Yankee Pride: Remembering Whitey Ford in the 1960s

Left-hander Whitey Ford, a Yankee starter for more than a decade, hit his peak in the early 1960s.

From his rookie season in 1950 (9-1, 2.81 ERA) through 1960, Ford never won more than 19 games in a season. Yet he was one of the most effective and efficient starting pitchers in all of baseball. During the 1950s, Ford was 121-50 with a .708 winning percentage and a combined 2.66 ERA for the decade. He led the American League in earned run average twice during the 1950s (with a 2.47 in 1956 and a 2.01 in 1958).

Ford broke into the 20-game winner club in 1961, going 25-4 with a 3.21 ERA. That year Ford led the majors in winning percentage (.862) and innings pitched (283) to win the Cy Young Award, which acknowledged the best pitcher in baseball. He followed that excellent season with four more strong campaigns, leading the Yankees to pennants in three of those seasons. He went 17-8 with a 2.90 ERA in 1962, and followed that with a 24-7 record and a 2.74 ERA in 1963. 17-6 with a 2.13 ERA in 1964. Ford posted a16-13 record with a 3.24 ERA in 1965.

Ford retired after the 1967 season with a .690 winning percentage, the highest of any Twentieth Century pitcher. He also holds the record for the lowest career ERA among post-World War II starting pitchers with 2.75. Ford was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.

One of Ford's qualifications for entrance into the Hall was his sterling career record in the World Series. In 11 different Series, he won 10 games with a 2.71 ERA over 146 innings.

Babe Ruth's record for consecutive scoreless World Series innings pitched (29.2) was set in 1918 when Ruth was a member of the Boston Red Sox. Ford's streak of scoreless innings started in 1960, when he shut out the Pirates twice. In the 1961 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Ford opened the Series with a 2-hit, 2-0 whitewash, his third consecutive World Series shutout. He now had 27 consecutive scoreless innings, 2.2 behind the Babe.

Ruth's record lasted until Game 4 of the 1961 World Series. Ford pitched 5 more scoreless innings before he was forced to leave the game due to an ankle injury. Yankee right-hander Jim Coates finished the 7-0 shutout with 4 innings of scoreless relief, and Ford had the record at 32 consecutive scoreless innings – a record he still holds today.