5 Pitchers with the Most Wins for the New York Yankees

​The New York Yankees are the most decorated franchise in Major League Baseball (MLB), having won 27 World Series titles in its 120+ year history. While they've had dozens of Hall of Fame hitters, from Babe Ruth to Derek Jeter, many standout starting pitchers have contributed to the team's success. None, however, has more wins with the "Bronx Bombers" than Whitey Ford.

A 10-time All-Star and six-time World Series winner, Ford is New York's all-time leader with 236 victories. Born in New York, Ford debuted with the Yankees in 1950 and ended the season with a 9-1 record and a 2.81 earned-run average (ERA), finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting. He missed the following two seasons due to military service, but returned in 1953 and won 18 games in 33 starts.

Ford spent his entire 16-year MLB career with the Yankees and led all pitchers in wins in 1955 (18), 1961 (25), and 1963 (24). He won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award in 1961. His final two years with the club were his only seasons with a losing record. Ford, whose 236 wins rank 64th in MLB history, entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.

Also a six-time World Series champion, Red Ruffing ranks second among Yankees starting pitchers with 231 wins. He also won 42 games in eight seasons split between the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox. New York acquired Ruffing from the Red Sox for Cedric Durst and $50,000 in May 1930. He was a six-time All-Star with the Yankees and led the AL in wins (21) in 1938. Ruffing entered the Hall of Fame in 1967.

With 219 victories, Andy Pettitte is third all-time in most wins with the Yankees. A 22nd-round pick of New York in the 1990 MLB Amateur Draft, Pettitte didn't make his big league debut until 1995, when he finished third in Rookie of the Year voting with a 12-9 record and 4.17 ERA. The next season, he led the AL in wins (21). Pettitte spent his entire 18-year career with the Yankees, achieving double-digit wins in 16 of those seasons.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1972, Lefty Gomez pitched for the Yankees from 1930 to 42, winning 189 games and posting a 3.34 ERA. The seven-time All-Star won six World Series with New York and won the Triple Crown, meaning he led all pitchers in wins, ERA, and strikeouts, in 1934 and 1937. Only 16 pitchers have since won the Triple Crown. Gomez pitched one game for the Washington Nationals in 1943 before retiring.

Selected by the Yankees in the third round of the 1971 MLB Amateur Draft, Ron Guidry pitched 14 seasons with the team and compiled a 179-91 record to go along with a 3.29 ERA. The four-time All-Star and two-time World Series winner had his best season in 1978, winning the AL Cy Young after posting a league-leading 25 wins and a 1.74 ERA. He also led the AL in ERA (2.78) in 1979 and wins (22) in 1985. Guidry was also a skilled fielder, winning five Gold Gloves.

Michael Fallon

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