Photo above courtesy of Flickr/Peter Roan: From left to right, Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford ride in a parade prior to the 2008 All-Star Game in New York.

Voice of Bobby Brown talking about Whitey Ford

By Greg Echlin

Whitey Ford, who died on Oct. 8, was one of two future Hall of Famers the New York Yankees promoted from the Kansas City Blues in 1950.  Without Ford and his Blues teammate, Johnny Mize in the twilight of his career, the Yankees might not have won the pennant that year.

Ford won nine straight games for the Yankees before suffering his only loss in relief on Sept. 27.  It was the best start by a rookie pitcher in baseball history until Jered Weaver opened with a 9-0 record with the Angels during his rookie season in 2006 (Weaver finished with a record of 11-2 that year).

“Whitey was exceptional and you could see that he was going to be great,” said former Yankees infielder Dr. Bobby Brown in a 2011 interview, later the American League president and a retired cardiologist.  “He had no nerves.  There was never anything that ever shook him up.  Even as a rookie, he acted like he had been there forever.”

Ford had a modest 6-3 record for the Blues who finished last in the American Association (AAA) with 99 losses in 1950.

Locked in a pennant race with the Detroit Tigers, the Yankees had only a half-game edge when they began a series in Detroit on Sept. 14, 1950.  With a split of the first two games in the series, it came down to the third game with Ford, better known as Eddie after his call-up, matched against Tiger veteran Dizzy Trout, an 18-game winner in 1945 when the Tigers beat the Chicago Cubs in the World Series.

“The winner of the three-game series was going to have an edge in the last ten days or so in the season,” said Dr. Brown.

For eight innings, Ford and Trout were locked in a pitchers duel, 1-1, with Joe DiMaggio accounting for the only Yankees run on a home run.  But the Yankees erupted for seven runs in the ninth to win, 8-1.  Ford captured the seventh of his nine wins during his rookie campaign.

“He (Ford) was a pitcher that was very hard to beat in the big games. Always.” said Dr. Brown.

Meanwhile, Mize since his July 21 recall from the Blues at the age of 37 slugged 25 homers in only 90 games.

When Ford was the winning pitcher in Game Four of the World Series sweep over the 1950 Philadelphia Whiz Kids, he set a major record for the fewest career wins by a pitcher in the final game of the World Series.  John Lackey matched that in 2002 with the Angels.

To borrow the slogan from the famous automotive company, Whitey was built Ford tough.