Whitey Ford: A Biography

Front Cover
McFarland, Jul 24, 2006 - Sports & Recreation - 249 pages

Called the "Chairman of the Board" because of his remarkable control in big-money games, Eddie "Whitey" Ford still holds the record for World Series wins (10), and was Casey Stengel's ace during much of the Yankees' historic mid-century pennant streak. Off the mound, Whitey's carousing with Mickey Mantle was legendary, and he, in many ways, symbolizes the excesses and good fortunes of the Yankees during that era--living hard and winning often.

This book delves into the life and baseball career of Whitey Ford, the Hall of Fame left-hander who helped the Yankees win 11 pennants and six world championships. After a childhood on the New York sandlots, he quickly worked his way through the Yankees farm system and, when called up in 1950, won nine straight in a pennant race and then won the final game of the World Series sweep of the Phillies. He would go on to pitch for 16 seasons--all of them with New York--and retire as the winningest pitcher in franchise history. His story is detailed here with a generous helping of play-by-play action and personal anecdotes. Seven appendices offer Ford's career statistics and compare him to other great pitchers, past and present.

 

Contents

Preface
1
Making the Majors
8
Back from the Army
19
A Great Season Interrupted by Injuries
87
A Disappointing Season
102
Pirates Steal Series with Help from Stengel
108
Ford Finally Wins Twenty
123
Another Near NoHitter and Another Title
144
Chasing Ruth Again
175
End of an Era
194
Where Ford Ranks
211
FORDS YANKEES RECORD 236 CAREER WINS
220
CAREER WINNING PERCENTAGE LEADERS
223
Chapter Notes
229
Index
235
Copyright

Ford vs Koufax
161

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2006)

Miles Coverdale, Jr., lives in Spring Hill, Florida.

Bibliographic information