Whitey Ford, Hall of Fame ace for mighty Yankees, dies at 91
NEWYORK » During an erawhen the Yankees won theworld Series so routinely itwas joked that rooting for them was like rooting forgeneralmotors, their ace pitcher owned the most fitting nickname: “The Chairman of the Board.”
Whitey Ford, the streetsmart New Yorker who had the best winning percentage of any pitcher in the 20th century and helped the Yankees become baseball’s perennial champions in the 1950s and ‘60s, died Thursday night. He was 91.
The team said Friday the Hall of Famer died at his Long Island home in Lake Success, New York, while watching the Yankees in a playoff game. His wife of 69 years, Joan, and family members were with him.
Ford had suffered from the effects of Alzheimer’s disease in recent years. His death was the latest this year of a number of baseball greats — Al Kaline, Tomseaver, Lou Brock and Bob Gibson.
On a franchise long defined by power hitters, Ford was consid
ered its greatest starting pitcher. He posted themost wins in Yankees history and still owns the record forworld Series victories.
Not big and not overpowering, the wily left-hander played in the majors from 1950- 67, all with the Yankees, and teamed with the likes ofmickeymantle,
Joe Dimaggio and Yogi Berra to win six championships.
“If you were a betting man, and if he was out there pitching for you, you’d figure it was your day,” former teammate and World Series MVP Bobby Richardson told The Associated Press on Friday.
Ford won 236 games and lost just 106, a winning percentage of .690. He would help symbolize the almost machinelike efficiency of the Yankees in themid20th century, when only twice between Ford’s rookie year and 1964 did they fail to make the World 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.
Hisdeathoccurred inamonth when he for so long soared on baseball’s biggest stage, and hours before his former team played Tampa Bay in a decisive Game 5 of the AL Division Series. The Yankees planned a patch with Ford’s No. 16 on their uniforms.
“He would have been the starting pitcher in this game for the Yankees in years past,” Richardson said.
Theworld Series record book is crowded with Ford’s accomplishments. His string of 33 con