Literary birthday greetings: Whitey Ford

October 21, 2010

The other “Chairman of the Board” turns 82 today, a day after the birthday of his Yankee friend and teammate, Mickey Mantle.

In his last two seasons with the Yankees, Ford — inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1974 — had a record of 4-9. Subtract that from his career totals and he would have finished with less than 100 losses and a winning percentage over. 700, putting him with Albert Spalding and Spud Chandler as the only pitchers to top the lofty mark. It should be pointed out that Ford’s came in 329 decisions while Spalding had 287 and Chandler just 152.

Ford published his memoir, Slick: My Life in and Around Baseball, with Phil Pepe, in 1987. He also published Whitey and Mickey: An Autobiography of the Yankee Years. with his buddy Mantle and sportswriter Joseph Durso in 1977.

Ford also lent his name to Few And Chosen: Defining Yankee Greatness Across The Eras in 2005.

More recently, Miles Coverdale gave Ford the bio treatment in Whitey Ford, published by McFarland in 2006.

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Tagged as: Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees, Whitey Ford

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