June 21, 1962 - Whitey Ford, long the bellwether of the Yankees pitching staff, returned today to his familiar role. Making his first start in almost two weeks, Ford gave only three hits in 8 and 2/3 innings as the world champions snuffed out the Orioles, 3-0. Even a crowd of 18,049 rabid Baltimore fans gave the southpaw a generous hand. The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Bombers. And with the Indians losing to the Red Sox, the Yanks moved back to within three games of front-running Cleveland. Although he couldn’t go all the way, Ford, in his finest pitching effort of the year, went far enough to prove he had fully recovered from his recent shoulder miseries. After the game, manager Ralph Houk explained that Ford “had developed a blister on his left forefinger. But for the blister, I would have let him go all the way.”
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