Yankees History: The cagey and cunning Whitey Ford on the mound

Ford made his debut with the Bombers on July 1, 1950, and he had a spectacular start. He won his first nine decisions before losing a game in relief. He finished 9-1 with a 2.81 ERA over 112 innings and threw two shutouts.

His impressive strong start out the gate was surprising to many baseball analysts since he was a relatively small man (he was 5’10” and weighed 178 pounds) compared to other starting pitchers.

Whitey received several lower-ballot MVP votes despite his short stint in 1950. He was voted the AL Rookie of the Year by the Sporting News and came in second to Walt Dropo for the same award given by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).

When he rejoined the Bombers in 1953 after his two-year tour of duty in the Army, the Yankee “Big Three” pitching staff was transformed into the “Big Four,” Whitey plus Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi, and Eddie Lopat. A distinguished starting four I’d say.

Ford eventually went from the number four starter to the consensus number one hurler for the Yanks. He was donned the “Chairman of the Board” by his teammates because he had ice in his veins; he was able to remain composed and in command during the most stressful situations in a game. Casey Stengel also nicknamed him “Slick” as in Whisky Slick.

His relaxed demeanor and coolness on the mound served him well. He was able to mix his pitches and place them anywhere he wanted to around the plate, always keeping opposing batters guessing what the next pitch might be and where it might be thrown. Even without a powerful fastball, he was considered a cagey strikeout pitcher.

He tied the then-AL record for six consecutive strikeouts in a game in 1956 and 1958. Although he never threw a no-hitter, he did pitch two consecutive one-hit games in 1955 to tie a record held by a few other pitchers at that time.

As a left-hander with a deceptive pick-off move, Ford also was superb at keeping runners at their base. As fans well know, many games are won or lost based on the ability of pitchers to be able to hold opposing runners close to the bag. Pitchers who have a poor pick-off move allow base runners to take long leads, thereby giving them a valuable head start in their attempt to steal a base as well as run the bases.

Ford set a record in 1961 by throwing 243 consecutive innings without allowing a single stolen base. Truly remarkable! Along with effective breaking balls and pitch control, this is yet another indication of how Whitey successfully developed his skills on the ball field to increase the team’s chance of winning games.

Whitey played for the Yanks quite a while ago, and the game has certainly changed a lot since his playing days. Yet, his impressive performance on the mound still demonstrates that one does not have to have a powerful fastball even today to succeed in baseball.

There is absolutely no reason why a cunning pitcher like Whitey couldn’t perform as well – and avoid serious arm injuries requiring treatment and surgery – today. Scouts should be more open-minded when they evaluate pitching talent and not be obsessed with overall arm strength.

In every way, Ford had an extraordinary pitching career. He had a 236-106 record, still the most wins for a Yankees pitcher while playing for the Yanks. Among throwers with a minimum of 300 career decisions, Whitey ranks first with a winning percentage of .690, the all-time highest percentage in modern baseball history. He retired with a WAR of 53.6.

Whitey’s lifetime ERA, 2.75, is the second-lowest among starting pitchers who played in the live-ball era (beginning in 1920). (Only Clayton Kershaw’s current 2.44 ERA is better than Ford’s.) The Chairman of the Board also had 45 shutout wins in his career, including eight 1-0 wins. He also played in 10 All-Star games during his tenure.

He was considered a gifted fielder, and he possessed a .961 fielding percentage. He was a quick and graceful fielder, rarely made a mental error, and threw accurately to all bases.

In 1955 he led the AL in complete games and games won, and in 1956 he had the best ERA and winning percentage. In both 1961 and 1963, he was the league leader in games won and winning percentage.

Whitey won the Cy Young Award in 1961, and he very likely would have won again in 1963, but this was before MLB established a separate award for each league. (A spectacular Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers received the Cy Young Award that year.) He also would have been a very strong candidate in 1955, however, this was before the Cy Young was awarded.

When everything was on the line, Whitey always stepped up, elevated his game, and played a crucial role for the Bombers. Ford started Game One of the World Series in 1955-1958 and 1961-1964. He is the only pitcher to start four Game Ones in a row, which he did twice. He started 22 games overall and he won 10 World Series games, more than any other pitcher.

Whitey broke Babe Ruth’s record of 29 2/3 scoreless innings in World Series play by pitching 33 scoreless innings. He also holds the record for innings pitched in the World Series (146) and for strikeouts (94).

Stengel viewed Whitey as his top pitcher, and he saved him to throw against only the best opponents in the American League. Sometimes that meant that Whitey would pitch only on a fifth or six-day since his previous start. Hence, some of Ford’s totals were depressed by manager Stengel’s strategy.

Casey was fired following the Yanks heartbreaking loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1960 World Series. Even today, I still can’t bear to watch Mazeroski’s home run fly over the left-field fence in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7. A hard and painful punch in the gut for Yankees fans all over the planet.

The blame fell on Casey’s shoulders because he refused to start Ford, his ace, in Game One of the World Series. Instead, Ford pitched in Games 3 and 6, and he produced complete shutouts in both games. However, he was physically unable to appear in Game 7, the all-important clinching game, even as a reliever. Had Ford pitched in Game 1, he would have been able to pitch in three games of the Series rather than only two, including the deciding seventh game. Had Stengel done this, there is a very good chance that the Bombers would have taken the Series from the Pirates.

Ralph Houk succeeded Stengel in 1961, and he promised Ford that he would pitch every fourth day like other pitchers did on the team. How did Whitey respond? He went on to amass a 25-4 record and win the Cy Young Award in Houk’s first year as the Yankee skipper. Ford also was awarded the World Series MVP for his superb pitching in 1961.

Surprising to me and most Yankees fans, Whitey had to wait until his second appearance on the ballot before being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 by the BBWAA (with 77.81 percent of the vote). The Yanks retired his uniform number 16 in his honor in August of the same year. Most fans would agree that he was a major reason why the club performed consistently well in the 1950s and 1960s. The Yanks were quite fortunate to have him on the mound.

Oddly, Harold Friend argues that Whitey was an overrated pitcher because he “never started an ‘ultimate’ game. He never started a Seventh Game of a World Series.” Of course, as already noted, Stengel refused to start him in a Game 7 in 1955-1958 and 1960 because he was using him, rightly or wrongly, for certain matchups that he deemed were critical during those series. (The Yanks won 2 and lost 3 World Series in those five years.)

In 1962 and 1964, skippers Houk and Yogi Berra, respectively, also decided not to start him in Game 7. Instead, they used Ford in other important matchups during those two World Series, both of which went seven games. (The Yanks beat the San Francisco Giants in 1962 but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964.) Ford’s World Series performance speaks for itself, in particular, his record of 33 consecutive scoreless innings and his ten World Series game victories.

Why someone who is supposed to be knowledgeable about baseball would discount the role of a manager in strategizing who starts which games in a World Series and would criticize a player for never starting a Game 7, implying it was somehow the player’s fault, is inexplicable. At the same time, Friend ignores Whitey’s overall outstanding performance in World Series games, in general, and his regular-season record, in particular. Perhaps the writer has an ax to grind.

Whitey’s guile on the mound and his cagey and cunning pitching more than overcame his modest size and build. His success on the diamond demonstrates that one does not necessarily have to have a powerful arm to be an extremely effective pitcher in MLB.