Whitey Ford looks like a great pitcher on paper, but it looks like he was greatly helped by illegal doctoring of the ball. I have read from many sources that he would rub the ball on his wedding ring (I bet his wife got a thrill out of that one) and on catcher Elston Howard's shin guards. This not only counts as cheating, which, in my opinion, excludes anyone from the Hall of Fame argument, but he also simply may not have pitched as well if he had used only his natural ability as everyone else did. Even if he hadn't cheated, he would probably be on the weaker end of the Hall of Fame with the same resume because he pitched in pitcher friendly Yankee Stadium for his entire career, and his winning percentage was greatly aided by the Yankee hitters, who gave him some pretty good run support, to put it mildly. However, the bottom line is that he cheated, and that is the only reason for this post.
My opinion: Whitey Ford is not a Hall of Famer. Cheaters don't deserve fame.
Don't know if I can argue, but I always like looking at his win-loss records. 216-84 after 1964.
ReplyDelete