Ford, Whitey

Whitey Ford, byname of Edward Charles Ford, also called Chairman of the Board, (born October 21, 1928, Queens, New York, U.S.—died October 9, 2020, Lake Success, New York), American professional baseball player who was one of the best pitchers on a dominant New York Yankees team that won six World Series championships during his tenure (1950–67).

After an outstanding rookie season in 1950, when he won 9 games and lost only 1, while posting an earned run average of 2.81, the left-handed-throwing Ford was drafted into the U.S. Army and missed the 1951 and 1952 seasons. Returning in 1953, he spent the rest of his 16-year career with the Yankees. Ford’s record of 236 wins and 106 losses is the best winning percentage (.690) of any pitcher in baseball’s modern era. He led the American League in victories three times, winning 25 games in 1961 and 24 in 1963. He also won the Cy Young Award in 1961 (separate awards for each league were not given until 1969). Ford appeared in 11 World Series and holds the record for the most wins (10), losses (8), games started (22), walks (34), and strikeouts (94) by any pitcher to ever play in the postseason classic. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, in 1974.