Still in Mourning

Growing up in the ‘50s and ‘60s and “loving” BASEBALL, I, like so many of my relatives and friends, had a favorite baseball team and favorite players, mainly from that team. When Houston fielded the “Colt ‘45s,” I had to split my allegiance with the new Texas team, but until then, I was an “All-Yankees” boy!

I liked all the Yankees, but my favorites were the following: Babe Ruth (1895-1948) and Lou Gehrig (1903-1941) [two about whom I only read], Mickey Mantle (1931-1995), Yogi Berra (1925-2015), Whitey Ford (1928-2020), Clete Boyer (1937-2007), Casey Stengel (1890-1975), Joe Pepitone (1940-), Goose Gossage (1951-), Elston Howard (1929-1980), Graig Nettles (1944-).

Liking to pitch, play 1st base and centerfield, and batting left-handed, I watched Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle every chance I got—and kept up with their statistics more than any other “Yank.”

But now, Edward Charles “WHITEY” FORD, nicknamed “The Chairman of the Board,” a term often used by catcher, Elston Howard, to show his respect for this man at the top of the New York pitching staff, as he compiled a record of six times World Series Champ and ten times an All-Star during his sixteen-year career as one of the greatest “lefties” of all time, is gone at age ninety one.

Ford won 236 games and lost just 106 for a winning percentage of .690! From his rookie season in 1950 until 1964, his team failed to make the postseason only twice—and remember that there were no extended play-offs before the World Series then!

It would take two follow up articles to cover all his statistics, but suffice it to say he was GREAT! 33 consecutive scoreless innings (which broke Babe Ruth’s record), WORLD SERIES games and starts: 22, with 146 innings pitched, 10 wins, 94 strike-outs.

1961: 25 victories, Cy Young Award, World Series Most Valuable Player (2 more wins).

In 1963, he won 24 games while losing only 7, and earlier in his career he was twice the earned runs leader with a 2.47 average in 1956 and 2.01 in 1958.

Ford was a “G. and G.” pitcher, who had good speed but relied most upon “guile and guts,” as Casey Stengel called it, as his pitcher never seemed to give the opposing players the same “look” on consecutive pitches.

Whitey told folks he “sometimes used special methods to add movements to his pitches.” Whether he did or did not add substances or cuts to the balls is a matter of conjecture, but it certainly did not hurt to have the hitters wondering!

Whitey Ford had ENDURANCE and GRIT and during one interview which I read, said that many times he had thrown 135 pitches or more in one game!

My “love” for Whitey Ford was also helped along by the fact that his best friend was Mickey Mantle. The two buddies were “cul-tural opposites” and loved being together on and off the field—and they were nearly always with another Yankee you might recognize, Billy Martin, during their “hijinks.” Manager Casey Stengel nicknamed the three of them, “Whiskey Slick,” which Ford later shortened to just “SLICK.”

During 2020 so far, five “iconic” 1960s Baseball Hall of Famers have left us—Al Kaline (Tigers), Tom Seaver (Mets), Lou Brock (Cardinals), Bob Gibson (Cardinals), and Whitey Ford (Yankees).

I will open my closing with what Whitey Ford said at his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame with his best friend, Mickey: This was the highlight of my career, made all the more meaningful because it was with “Mick.”

I will close with the fact that he died at his Long Island home in Lake Success, New York, while watching a Yankees play-off game with his family and his wife of 69 years, Joan, enjoying it with him. What a wonderful way to go!