Just like the Bambino was synonymous with home runs, Ford was known for winning big games. Nicknamed “The Chairman of the Board” for the way he controlled the game, Ford won 236 games – the most wins in Yankees history.
When Ford retired from the game in 1967, he left as the standard-bearer in many World Series pitching categories. To this day, Ford still holds records for most wins (10), innings pitched (146), games started (22) and strikeouts (94) in the Fall Classic.
As a rookie in 1950, Whitey won nine games for the Yankees and lost just one. In Game 4 of 1950 World Series, Ford showed his first flash of brilliance in high-pressure situations as he shut out the Philadelphia Phillies for the first eight innings. The Yankees won the game 5-2 to complete their Fall Classic sweep.
Yankees manager Casey Stengel was impressed with his rookie phenom after the 1950 season. “I never saw a kid with such good control for his age,” Stengel marveled. “You don’t find pitchers like him every day – and if you do please let me know where they are.”
As the ace of the great Yankees dynasties of the 1950s and 1960s, Ford was the hurler that the Bronx Bombers could always turn to. He was the team’s Game 1 starter in every World Series from 1955-1958, becoming the first pitcher in history to start four consecutive Game 1s. Ford repeated the feat again from 1961-1964.
Ford’s scoreless streak in the World Series began in the 1960 Fall Classic against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Straying from his usual strategy, manager Casey Stengel started Ford in Games 3 and 6 of the series. Ford was dominant in his starts, throwing two shutouts, but he was unavailable to pitch in Game 7 – which ended with a 10-9 Pittsburgh win when Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski closed the series with a walk-off home run.
In 1961, Ford produced perhaps his best season in a major league uniform. The Yankees ace compiled a 25-4 record with a 3.21 ERA while leading the league with 283 innings pitched en route to his first and only Cy Young award.