Whitey Ford is a former Major League baseball player. He visits the Springfield War Memorial Stadium prior to a game. Unfortunately, his visit is during the day when Charles Montgomery Burns announces that he will give away a prize of a 1997 Pontiac Astro Wagon, which is deemed as unimpressive by the audience. They throw pretzels at Burns, and when Ford walks onto the stadium they continue throwing the pretzels. The resulting hits render Ford unconscious.
In real life, Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford (October 21, 1928–October 8, 2020), nicknamed "The Chairman of the Board", played his entire 16-year Major League Baseball career with the New York Yankees. A ten-time All-Star and six-time World Series champion, Ford won the Cy Young Award and World Series Most Valuable Player Award (both in 1961), and led the American League (AL) in wins three times and in earned run average (ERA) twice.
