THE YANKEES MOUNT OLYMPUS: WHITEY FORD

According to Webster’s Dictionary “Chairman” is “The person who is in charge of a meeting, committee or event”.

Our latest “inductee” into the Yankees Mount Olympus (number 8 in our rankings) spent his career known as the “Chairman of the Board”.

It is, of course, Whitey Ford.

With all due respect to Andy Pettitte and Ron Guidry, it is Whitey Ford that ranks as the Yankees greatest southpaw.  He may very well be the Yankees greatest starting pitcher, period.

Not blessed with an over-powering fastball, Whitey had to rely on keeping batters off-balance through pinpoint control and wily intellect.  It goes without saying; he was successful in doing so.

Ford’s 236 wins are the most by any Yankee pitcher, and he leads the franchise in innings pitched, games started and shutouts while ranking second in strikeouts and WAR (wins against replacement).  All of this accomplished in spite of giving up two years to military service.

While most in the era talked about Mantle, Maris and Berra, Whitey was the force on the mound that made the championships those players won possible. 

Even today when people talk of the 1961 season, it is the great home run race that Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris (hitting 61 “clean” HRs) held through that summer.   Lost in the glamour of it all is Whitey’s
25 – 4 record and 14 scoreless World Series innings pitched (where he yielded just six hits and ONE walk).  He led the league in wins and innings pitched as he brought home both the CY Young and World Series MVP awards.

The ’61 postseason was just a continuation of something Whitey started in the 1960 World Series where he threw 18 scoreless innings.  Together with the 1962 World Series, Ford went 33 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings pitched in the October classic – breaking a record held by none other than Babe Ruth.

He was selected an All-Star eight times and led the league in wins three times, ERA twice, shutouts twice, and complete games once.

Whitey was remarkably consistent no matter the circumstance.   His 2.71 postseason ERA is nearly identical to the 2.75 he carried in 16 regular seasons.   Simply put, he was unflappable.

Off the field he was no different.   His late night exploits with pals Mantle and Billy Martin have been well documented, but of the three he was the most level-headed.

Whether on the field or off it, Whitey Ford always seemed to be in charge, and in 1974 he was inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame.   His number 16 sits on the wall in Monument Park as a tribute to the excellence Ford established on the mound in route to six World Series titles.

He truly was the Yankees “Chairman of the Board” and now occupies that position in our Yankees Mount Olympus.


    
--Steve Skinner, BYB Guest Writer
Twitter: @oswegos1

 


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