Lefty Gomez.{{cite news |last=Parker |first=Rob |date=August 5, 1987 |title=Ward shuns PH label despite success |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-ward-shuns-ph-label-despite-s/163564071/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |newspaper=New York Daily News |page=58 |via=Newspapers.com}}

In 1999, Ford ranked 52nd on The Sporting News List of Baseball's Greatest Players.{{cite web |title=100 Greatest Baseball Players by The Sporting News : A Legendary List |url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/lisn100.shtml |access-date=October 9, 2020 |website=Baseball Almanac}} He was nominated that year for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.{{cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/mlb_history_moreinfo.jsp |title=The All-Century Team | MLB.com |publisher=Mlb.mlb.com |access-date=October 9, 2020}}

In 1994, a road in Mississauga, Ontario, was named Ford Road in his honor. The north-central area of Mississauga is known informally as "the baseball zone", as several streets in the area are named for Hall of Fame baseball players.{{cite web|url=https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=ford+road+mississauga+ontario&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=43.611689,-79.701862&spn=0.016624,0.053988&om=1&iwloc=addr |title=google.com |publisher=Google Maps |access-date=October 9, 2020}}

In 2000, the ballfield overlooking the East River on 26th Avenue, between 1st and 2nd Streets in Astoria, Queens, was named Whitey Ford Field at a Yankee Stadium ceremony.{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/whitey-ford-field |title=Whitey Ford Field : NYC Parks |publisher=Nycgovparks.org |access-date=October 9, 2020}}

File:Whitey Ford 2010.jpg

Ford was the Yankees pitching coach during the 1964 season.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tJ0RAAAAIBAJ&pg=3205,2697494 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124142432/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tJ0RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UuMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3205,2697494 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 24, 2013 |title=Yanks Name Ford Coach of Pitchers |agency=Associated Press |work=Eugene Register-Guard |date=November 15, 1963 |access-date=August 25, 2009 }} In 1968, he served as the Yankees as first base coach,{{Cite news |date=1968-10-23 |title=Coach Howard Rejoins Yanks, Replacing Ford |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/tampa-bay-times-coach-howard-rejoins-yan/163564129/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |work=St. Petersburg Times |page=22 |via=Newspapers.com |agency=Associated Press}} and in 1974 and 1975 as pitching coach.{{Cite news |last=Pepe |first=Phil |date=1974-01-09 |title=Whitey Could Even Play Fiddler on the Roof |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-whitey-could-even-play-fiddle/163564165/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |work=Daily News |page=83 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |last=Ellis |first=Bob |date=1975-12-30 |title=Academics and bowling news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/wellsville-daily-reporter-academics-and/163564218/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |work=Wellsville Daily Reporter |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}

In 1977, Ford was part of the broadcast team for the first game in Toronto Blue Jays history.Stephen Brunt, Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, p. 94, Penguin Books, {{ISBN|0-14-023978-2}} In 2008, Ford threw the first pitch at the 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.{{Cite news |date=2008-07-16 |title=Steinbrenner gets ovation before All-Star Game |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-dispatch-steinbrenner-gets-ovation-b/163564293/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |work=The Dispatch |page=33 |publication-place=Moline, Illinois |via=Newspapers.com |agency=Associated Press}} Also in 1977, Ford began serving as the commissioner of the new American Professional Slow-Pitch Softball League (APSPL), one of several men's professional softball leagues in the United States.{{Cite web|url=https://funwhileitlasted.net/american-professional-slo-pitch-league/|title = American Professional Slo-Pitch League (1977-1980)| date=September 24, 2022 }}{{Cite web|url=https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/showthread.php?t=288804|title = Softball challenge - OOTP Developments Forums}}

In 2002, Ford opened "Whitey Ford's Cafe", a sports-themed restaurant and bar next to Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, New York.[http://local.yahoo.com/details;_ylt=AiulXHwBqlOTAY4buOBA8xiHNcIF?id=32674435&lsrc=results&p=Continental+Restaurants&csz=Garden+City%2C+NY&fr=&lcscb=B%2Fp.reS4.nI Details of Whitey Ford's Cafe] from Yahoo! Local. A replica of the Yankee Stadium facade trimmed both the exterior and the bar, whose stools displayed uniform numbers of Yankee luminaries and widescreen TVs were installed throughout. The main dining area housed a panoramic display of Yankee Stadium from the 1950s, specifically a Chicago White Sox–Yankee game with Ford pitching and Mickey Mantle in center field; the Yanks were up 2–0. The servers were dressed in Yankees road uniforms, with Ford's No. 16 on the back.{{Cite news |last=Gianotti |first=Peter M. |date=2002-10-13 |title=Whitey Ford's Cafe |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-whitey-fords/163564409/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |work=Newsday (Suffolk Edition) |page=G20 |publication-place=Melville, New York |via=Newspapers.com}} It lasted less than a year before it closed down.Conversation with present owner of [http://local.yahoo.com/details;_ylt=AtCFBPwjXCyvhURJ928lfc.HNcIF?id=30742170&lsrc=results&p=Japanese+Restaurants&csz=Garden+City%2C+NY&fr=&lcscb=IlynyJ7kmfX Gasho of Japan] restaurant, former site of Whitey Ford's Cafe.

As of 2015, the 86-year-old Ford was splitting his time between his homes in Long Island and Florida.

Ford died on October 8, 2020, at his home in Lake Success on Long Island at the age of 91, 13 days before his 92nd birthday. He was watching the Yankees play in Game 4 of the 2020 American League Division Series on television, and was surrounded by his family.{{Cite news |last=Goldstein |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Goldstein (writer, born 1942) |date=October 9, 2020 |title=Whitey Ford, Beloved Yankees Pitcher Who Confounded Batters, Dies at 91 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/09/sports/baseball/whitey-ford-dead.html |access-date=October 9, 2020 |work=The New York Times}} The cause of death was not immediately announced, but he had suffered from dementia for several years.{{cite web|last=Madden|first=Bill|title=Whitey Ford, the Yankees' famous 'Chairman of the Board,' dies at age 91|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-whitey-ford-obit-chairman-of-the-board-20201009-u2eyj5fmo5hhtjhx7j5k6z73lm-story.html|access-date=October 9, 2020|website=New York Daily News|date=October 9, 2020 }} When he died he was the second-oldest living member of the Hall of Fame, after Tommy Lasorda. He was the last surviving member of the 1956 World Champion New York Yankees.

• Ford and Mantle made cameo appearances on a 1984 episode of Remington Steele starring Pierce Brosnan.{{cite news |last=Siegel |first=Ed |date=October 23, 1984 |title=Pierce Brosnan & Whitey Ford in 'Remington Stelle' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-pierce-brosnan-whitey/163564348/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |newspaper=The Boston Globe |page=36 |via=Newspapers.com}}
• In 1997, Ford was depicted in The Simpsons episode "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson", where he is knocked unconscious by pretzels thrown by an angry crowd at a baseball game. Homer later suggests that Marge could call the pretzels "Whitey Whackers."
• In 1998, Grammy Award–winning musician Everlast released a CD entitled Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, and assumed "Whitey Ford" as a nickname.{{cite magazine|first=Tiarra |last=Mukherjee |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/everlasts-white-boy-blues-94092/ |title=Everlast's White Boy Blues |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=September 29, 1998 |access-date=October 9, 2020}}
• Ford was portrayed by Anthony Michael Hall in the HBO movie, 61* (2001), about Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle's 1961 quest to break Babe Ruth's single-season home run record. It was directed by Billy Crystal.{{cite news |last=Gross |first=Andrew |date=April 24, 2001 |title=Borghese's new role: Being Berra |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-journal-news-borghese-has-a-ball/163564374/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |newspaper=The Journal News |page=1C, 3C |via=Newspapers.com}}
• Ford is one of two central figures in Robert Pinsky's poem "The Night Game", the other being fellow Hall of Fame left-hander Sandy Koufax.{{cite news |title=Poetry: World Series |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/poetry-world-series |work=PBS News Hour |date=October 22, 2002}}

• List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
• List of Major League Baseball annual wins leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career ERA leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career shutout leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
• List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise
• List of World Series starting pitchers

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• {{baseballstats|mlb=114299|espn=21678|br=f/fordwh01|fangraphs=1004227|brm=ford--002edw|retro=F/Pfordw101}}
• {{Baseball Hall of Fame profile|ford-whitey}}
• {{Sabrbio|whitey-ford}}

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