Whitey Ford

Full Name: Edward Charles Ford	Primary Position: P
Height/Weight: 5' 10"/178	First Game: July 1, 1950
Birthdate: October 21, 1926	Final Game: May 21, 1967
Birthplace: New York, New York	MLB Experience: 16 years
Bat/Throw: Left/Left

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Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974

1 Biography
2 Statistics
3 Transactions
4 Trivia
5 External Links
6 Video Gallery
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8 See Also
9 Categories

[edit] Biography

Born on October 21, 1926 in New York, New York, Whitey Ford (Edward Charles Ford) played for the New York Yankees for his entire 16 year career. Ford broke into the bigs on July 1, 1950 with the New York Yankees, and put up a 2.81 ERA in 112 innings pitched in 1950, his rookie year. Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford (born October 21, 1928) was a Major League Baseball pitcher.

A native of New York City, Ford was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1947. He was given the nickname "Whitey" while in the minor leagues for his blond, almost white, hair.

He began his Major League Baseball career on July 1, 1950, with the Yankees. In 1951 and 1952 he served in the Army during the Korean War. 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.

Eventually he went from the #4 pitcher on a great staff to the universally-acclaimed #1 pitcher of the Yankees, becoming 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" for his craftiness on the mound, necessary because he did not have an overwhelming fastball, but being able to throw several other pitches very well gave him pinpoint control.

In 1955, he 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. In 1961 he broke Babe Ruth's World Series record of 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings (the record would eventually reach 32 2/3), and won the Cy Young Award. He played his entire 16-year career as a Yankee, retiring in 1967.

He won 236 games, still a Yankee career record. Red Ruffing, the previous Yankee record-holder, still leads all Yankee right-handed pitchers, with 231 of his 273 career wins coming with the Yankees. Roger Clemens notched his 300th career victory as a Yankee, but pitched for the Yankees only five seasons with 77 wins.

Among pitchers with at least 300 career decisions, Ford ranks first with a winning percentage of .690. Among those with at least 200 decisions, only Pedro Martinez ranked ahead of him at the end of the 2005 season, at .701. Among starting pitchers whose careers began after the advent of the Live Ball Era in 1920, Whitey's 2.75 earned-run average is second to Martinez's 2.72. Hoyt Wilhelm, mainly a reliever during his career, leads all post-1920 pitchers in ERA at 2.52.

After his career ended, Ford admitted to occasionally cheating by damaging baseballs. He would sharpen his belt buckle to use it to scuff the ball, and would sometimes use the diamond in his wedding ring.

Ford wore number 19 in his rookie season. Following his return from the army in 1953, he wore number 16 for the remainder of his career. He was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1974 with his longtime pal and Yankee teammate Mickey Mantle. At that time, the Yankees retired his number 16. On August 2, 1987, the Yankees dedicated plaques for Monument Park at Yankee Stadium for Ford and another lefthanded pitcher who reached the Hall of Fame, Lefty Gomez. Ford's plaque calls him "One of the greatest pitchers ever to step on a mound."

In 1999, he ranked number 52 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Pitching Stats

Year	Team		G	GS	W	L	ERA	K	R	ER	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	HR	BB	IB	WP	HBP
1950	NY	A	20	12	9	1	2.81	59	39	35	7	2	1	112	87	7	52	0	3	2
1953	NY	A	32	30	18	6	3.00	110	77	69	11	3	0	207	187	13	110	0	3	4
1954	NY	A	34	28	16	8	2.82	125	72	66	11	3	1	210.2	170	10	101	0	1	1
1955	NY	A	39	33	18	7	2.63	137	83	74	18	5	2	253.2	188	20	113	7	7	1
1956	NY	A	31	30	19	6	2.47	141	70	62	18	2	1	225.2	187	13	84	3	6	4
1957	NY	A	24	17	11	5	2.57	84	46	37	5	0	0	129.1	114	10	53	3	2	1
1958	NY	A	30	29	14	7	2.01	145	62	49	15	7	1	219.1	174	14	62	3	5	3
1959	NY	A	35	29	16	10	3.04	114	82	69	9	2	1	204	194	13	89	5	5	1
1960	NY	A	33	29	12	9	3.08	85	76	66	8	4	0	192.2	168	15	65	5	5	1
1961	NY	A	39	39	25	4	3.21	209	108	101	11	3	0	283	242	23	92	3	8	1
1962	NY	A	38	37	17	8	2.90	160	90	83	7	0	0	257.2	243	22	69	1	5	4
1963	NY	A	38	37	24	7	2.74	189	94	82	13	3	1	269.1	240	26	56	3	9	2
1964	NY	A	39	36	17	6	2.13	172	67	58	12	8	1	244.2	212	10	57	3	6	2
1965	NY	A	37	36	16	13	3.24	162	97	88	9	2	1	244.1	241	22	50	2	7	1
1966	NY	A	22	9	2	5	2.47	43	33	20	0	0	0	73	79	8	24	6	1	0
1967	NY	A	7	7	2	4	1.64	21	11	8	2	1	0	44	40	2	9	0	2	0
Total			498	438	236	106	2.75	1956	1107	967	156	45	10	3170.1	2766	228	1086	44	75	28

[edit] Fielding Stats

Year	Team		POS	G	GS	INN	PO	A	ERR	DP	PB	SB	CS	PkO	AVG
1950	NY	A	P	20	0	0	7	17	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.000
1953	NY	A	P	32	0	0	8	35	1	3	0	0	0	0	.977
1954	NY	A	P	34	0	0	7	39	2	3	0	0	0	0	.958
1955	NY	A	P	39	0	0	10	41	1	1	0	0	0	0	.981
1956	NY	A	P	31	0	0	9	57	1	6	0	0	0	0	.985
1957	NY	A	P	24	17	129.1	6	28	2	5	1	2	2	0	.944
1958	NY	A	P	30	29	219.1	7	44	6	2	2	0	7	6	.895
1959	NY	A	P	35	29	204	15	49	1	5	1	0	3	3	.985
1960	NY	A	P	33	29	192.2	12	38	1	2	1	3	4	4	.980
1961	NY	A	P	39	39	283	12	45	5	5	2	0	3	4	.919
1962	NY	A	P	38	37	257.2	25	58	3	4	0	2	4	2	.965
1963	NY	A	P	38	37	269.1	20	38	5	3	1	3	4	5	.921
1964	NY	A	P	39	36	244.2	18	47	1	2	0	0	1	3	.985
1965	NY	A	P	37	36	244.1	7	53	0	4	3	6	4	1	1.000
1966	NY	A	P	22	9	73	7	26	4	2	1	4	0	3	.892
1967	NY	A	P	7	7	44	3	15	0	1	1	0	0	0	1.000
Total			P	498	305	2161.1	173	630	33	49	13	20	32	31	.961

[edit] Batting Stats

Year	Team		G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	2B	BB	SO	HBP	SH	SB	GDP
1950	NY	A	20	36	2	7	0	3	.194	.275	.194	0	4	4	0	4	0	1
1953	NY	A	33	75	10	20	0	10	.267	.345	.293	2	9	13	0	1	0	3
1954	NY	A	34	62	7	10	0	7	.161	.264	.177	1	9	15	0	7	0	0
1955	NY	A	39	86	9	14	1	7	.163	.258	.198	0	11	16	0	3	0	1
1956	NY	A	31	78	9	17	0	4	.218	.299	.244	2	9	14	0	5	0	0
1957	NY	A	24	42	4	6	0	2	.143	.200	.143	0	3	7	0	5	0	0
1958	NY	A	30	73	10	15	0	2	.205	.266	.219	1	5	10	1	5	0	1
1959	NY	A	35	65	6	15	1	6	.231	.351	.338	4	12	11	0	3	0	0
1960	NY	A	33	53	4	8	0	3	.151	.274	.189	2	9	14	0	4	0	0
1961	NY	A	39	96	11	17	0	10	.177	.266	.188	1	12	17	0	5	0	1
1962	NY	A	38	85	5	10	0	5	.118	.198	.141	2	8	22	1	3	1	0
1963	NY	A	38	92	5	13	1	4	.141	.194	.196	2	6	22	0	5	2	2
1964	NY	A	39	67	5	8	0	2	.119	.244	.134	1	10	23	1	7	0	0
1965	NY	A	38	82	4	15	0	4	.183	.230	.195	1	5	26	0	6	0	0
1966	NY	A	22	18	0	0	0	0	.000	.053	.000	0	1	6	0	0	0	1
1967	NY	A	7	13	0	2	0	0	.154	.154	.154	0	0	4	0	2	0	0
Total			500	1023	91	177	3	69	.173	.256	.200	19	113	224	3	65	3	10

[edit] Transactions

Signed as an amateur free agent by New York Yankees (1947).

[edit] Trivia

In the 1961 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Ford snapped Babe Ruth's streak of 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in World Series play (it would eventually reach 33 2/3). During the regular season, teammate Roger Maris had broken Ruth's single season home run record.