Rick Ferrell
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Rick Ferrell Stats & Facts

Rick Ferrell Essentials

Position: Catcher
Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right
5-10, 160lb (178cm, 72kg)
Born: October 12, 1905 in Durham, NC us
Died: July 27, 1995 in Bloomfield Hills, MI
Buried: New Garden Cemetery, Greensboro, NC
High School: Guilford HS (Guilford, NC)
School: Guilford College (Greensboro, NC)
Debut: April 19, 1929 (6,895th in major league history)
vs. CHW 1 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Last Game: September 14, 1947
vs. DET 4 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1984. (Voted by Veteran’s Committee)
View Rick Ferrell’s Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos).
Full Name: Richard Benjamin Ferrell
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject
Relatives: Brother of Wes Ferrell

 

Nine Players Who Debuted in 1929

Rick Ferrell
Doc Cramer
Earl Averill
Bobo Newsom
Larry French
Chief Hogsett
Dale Alexander
Lyn Lary
Eric McNair

 

 

All-Time Teammate Team

 

Wally Schang
Jimmie Foxx
Buddy Myer
Harlond Clift
Joe Cronin
Al Simmons
George Case
Goose Goslin
 
Bump Hadley
Wes Ferrell
Lefty Grove
Dutch Leonard
Early Wynn
 
 
Bucky Harris

Notable Events and Chronology

 

Biography

A North Carolina farmboy and one of seven brothers, Rick Ferrell saved pennies to buy his first catcher’s mitt for $1.50. Over 60 years later, the Veterans Committee elected him to the Hall of Fame. Although he played chiefly with second-division teams, Ferrell is always included among the greatest catchers of his age.
Blessed with a strong, durable physique and a placid yet determined personality, for 18 seasons, Ferrell was a fine all-around receiver. In two stints each with the Browns and Senators, with three-plus years in Boston sandwiched between, he ultimately established the AL record with 1,805 games behind the plate.

At the plate, Ferrell had a fine eye and was remarkably selective. He coaxed 931 walks while fanning only 277 times and achieved an impressive .433 career on-base percentage. Nineteen percent of his hits were doubles.

With St. Louis, he batted .290 over the years 1929-32 and caught the eye of Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey, who was trying to rebuild. Boston had had a .300-hitting catcher in only 1901 and 1919. In the years 1933-36, Ferrell broke Red Sox catchers’ records in batting, doubles, HR, and RBI. His .302 average with the Red Sox is 12th on the club’s all-time list. Rick’s brother Wes joined him in Boston in 1934. Though a pitcher, Wes hit more career HR (38) than Rick (28). In June 1937, the brothers were packaged in a trade to Washington for Ben Chapman and Bobo Newsom.

Ferrell was back with the Browns in 1941-43. Then, during his second tour with Washington, he 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.

After his playing days, Ferrell served as a Senators coach for four seasons. He followed with many years in the Tiger organization as a coach, scout, GM, and, at over 80, executive consultant. In 1987 manager Sparky Anderson commented, “I hope I’m like Rick when I am his age!”

 

 

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Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts

Likable Rick Ferrell had a long and distinguished career in baseball, as a player, coach, scout, GM and executive. He was the starting catcher for the American League in the first six All-Star games ever played. He caught more than 1,800 games in a career spent with the Browns, Senators and Red Sox. Unfortunately, those clubs rarely posted winning records, and the closest Ferrell came to the World Series was in 1945 when he was 39 years old and Washington lost the pennant on the next-to-the-last day of the season. A career .281 hitter, he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984 at the age of 79, primarily due to his defensive abilities.

Teams Rick Ferrell Played For

St. Louis Browns (1929-1933)
Boston Red Sox (1933-1937)
Washington Senators (1937-1941)
St. Louis Browns (1941-1943)
Washington Senators (1944-1947)

Best Season: 1932
Ferrell had a very good year. At that time few catchers could hit and excel at the position defensively. With the Browns, Ferrell batted .315 in 126 games, while leading AL catchers with 78 assists from behind the plate. He also hit 30 doubles and drove in 65 runs from the #8 spot in the St. Louis order. Ferrell also batted .300 in 1931 and 1936, and in 1947 at the age of 41.

 

Most Games Caught
Rick Ferrell with 1,806 was the all time leader in games caught when he retired. 

Knuckled Under
With the Senators in 1945, Ferrell set a record that will probably never be approached. That season he regularly caught four knuckleball pitchers. The Senators pitching rotation consisted of knuckleballers Dutch Leonard, Roger Wolff, Mickey Haefner and Johnny Niggeling. Only when Marino Pieretti was on the mound did Ferrell get a break from the dancing knuckler.

Where He Played
Ferrell’s 1,806 games behind the plate were an American League record when he retired in 1947.

Major League Debut
April 19, 1929 … When Ferrell entered the American League he was playing against Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. In his last season in the big leagues he was playing on the same field with Larry Doby, the first African American in the junior circuit.

Family Tree
Ferrell’s brother Wes was a better player than Rick. The two played together on the Boston Red Sox from 1934 to 1937, when they were traded in tandem in mid-season to the Senators. Wes was a strong athlete with a great arm and good bat. He actually hit more homers in his career (38), than his Hall of Fame brother (28).

Similar Players
Jimmie Wilson, Luke Sewell

 

Related Players
Wes Ferrell, Al Lopez, Ernie Lombardi, Carlton Fisk

Transactions
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 Browns to complete the trade.

All-Star Selections
1933 AL
1934 AL
1935 AL
1936 AL
1937 AL
1938 AL
1944 AL
1945 AL

Replaced
Wally Schang

Replaced By
Al Evans and Jake Early

Best Strength as a Player
Blocking pitches and knowledge of the strike zone.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Power

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