Random Topps Card of the Day: 1962 Topps #315 Ford Tosses a Curve

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, February 17, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1962 Topps #315.
• Player Name, position, team: Whitey Ford, pitcher, New York Yankees.
• Special: "Ford Tosses a Curve."
• Last Line of Statistics: 1961 stats (Yankees): 30 G, 283 IP, 25-4, .862 PCT, 210 SO, 92 BB, 3.21 ERA.
• Commentary: In the big book from the Number One Source in the Hobby, this card is described as Whitey Ford IA (In Action), part of a nine-card subset of cards (#311-319). What is pretty cool about this card is not necessarily what is on the front of it. Yes, today's RoTC shows four pictures of Edward Charles Ford's delivery of a curveball to whichever batter he was facing at that time (most likely than not, the poor guy may have swung and missed the pitch). It is what is on the back of the card that makes it truly special. Because it isn't a long winded description of how Ford throws a curve, nor does the back of the card describe the scene on the front. The back of the card shows Ford's full career statistics (the eight that mattered at the time). On his regular card (#310), you get a long blurb, his previous year's statistics (the above eight plus hits allowed, runs allowed, and earned runs allowed) and career totals. Card #315 shows all of Ford's yearly numbers from his professional debut year of 1947 (with the Butler Yankees of the C-Middle Atlantic League) through his minor league stops in Norfolk, Binghamton, and Kansas City, to his MLB debut year in 1950. It also reserves a line to let fans know that from 1951-52, he was out of the game due to military service (he served in the Army during the Korean War). The year before (1961), Ford led the American League in wins (25) and innings pitched (283.0) en route to winning that year's Cy Young Award. He also went 2-0, allowing no runs whatsoever in 14 innings of work, during the 1961 World Series. The following year (1962) was an off year for him, even though he finished with a 17-8 record with an ERA of 2.90 and 160 strikeouts. After 16 years in Yankees pinstripes, Ford would retire as the all-time team leader in wins (236) and his career ERA of would be the lowest in all of baseball among starting pitchers since 1920.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $6.00-$15.00.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card, but was able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. So thank you Joe McAnally and the folks at the BCCM.

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 2010 Topps #161. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Come on back then to see what the Topps Card Randomizer gets us to look at then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama