Former New York Yankees pitching legend Whitey Ford dies at 91

Whitey Ford (Wikimedia Commons)

Whitey Ford, one of the greatest New York Yankees pitchers of all-time, passed away at the age of 91 on Thursday according to Baseball Reference. Ford played 16 seasons for the Yankees. The first year came in 1950, and the next 15 seasons came from 1953 to 1967.

Ford, was a native of New York, New York. He had a career record of 236 wins, 106 losses, an earned run average of 2.75, and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.22. In 498 games and 3170 1/3 innings pitched, Ford had 1956 strikeouts compared to 1086 walks.

In 1961, Ford led the Major Leagues with 25 wins. He led the American League with 18 wins in 1955 and 24 wins in 1963. Ford also led Major League Baseball twice in earned run average. The first time was in 1956 when he had an earned run average of 2.47, and the second time in 1958 with an earned run average of 2.01.

An eight-time all-star (1954-1956, 1958-1961 and 1964), Ford won the Cy Young Award and was the World Series Most Valuable Player in 1961. In two starts against the Cincinnati Reds, Ford pitched 14 innings of shutout baseball. He also guided the Yankees to World Series wins over the Philadelphia Phillies in 1950, the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1953 and 1956, the Milwaukee Braves in 1958, and the San Francisco Giants in 1962.

To this day, Ford remains the Yankees all-time leader in wins with 236. Red Ruffling of Granville, Illinois is second on the list with 231. The Yankees retired Ford’s number 16 in 1974, and he was also inducted into Cooperstown that same year.

In a remarkable story about Ford, he missed two years of playing baseball in 1951 and 1952 because he served the United States in the Korean War. It has been reported that Ford died on Thursday evening while watching the Yankees’ game four matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Divisional Series. The Yankees won the game 5-1 in San Diego, and are forcing a fifth and deciding game on Friday evening. The winner will play the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series.

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