We are all well aware what an awful year 2020 has been for the world and the USA, and nowhere is this more true than in the number of Hall of Fame caliber baseball and football players that have left us, particularly in the last month or so. Yes, ball players get old and die, but the glut of such passings in recent weeks has been almost overwhelming. So much so, that The Grandstander is delivering a sad doubleheader.
Whitey Ford
1928 - 2020
No one personified the term "crafty, little left-hander" more than Whitey Ford, who died this past Friday at the age of 91. In a sixteen year career, all with the Yankees, Ford complied a record of 236-106. That career winning percentage of .690 is the highest in the modern era (post-1900) of Major League Baseball. He was a ten time All-Star, and a Cy Young Award winner in 1961 when he went 25-4, 3.21. More importantly, he appeared in 11 World Series, six of which the Yankees won, over the course of his career. He was a first ballot Hall of Famer, and, at the time of his death, he was the oldest living member of the Baseball HOF.
Back in 2014, I did a presentation for the Pittsburgh SABR Chapter about the greatest pitching performances in World Series history. This is what appeared on my power point slide for Ford:
- Pitched in 11 World Series from 1950 to 1964
- Still holds WS records for Starts (22), Wins (10), Losses (8), Innings Pitched (146), Strike outs (94), Walks (34)
- Three career shutouts are T-2 in WS history
- 1960: 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 8 K, 2 BB
In 2020, fifty-six years after Ford last appeared in the Fall Classic, those records STILL stand and may never be broken. Oh, and I left off one other pretty cool World Series record of Ford's - 29.2 consecutive scoreless innings pitched, a recored that he established in the 1961 Series, breaking a record previously held by Boston Red Sox pitcher George Herman Ruth.
I also included that final bullet point highlighting Ford's performance against the Pirates in the 1960 Series, and noted that had Casey Stengel started Ford in Game One of that Series, and thus had him available for Game Seven, the course of Pirates history might well have taken a different turn in that magical Pirates Year.
Joe Morgan
1943-2020
While the baseball world was still trying to get over the news of Ford's death, word came today that Joe Morgan had died at the age on 77.
He was a two time All-Star during eight seasons with the Houston Colt .45's / Astros, when he was traded in the 1971-72 off season to the Reds in a blockbuster deal. He was the final piece of the puzzle for the Reds and became a part of one of the great teams of baseball history, the "Big Red Machine" of the 1970's. He was the spark plug second baseman who was a part of those teams "core four" that also included Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, and Tony Perez. Morgan won five Gold Gloves and played in ten All-Star Games, four World Series, and was the National League MVP in both 1975 and 1976. Like Whitey Ford, he was a first ballot Hall of Famer.
Ford played all of his career in the American League in the days before cable television and baseball games on TV just about every night of the week across the country, so I never saw him play much, except in the World Series every year. However, I did see Joe Morgan play a lot, and in a lot of key games against the Pirates over those 1970's glory years for both teams, and he was one great and terrific baseball player.
RIP Whitey Ford and Joe Morgan.
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