In 1958, Whitey Ford led the American League with a 2.01 ERA, winning 14, losing seven, and pitching 219 and one-third innings.
Mickey Mantle batted .304 with an American League-leading 42 home runs.
Yankees general manager George Weiss wanted to cut Ford's salary by $8,000 and Mantle's by $5,000 for the 1959 season.
Whitey Ford Had to Be a "Good Boy."
When Ford and Mantle reported for spring training, the Yankees offered to eliminate Whitey's pay cut and give him the same $35,000 salary that he had received in 1957, but with a catch. The contract imposed certain conditions.
Ford had to promise the Yankees that he would be a "good boy." He had to obey all of the club's rules, not miss any trains or planes, and, as Casey Stengel phrased it, be able to tell midnight from noon.
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Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - MLB
Article written by Harold Friend
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