Whitey Ford

I was too young to acquire a real sense of Whitey Ford or to have seen him match up against Billy Pierce and the White Sox. Instead, he was one of those players I used my first year of Strat-O-Matic. And, truth be told, while I liked him for his 16-13 record in 1965, I liked the hitting of fellow Yankees Ray Barker and Hector Lopez even more. But Ford did have an impact on me as a White Sox fan in April of 1967. On the 19th, the 38-year old lefthander pitched his last career shutout against the Sox, winning 3-0 before all of 3,040 fans at Comiskey Park. Then, on the 25th, he went all nine innings again, beating the Sox 11-2 at Yankee Stadium. Ford also collected two hits that day. Those were the last shutout, complete games and victories Ford recorded; he retired before the end of May. For his career, Ford went 39-21 against the Sox with a 2.17 ERA. Those were the most wins against any opponent and the best ERA. The 1967 White Sox collapsed the final week of the season, to finish three games out of first place. Two wins against a sore-armed, near 40-year old pitcher at the end of his career would’ve put them within one game of first place. Who knows, two wins against the hated Yankees might’ve made all the difference in the world. It was not to be. If you’re a Sox fan, life is rarely fair, and Whitey Ford is all the proof you need.