Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford was born in New York City on October 21, 1926. During his baseball career, he had three different nicknames, Chairman of the Board, Slick and Whitey. He was called Chairman of the Board because of his ability to stay calm and very much in control in a tense situation. The Slick name came because of his ability to trick hitters with pitches other than the fastball. Of course, the name Whitey was the one that stuck with him, and he was nicknamed Whitey because of his blond, almost white hair.
      Whitey began his baseball career by playing in the Minors. He spent four years in the Minors before he was signed by the New York Yankees in 1947. He did not play his first game until July, 1950, and was named Sporting Rookie of the Year in 1950. He missed the 1951 and 1952 seasons because he was in the armed forces serving during the Korean War. He came back to the Yankees in 1953 as the number 4 pitcher, but was soon considered the number 1 pitcher. He was capable of pitching curves, change up balls and fastballs, even though the fastballs were not as fast as some other pitchers.
      In 1961, he won the Cy Young Award. He won 236 games and lost only 106. He has a career winning percentage of .690. After playing all 16 years of his career with the Yankees, he retired in May 1967 after having circulatory problems. When he first began his career, he was given a #19 jersey, and when he returned in 1953, he was given #16. In 1974, the #16 Jersey was forever retired. This was when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with his longtime friend, Mickey Mantle.