“Forgotten Hollywood”- The Yankee Chairman…

Posted on October 9, 2020 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…

“`Whitey Ford was the New Yorker who had the best winning percentage of any pitcher in the twentieth century,  and helped the Yankees become baseball’s perennial champions in the 1950s and 1960s. On the franchise defined by power hitters,  Ford was considered its finest starting pitcher. The wily left-hander excelled in the majors from 1950-1967, all with the Yankees, and teamed with the likes of Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, and Yogi Berra to earn six championships. Mantle was his pal on-and-off the field.

“`The Yankees signed Ford in 1947 and three years later he was called up in midseason. At just 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, Ford was considered a marginal prospect.  But he won nine straight games and nailed down the 1950 World Series sweep of the Phillies by winning the fourth game. After two years away for military service during the Korean War (he remained stateside in the Army), Ford returned to the Yanks in 1953 and, along with Mantle, became their core of the team.

“`Ford was in his mid-20s when he became the ace in manager Casey Stengel’s rotation. He was Stengel’s choice to pitch World Series openers eight times, a record. He won 236 games and lost just 106, a winning percentage of .690. The Fall Classic record book is crowded with his accomplishments, still holding records for World Series games and starts, innings pitched, wins, and strikeouts.

“`He and Mantle remained centerpieces in the Yankees dynasty and were elected together to the Hall of Fame in 1974.  The team retired his No. 16 the month Ford was inducted into the Hall. After his retirement, Ford briefly worked as a broadcaster.

“`Know as the Chairman of the Board, Edward Charles Whitey Ford (above) was ninety-one.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Friday, October 9th, 2020 at 2:29 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


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