Whitey Ford

Ninth in an 11-part series examining the vagaries of awards voting.

Whitey Ford didn’t know he had been treated with cocaine in an attempt to alleviate the pain in his left shoulder during the 1957 season.

The New York Yankees ace spoke to his friend, Toots Shor, who recommended Dr. Milton Reder. Ford visited the good doctor, received the treatment and reported his shoulder felt better the next day.

It happened on Sept. 18, 1954, but it really happened before then.

The New York Yankees would go on to win 103 games, which would be the most the perennial World Champions would ever win under their greatest manager of all time, Casey Stengel, but the Cleveland Indians would be American League Champions.

On Sept. 12, the Yankees were in Cleveland to face the Tribe in a doubleheader before a record crowd of 86,563 paying customers. Yes, the Indians were a force during the early and mid-1950s.

Few things have been more certain that Cliff Lee's dominance in the playoffs over the last two seasons.

Sure, there's the sunrise and, nearly as certain, sunset.

There's Glenn Beck angering liberals and Jon Stewart offending conservatives. 

And there's MTV killing the brain cells of children with Jersey Shore.

There may be nothing in professional sports that quite measures up to starting the final game of a seven-game playoff series in Major League Baseball. It can either mean going home, moving on, or winning it all.

Before the advent of the expanded playoff system in 1969, only two teams were eligible in MLB, the pennant winners of the American and National Leagues. For 66 seasons this was the accepted format, and the Fall Classic brought us many great memories from that period of time.

Two pitchers with heavily decorated resumes.

The first, CC Sabathia, has more of a track record and is completing his 10th full season in the Majors.

The second, Tim Lincecum, affectionately known as "The Freak," is in his fourth season, and has two Cy Young Awards.

However, both are known as workhorses, the proverbial baseball term that gives revered status to those pitchers who miss very few starts to injury and normally throw 200-plus innings per season.

The Yankees will have Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford present the team with World Series rings during a ceremony that will take place during their home opener against the Angels on April 13. The festivities will start at 12:15 p.m. and Bernie Williams will throw out the first pitch at game time.

Here is the press release :

The 1961 New York Yankees defeated the Cincinnati Reds in a five game World Series that was closer than the final result indicates.

1961 was one of the finest seasons in Yankees' history, but the passage of time often creates a false reality.

Recently, the host of a sports show discussed the 1961 World Series. It was concluded that beating the Reds was almost a cakewalk. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Denny Kewsinitch has rooted for Whitey Ford ever since he signed his autograph book in front of the real Yankee Stadium at the end of the 1950 season.

Denny considers Whitey to be one of the top clutch pitchers of all time.

Kris Burmen has always known that Whitey Ford is a terribly overrated pitcher. He has some facts to support his contention.

Whitey Ford was the Chairman of the Board. He was the pitching ace that New York Yankees' manager Casey Stengel saved to face the other contenders.