Wes Ferrell

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Wesley Cheek Ferrell (February 2, 1908 - December 9, 1976) was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. From 1927 through 1941, Ferrell played for the Cleveland Indians (1927-1933), Boston Red Sox (1934-1937), Washington Senators (1937-1938), New York Yankees (1938-1939), Brooklyn Dodgers (1940) and Boston Braves (1941). He batted and threw right handed.

Contents 1 Career 2 Pitching statistics 3 Batting statistics 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

[edit] Career

A native of Greensboro, North Carolina, Ferrell was part of a baseball family. In addition to his older brother Rick, a Hall of Fame catcher, his youngest brother George was a 20-year minor league veteran.

Ferrell won 20 games six times in his ten full seasons before arm trouble ended his career at age 33. Most notably, he is the only pitcher since 1900 to win 20 games in his first four full major league seasons. He also was the MVP runnerup with the 1935 Boston Red Sox after leading the American League in wins (25), innings pitched (322-1/3) and complete games (31), while hitting .347. Widely considered the best-hitting pitcher of the 20th century, he hit .280 lifetime and set records for home runs in a season (nine) and a career (38). He retired with the seventh highest winning percentage (.601) among pitchers with at least 300 AL decisions (for teams that never won the pennant) and also with the fourth highest fielding percentage (.975) in AL history. His brother Rick was his batterymate for five seasons.

Ferrell started his career in 1927 with the Cleveland Indians at the age of 19. He saw little action in his first two seasons; in 1928 he made only two appearances and was relegated to throwing batting practice. One day, he refused to go out to the mound for his pre-game duties, and was sent to Terre Haute of the Three-I League for the rest of the year, posting a 20-8 record. But in 1929 he returned to Cleveland and posted a 21-10 record with 100 strikeouts and a 3.60 earned run average. In 1930 his record rose to 25-13, with 143 strikeouts and a 3.31 ERA (second in the AL). As a pitcher, Ferrell had a decent fastball and a good curveball, and was also a changeup specialist. He led AL pitchers four times in complete games, and three times in innings.

The 1931 season was Ferrell's best yet. On April 29, he pitched a 9-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns, striking out eight, and hit a home run with a double and four runs batted in. His brother Rick, catching for the Browns, came the closest to getting a hit, reaching base on an error by the shortstop. Then, on August 31 Ferrell hit two home runs as he beat the Chicago White Sox 13–5 at Comiskey Park. Winner of 13 consecutive games, he finished the year at 22-12 with 123 strikeouts, a 3.75 ERA, and an AL-best 31 complete games, at times also terrorizing his rivals with the bat. Ferrell matched the opponents' batters homer-by-homer; they hit nine home runs off of him, but he also smashed nine balls out of the park.

In 1932 Ferrell posted his fourth consecutive 20-win season, with a record of 23-13, 105, 3.66. However, he had a foul temper, and because of his volatile character he was fined and suspended many times for refusing to leave a game, or for leaving it without permission. After being driven from the mound in one game, he destroyed the clubhouse, punched himself in the jaw so hard that he nearly knocked himself out, and tore his uniform to shreds.

Ferrell was named to the first AL All-Star team in 1933, but with his pitching skill diminished by shoulder pain, and after a disappointing 11-12 record in the year, he was sent to the Boston Red Sox, where his brother Rick – whose personality was almost the opposite of Wes' – was a fine all-around catcher.

Ferrell recovered his form in 1934 with a 14-5 mark, also hitting two homeruns in a 10-inning, 3–2 victory for Boston over the White Sox. It was the second time that season he had a pair of home runs in a single game, and the third time in his career. In all, he would homer twice in a game six times. In the same season, Ferrell was pitching when Babe Ruth made his farewell appearance in Boston at Fenway Park on August 12, drawing a record crowd of 46,766 fans (with about 20,000 turned away). Ruth singled and doubled against Ferrell, but the New York Yankees lost 6–4.

In 1935 Ferrell won a league-high 25 games, as his .347 batting average was only two points lower than that of AL batting champion Buddy Myer, then, in 1936 he went 20-15. During the 1937 midseason, the Ferrell brothers and Mel Almada were sent to the Washington Senators in the same trade that brought Ben Chapman and Bobo Newsom to Boston. Wes made his second All-Star team shortly afterward as he led the AL in innings and complete games each season from 1935 to 1937.

After being released by Washington in 1938 despite a 13-8 record, Ferrell was signed by the Yankees, but he never came back after arm surgery over the winter. He was released in May 1939.

Ferrell won 190 games between 1929 and 1938. He made one relief appearance for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1940, and ended his career with four games for the Boston Braves in 1941. His final record was 193-128, with a 4.04 ERA and 985 strikeouts in 374 games and 3623 innings.

In addition to his talent as a pitcher, Ferrell was also one of the best-hitting pitchers in major league history, setting records for pitchers for most home runs in a season with nine, in 1931, and 38 for a career – his 38 homers were ten more than Rick had in over five times as many at bats. Ferrell also tied the AL record held by Pete Appleton and George Uhle with six RBI in a single game, and five times hit two home runs in one game. In all, he collected 329 hits, 57 doubles, 13 triples, 208 RBI, 175 runs, 129 hit by pitches, and a .446 slugging percentage, as he drew a fair number of walks (129), resulting in a .351 career on base percentage.

"I didn't see any big deal in being a good hitter as well as a good pitcher," said Ferrell, a two-time minor league batting champion as an outfielder after his major league days were over. When he went on to be a manager, Ferrell was slapped with suspensions for belting an umpire, and for removing his team from the field. He was a fiery competitor and a brilliant player with natural talent, whose achievements may have been obscured by his irascibility.

Wes Ferrell died in Sarasota, Florida at 68 years of age. Although he, unlike his brother, has not been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, in 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time, in celebration of his being not just a star pitcher but the best-hitting pitcher of all time -- noting that Babe Ruth did most of his hitting when he was no longer a regular pitcher.

[edit] Pitching statistics

W	L	GP	GS	CG	SHO	GF	SV	IP	H	TBF	AVG	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	HBP	WP	ERA
193	128	374	323	227	17	43	13	2623.0	2845	11568	.245	1382	1177	132	1040	985	23	35	4.04

[edit] Batting statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	SH	TB	HBP	AVG	OBP	SLG
548	1176	175	329	57	12	38	208	2	0	129	185	40	524	129	.280	.351	.446

[edit] See also

• The 100 Greatest Cleveland Indians Roster
• All-time leaders in home runs by pitchers

[edit] External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
• Baseball Hall of Fame candidate profile
• Baseball Almanac
• BaseballLibrary
• The Baseball Page

[edit] References

• Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia (2000). Kingston, NY: Total/Sports Illustrated. ISBN 1-892129-34-5.