Whitey Ford has a rough start

Yogi Berra had a way with words. Just ask his batterymate of 12 seasons Whitey Ford. One of the pitcher’s favorite tales to tell was “Yogi Berra and the four-ball story”. Ford delivered it many times.

“The White Sox came into Yankee Stadium in ’59 and I was pitching against them. I took my 8 warm up pitches, they played the national anthem. Up comes Louie Aparicio. First pitch I throw to him he bunts down third, beats it out. One pitch, man on first.

“Nellie Fox gets up. First pitch, double down the left field line. Two pitches, second and third. Minnie Minoso, I threw him a really good curveball but it hit him in the kneecap. So he walks down to first.

“Now I’ve thrown three pitches. Bases are loaded and up comes Ted Kluszewski…First pitch high fastball, off the right-centerfield wall. Three runs score. I’ve thrown four pitches.

Skipper Stengel makes a mound visit

“[Manager] Casey [Stengel] comes out to the mound. Yogi doesn’t want to miss that so he gets out there. And Casey says to Yogi, ‘Does Ford have anything tonight?’. And Yogi says, ‘How the hell do I know? I haven’t caught a pitch yet.'”

Like many of the best baseball stories, this one isn’t actually true.

An April 30 contest in ’59 is the closest the story comes to reality. That game did feature a first-inning leadoff infield single by Aparicio, a hit batter, and a bases loaded situation. But that’s where the similarities end.

The tall tale doesn’t match reality

That game was at Chicago’s Comiskey Park, not Yankee Stadium. After allowing the infield single to third to Aparicio, Ford got Nellie Fox to ground out. The next Chicago batter was indeed hit by a pitch. It wasn’t Minoso who played for Cleveland in ’59; it was Sox center fielder Jim Landis.

First baseman Ray Boone then legged out a dribbler to third to load the bases. Ford got out of the inning by striking out catcher Sherm Lollar and getting Lou Skizas to ground out to short.

The specifics don’t matter. There’s no reason to let the truth get in the way of a good story, especially when it involves Yogi Berra. 

Reach Jim Smiley, the author of this story at [email protected]

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