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Edward Charles Ford
New York Yankees
Pitcher
Born: October 21, 1928, New York, NY
Signed: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams: New York Yankees 1950, 1953-1967
Died: October 8, 2020, Lake Success, NY (age 91)
Hall of Fame Induction: 1974
A mainstay at the top of the Yankees' pitching rotation throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Whitey Ford, the Chairman of the Board, helped lead his team to six World Series titles in 11 World Series appearances. He was the MVP of the 1961 World Series when he won Games 1 and 4, pitching a complete game shutout in Game 1 while holding the Reds to two hits. He won the Cy Young Award that same season after going 25-4 with a 3.21 ERA. Ford was a 10-time All-Star and led the league in ERA twice in 1956 (2.47) and 1958 (2.01).
One of the greatest left-handed pitchers in the history of the game, Ford retired in May 1967 with 236 wins, a career 2.75 ERA and 1,956 strikeouts. He is the Yankees franchise leader in wins, shutouts (45), innings pitched (3,170 1/3) and games started by a pitcher (438, tied with Andy Pettitte). His 11 World Series appearances allowed him to set several World Series records, including consecutive scoreless innings (33 2/3), wins (10), games started (22), innings pitched (146) and strikeouts (94). He briefly served as a coach with the Yankees in 1964, 1968 and again for two more seasons in 1974 to 1975. His #16 was retired in 1974, the same year he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Building the Set
October 16, 2020 from Las Vegas, NV - Card #174
By all accounts, and caused by a multitude of different events, 2020 has been a rough year. The baseball world lost five iconic Hall of Famers in a span of about six weeks with the passing of Tom Seaver, Lou Brock (#540), Bob Gibson (#320), Ford and Joe Morgan (#16) between August 31st and October 11th. The next three cards we added to our 1965 Topps set were the cards of Brock, Gibson and Ford as I wanted to selfishly cross them off our list but also to spend some time learning more about each of their careers. (I've had a Morgan rookie card in my collection since around 1983, when he played with the Phillies as a member of the Wheeze Kids.)
The Card / Yankees Team Set
Ford was a 36-year-old veteran and nearing the end of his career when this card first appeared in packs. His final World Series appearance came in Game 1 of the 1964 World Series and he makes a cameo appearance on the Game 1 card in the World Series subset (#132). Ford could have received a "P-COACH" designation as the the position on this card, similar to Warren Spahn (#205), as new Yankees manager Yogi Berra (#470) had asked Ford to be his pitching coach in 1964. Hip problems did in fact derail his season, as noted on the back of this card, as did the discovery he was doctoring baseballs with a rasp on his wedding ring.
1965 Season
As the Yankee dynasty slowly came to an end, this was to be Ford's last full season in their starting pitching rotation. He made 37 appearances and went 16-13 with a 3.24 ERA over 244 1/3 inning pitched. Mel Stottlemyre (#550) had assumed the ace of the staff role, winning 20 games to lead a shaky Yankees pitching staff. Ford passed Red Ruffing for the all-time Yankees' record for wins (232) when he defeated the Red Sox on the last day of the season.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1951 Bowman #1
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1953-1954, 1956-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Allen & Ginter #62
1,484 - Ford non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/1/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database
October 16, 2020 from Las Vegas, NV - Card #174
By all accounts, and caused by a multitude of different events, 2020 has been a rough year. The baseball world lost five iconic Hall of Famers in a span of about six weeks with the passing of Tom Seaver, Lou Brock (#540), Bob Gibson (#320), Ford and Joe Morgan (#16) between August 31st and October 11th. The next three cards we added to our 1965 Topps set were the cards of Brock, Gibson and Ford as I wanted to selfishly cross them off our list but also to spend some time learning more about each of their careers. (I've had a Morgan rookie card in my collection since around 1983, when he played with the Phillies as a member of the Wheeze Kids.)
I found our Ford card from eBay seller mmartin9 for $29.95. The card arrived on October 16th, the day after a particularly rough patch at work for me and on a day I had taken a personal vacation day. Earlier that week, with my wife home from school for Columbus Day, we had traveled to Citizens Bank Park to pick up the five cutouts we had ordered earlier in the summer. It was my first and only trip to the ballpark in 2020, and it was somewhat fitting it was a blustery and rainy day. I set up our cutouts in their new permanent home the same day this Ford card arrived.
Given the purchase of three star cards in September and October, I hit pause on adding any more cards to our set for the time being. Unless an eBay bug grabs me between now and Christmas, the next cards added might not be until Santa makes an appearance this year, hopefully masked up.
Ford was a 36-year-old veteran and nearing the end of his career when this card first appeared in packs. His final World Series appearance came in Game 1 of the 1964 World Series and he makes a cameo appearance on the Game 1 card in the World Series subset (#132). Ford could have received a "P-COACH" designation as the the position on this card, similar to Warren Spahn (#205), as new Yankees manager Yogi Berra (#470) had asked Ford to be his pitching coach in 1964. Hip problems did in fact derail his season, as noted on the back of this card, as did the discovery he was doctoring baseballs with a rasp on his wedding ring.
1965 Season
As the Yankee dynasty slowly came to an end, this was to be Ford's last full season in their starting pitching rotation. He made 37 appearances and went 16-13 with a 3.24 ERA over 244 1/3 inning pitched. Mel Stottlemyre (#550) had assumed the ace of the staff role, winning 20 games to lead a shaky Yankees pitching staff. Ford passed Red Ruffing for the all-time Yankees' record for wins (232) when he defeated the Red Sox on the last day of the season.
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First Mainstream Card: 1951 Bowman #1
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1953-1954, 1956-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Allen & Ginter #62
1,484 - Ford non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/1/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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