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Whitey Ford's Death
- Whitey Ford
- Baseball
- October 21, 1928
- October 8, 2020
- Unannounced, Suffered from Dementia
The life and death of Whitey Ford:
His nickname was “The Chairman of the Board” and he the greatest pitcher in the history of the New York Yankees - a crafty left-hander who made his way to the Hall of Fame even though during the prime years of his career didn’t pitch every fourth day, the way most pitchers did
Edward Charles Ford was a Depression Era baby, born in Manhattan and growing up in the Astoria section of Queens. He attended public schools in New York and in 1947 was signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Yankees.
Nicknamed “Whitey” for his light blond hair, he came up in the 1950 season and even pitched a game of the World Series that year in what was the Yankee swap the Philadelphia Phillies four games to none. (Pictured with the legendary Joe DiMaggio and Gene Woodling)
But for the following two seasons Ford was out of baseball, drafted into the Army to serve during the Korean war years.
He came back in 1953 – and switched from his original uniform number 19 to number 16 – which is now part of his legend.
Yankee manager Casey Stengel used Ford in a very unusual way playing them only against the best teams in the American League.
While many pitchers played every four days, Whitey did not get a chance to play against the lesser teams in the American league - which kept his career win numbers down.
He was fast friends with Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin – and Stengel gave Ford and Mantle the nickname: “Whiskey Slick”.
The trio caroused through New York City like rock stars in the 1950’s. Ford had a famous quip “I really knew how to pick my spots” because he pitched every five or six days.
Things changed in 1961 when Stengel was fired, and Ralph Houk managed the team. He put Ford into a four-game rotation, and he responded with his first 20-win season and won the Cy Young award and World Series MVP Award.
1961 was the year Whitey set the record for 33 2/3 scoreless World Series innings – breaking the high mark set by the legendary Babe Ruth.
A ten time All Star and six-time World Series Champion… Whitey became a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.
His Number 16 was retired by the Yankees that same year…
…and he has a plaque at Monument Park in Yankee Stadium
He played in a few more years on Yankee championship teams but then developed arm trouble in the mid-60s and retired after shoulder surgery in 1966.
He served a while as a Yankee pitching coach and even confessed to doctoring baseballs with either mud or a buckle.
He had a solid family life.
Whitey and Joan Ford married in 1951 in Glen Cove Long Island and had two sons and a daughter together. They lived on Long Island for most of his life, although they had another home in Florida.
There is a ballfield in Astoria Queens named after him.
Ford suffered from dementia in his later years.
A true Yankee to the very end, Whitey died in his Lake Success Long Island home, surrounded by his family, while watching his old team play the fourth game of the 2020 American League Division Series on TV. The exact cause of death was not disclosed, and Ford was less than two weeks shy of his 92nd birthday.