Rick Ferrell

From SoSH

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Moment in the Sun 3 Trivia 4 Quotes 5 Transactions 6 External Links

Overall Career

Richard Benjamin "Rick" Ferrell (born October 12, 1905 in Durham, NC) broke into the big leagues on April 19, 1929 with the St. Louis Browns. Ferrell was a strong and durable receiver, who retired having caught more games than any other American Leaguer (1,806), a record that lasted over 40 years. A defensive standout with a strong throwing arm, he had a knack for handling the knuckler, which was the out-pitch of four Senators starters. The North Carolina farm boy hit .281 lifetime and better than .300 four times during his 18-year career. Connie Mack's respect for him was so great that Ferrell caught all nine innings of the first All-Star game in 1933. In his 18 years in the majors, Rick had 1,884 AB's, BA -.281, OBP-.378, HR-28

After 18 Years in the Majors, Rick Ferrell retired from playing in 1945. Rick went on to coach the Washington Senators for 4 years. Amazingly, Rick remained involved in baseball until he was past the age of 80, working in the Detroit Tigers organization as a coach, GM, and scout.

Moment in the Sun

• Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984 by the Veterans Committee

• Between 1933-36, Ferrell broke Red Sox catchers' records in batting, doubles, home runs and runs batted in. His .302 batting average with Boston is 12th on the club's all-time list.

Trivia

• Rick Ferrell retired having caught more games than any other American Leaguer (1,806). This record would stand for over 40 years (the record was broken by Carlton Fisk in 1988).

• During his second tour with the Washington Senators, Rick met the unprecedented challenge of handling four knuckleball pitchers in the starting rotation. In 1945 the Senators just missed the pennant, and their knuckle quartet amassed 60 wins.

• On July 19, 1933, for the first time in Major League Baseball, brothers on opposite teams homer in the same game. Rick Ferrell hits his homerun off brother Wes Ferrell of Cleveland. Wes hits his off Hank Johnson in the third inning.

• Was the first member of the Red Sox to make the All Star team in 1933.

Quotes

• "Brother or no brother, … he was a real classy receiver. You never saw him lunge for the ball; he never took a strike away from you. He'd get more strikes for a pitcher than anybody I ever saw, because he made catching look easy." - Wes Ferrell

Transactions

• Before 1926 Season: Signed as a Free Agent with the Detroit Tigers.
• November 8, 1928: Granted Free Agency.
• November 11, 1928: Signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Browns.
• May 9, 1933: Traded by the St. Louis Browns with Lloyd Brown to the Boston Red Sox for Merv Shea and cash.
• June 11, 1937: Traded by the Boston Red Sox with Mel Almada and Wes Ferrell to the Washington Senators for Ben Chapman and Bobo Newsom.
• May 15, 1941: Traded by the Washington Senators to the St. Louis Browns for Vern Kennedy.
• March 1, 1944: Traded by the St. Louis Browns to the Washington Senators for Tony Giuliani and cash. Tony Giuliani refused to report to his new team. The Washington Senators sent Gene Moore (March 1, 1944) to the St. Louis Browns to complete the trade.
• December 29, 1947: Released by the Washington Senators.

External Links

• Rick Ferrell: Hall of Fame Page
• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis