Apr. 23, 1964 - The Yankees climbed out of the embarrassing confines of the American League cellar last night when Whitey Ford became the 61st big league pitcher to win 200 games. The super southpaw did it with finesse, firing a 3-0 six-hitter against the White Sox at Comiskey Park.
The weak-hitting Yankees didn’t help him very much, and it was a pressure performance all the way. Clete Boyer broke a scoreless tie in the fifth with his and the team’s first homer of 1964, and the other two runs were cheap as tinsel. Still, the way things are going with the club, all gifts are welcome.
There was one casualty, which is par for the A.L. champs these days. Roger Maris strained a lower back muscle, which he said was not serious. He played an inning and then left when he was unable to reach a half-hit fly ball.
Asked if he had any goals after winning 200 games, Ford cracked: “Win 201.”
Whitey said he was worried only about control when he started out. The weather was perfect for him, high fifties. He walked only one man and only one runner got to third. That was Ron Hansen, who doubled off the left field wall with one out in the fourth. Ford walked Dave Nicholson, a home run hitter, after that but stopped Joe Cunningham and catcher Jerry McNertney. Hansen made third when Cunningham forced Nicholson.
Ford pointed out that he won his first game against the White Sox. That was back in July of 1950 when he was brought up as a rookie from Kansas City when it was a legitimate farm club of the Yankees. “I beat Bill Wight,” Whitey recalled. “I don’t know the score, but it was a close game.” It was played on July 17, 1950, and the score was 4-3.
Ford beat another good left-hander tonight, last year’s American League rookie award winner, Gary Peters.
Jokes about the “last-place Yankees” have been filling the air for several days, not because anyone is deluded about such a position when the season is just a few days old, but because the baseball world’s large anti-Yankee population gets so few opportunities to utter the phrase.
The Bombers have gone along with the gags good-naturedly, but underneath the needles rankle. So, they were glad to put an end to such nonsense, at least for the time being.
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