Wood vs. Wood #310

Last time 1987 squeaked by with a 5-3 win. Will this be a different outcome?

In a battle of lefty aces from New York, Whitey Ford poses pregame at Yankee Stadium, with the left field bleachers and a bit of grandstand in the background. Ford grew up in Astoria, Queens, a short subway ride to Yankee Stadium, and was a big Yankee fan as a child. He came up with the Yankees in 1950 and made an immediate impact, going 9-1 with a 2.81 ERA, and won the clinching Game 4 of the World Series. He lost all of the 1951 and 1952 seasons to military service, but came back in 1953 and picked up right where he left off, going 18-6 with an ERA of 3.00. Until his retirement in 1967, hastened by a circulatory issue in his arm, he was one of the most effective pitchers in baseball. In fact, his 2.75 ERA is the lowest for any pitcher of the live-ball era. His win totals (236) and strikeout totals (1,956) would have been much higher if he hadn't missed two seasons in the prime of his career, and because Casey Stengel went with a five-man rotation, unusual for the era, and often would delay Ford's starts to match him up against tough opponents. He didn't win 20 in a season until Ralph Houk brought back a four-man rotation in 1961. He was just as good, if not better, in World Series play. He pitched in 11 Series and was 10-8 with a 2.71 ERA, and his 33.2 scoreless innings streak in the World Series is still a major league record. After his career, Ford served as Yankee pitching coach for a couple of brief stints, and for decades was a spring training instructor for the team. He died in 2020, watching a Yankee playoff game on TV at his home in Lake Success, Long Island.

Frank Viola doesn't get quite as good a background as Whitey Ford did, having to make do with just a fan in a bright blue shirt. He didn't have quite as good a career was Whitey Ford, either, but he did have several dominant seasons. Viola grew up in East Meadow, Long Island, one town over from where I grew up. He won 16+ games for five straight seasons for the Twins in the 1980s, winning the World Series MVP in 1987 and the AL Cy Young in 1988. Traded to the Mets the next year, he won 20 games for them in 1990. Overall in 421 games, Viola went 176-150 with 1,844 strikeouts and a 3.76 ERA. Since his playing career Viola has been a minor league coach for many years, primarily in the Mets organization. Like many Long Islanders, Viola moved south, and is currently living in North Carolina where he is the pitching coach for the High Point Rockers.