Friday, October 16, 2020

Top 5 Tribute: Whitey Ford

Baseball lost yet another Hall of Fame player when "The Chairman Of The Board" Whitey Ford passed away October 8th at the age of 91. Picking my Top 5 cards was easy in this case - I only have 5 Whitey Ford cards in my collection (not counting the latest addition to the Time Travel Trading  Project of course). Here are 5 cards I own, in chronological order:

1985 Topps Woolworth All-Time Record Holders #5


When people talk about baseball's unbreakable records, they usually talk about career achievements like Rose's hits or Henderson's steals. The all-time records listed on this card refer to Ford's World Series performances - 10 wins, 94 strikeouts, and an amazing 33 consecutive scoreless innings. With modern philosophies regarding bullpen usage, as well as expanded playoffs and a larger number of teams, Ford's records on the grandest stage are pretty safe from being challenged.

1989 Kahn's Cooperstown #NNO


The two things that stand out most about this card are the beautiful artwork and the signature depicting his real name Edward.

1992 St. Vincent HOF Heroes Stamps #4


The latest addition to my collection came over the summer when I won this set as a prize from Chavez Ravining. Now that look at it, it seems they tried to give Whitey an old-timey hat for some reason. It looks off, especially without the logo.

2015 Topps - Eclipsing History #EH-6


Coincidentally, like Gibson's 1971 card, I showed this card off a long time ago when this blog was in its infancy. The focus that day was on Rivera, but today we come full circle and honor Ford.

2016 Topps Archives #189


This is probably my favorite of all the Ford cards. The picture almost has a 3-D quality to it, like Whitey is just about to step out of the card's frame. 

I'll end things with a personal Whitey story. I may have missed an opportunity to get his autograph. Ages ago, I went to a card show in Niagara Falls. The headline attraction was Mickey Mantle. Right before I needed to get in line to get his autograph, my dad directed my attention to another older gentleman standing around talking with some people. My dad was 90% sure it was Ford, but because my mind was on Mantle, and I wasn't as familiar with Ford, I never sought to find out for sure. I'll never know...

RIP Whitey Ford, you will be missed!

7 comments:

  1. A. Love the Woolworth card.

    B. Never seen the 1989 Kahns cards.

    C. At least you met Mickey and you have a cool story to tell.

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  2. Did you get the Mantle autograph though??

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    1. I sure did! (https://diamond-jesters.blogspot.com/2017/06/30-day-challenge-day-30.html)

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  3. Was this at the Niagara Falls Convention Center? I used to go there all the time for stuff, the newspaper office was just across the street (still is I believe).

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    1. It was! It was the largest card show I ever attended.

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  4. Yeah, his World Series records are safe, I couldn't imagine anyone in today's baseball breaking one of them.

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  5. Woolworth's Record Holders were included in the first card album I ever owned as a kid. They always bring back great memories (and those green-bordered Hygrade cards, too)

    The Archives is a great choice here.

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