WHITEY FORD DIES AT 91
‘chairman of the board’ was world series fixture
Six-time World Series champ with Yankees.
NEW YORK — During an era when the Yankees won the World Series so routinely that it was joked that rooting for them was like rooting for General Motors, their ace pitcher owned the most fitting nickname: ‘‘The Chairman of the Board.’’
Hall of Fame left-hander Whitey Ford, who had the best winning percentage of any pitcher in the 20th century and helped the Yankees become perennial champions in the 1950s and ’60s, died late Thursday. He was 91.
The team said Friday that Ford died a this home on Long Island while watching the Yankees in a playoff game. His wife of 69 years, Joan, and other family members were with him. Ford had suffered from the effects of Alzheimer’s disease in recent years.
On a franchise long defined by power hitters, Ford was considered the Yankees’ greatest starting pitcher. He posted the most victories in franchise history and still owns the record forWorld Series victories.
Not big and not overpowering, the wily Ford played in the majors from 1950 to 1967— all with the Yankees— and teamed with players such as Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra to win six championships.
‘‘If youwere a betting man and if hewas out there pitching for you, you’d figure it was your day,’’ former teammate and 1960 World Series most valuable player Bobby Richardson said Friday.
Ford won 236 games and lost only 106, a winning percentage of .690. He would help symbolize the almost machinelike efficiency of the Yankees in the mid-20th century, when only twice between Ford’s rookie year and 1964 did they fail to make theWorld Series.
‘‘This is one of the guys that’s a Mount Rushmore guy in the Yankee organization,’’ manager Aaron Boone said.
The blond-haired Ford was nicknamed ‘‘Whitey’’ while still in the minor leagues and quickly reached the mound at Yankee Stadium.
His death occurred in a month when he for so long soared on baseball’s biggest stage and hours before the Yankees played the Rays in a decisive Game 5 of the American League Division Series in San Diego.
‘‘He would have been the starting pitcher in this game for the Yankees in years past,’’ Richardson said.
The World Series record book is crowded with Ford’s accomplishments. His string of 33 consecutive scoreless innings in 1960-62 broke the previous record of 29‰ innings set by Babe Ruth. Ford holds records forWorld Series victories (10), starts (22), innings pitched (146) and strikeouts (94).
‘‘I saw him plenty from the other side,’’ said 93-year-old Carl Erskine, whose Dodgers often faced the Yankees in October. ‘‘ Too bad for us, Whitey and those guys won most of the games.’’
Ford died on the 64th anniversary of the greatest pitching performance in Yankees lore: Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Larsen died on New Year’s Day this year.
Ford’s best seasons came in 1961 and 1963, in the midst of a stretch of five consecutive AL pennants for the Yankees. In 1961, he led the league in victories with 25, won the Cy Young Award and starred in theWorld Series. In 1963, he led the league in victories with 24, including eight in June.
Ford also led the AL in ERA in 1956 (2.47) and 1958 (2.01) and was an All-Star in eight seasons.