Books and articles about Wes Ferrell

"Wes was a marvelous character," recalled Bill Werber of teammate Ferrell. "I've seen him, after being removed from a ball game, hit himself in the jaws with both fists and nearly knock himself out... jump in the air and crunch the face out of an expensive watch... tear card deck after card deck to pieces because he wasn't getting good hands. He hated to lose, at anything. He was a very determined competitor, the kind you like to have on your side."

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RELATED LINKS Photos » Photo: Wes Ferrell, 1937 from Baseball Between the Wars Book Excerpts » "The last time at bat I hit a drive on one hop to Ferrell. It bounced off his glove": Hank Greenberg » "Ferrell was a very good pitcher and a great competitor ... Pretty good hitter, too": George Uhle » Pitchers Who Could Hit Well from Bob Feller's Little Black Book of Baseball Wisdom Submissions » The Top 100 Greatest Indians » Cooperstown Confidential: Hot Stove League Edition by Bruce Markusen Ask The Experts » Which pitcher has hit the most career home runs? » What pitcher has the most homers? Around the Web » Wes Ferrell from baseball-reference.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

Ferrell, an alumnus of Guilford College in his native North Carolina, set a ML record by posting 20 or more victories in each of his first four seasons (1929-32, with Cleveland). With Boston, the 6'2" righthander also won a league-high 25 games in 1935, and was 20-15 in 1936. On his way to a .601 career winning percentage, he led AL pitchers four times in complete games, and three times in innings pitched. In 1931 Ferrell won 13 consecutive decisions, and no-hit the Browns (4/29). Two years later, he was named to the original AL All-Star team.

Ferrell was one of the best-hitting pitchers baseball has known. He set records for most single-season HR (nine, in 1931) and career HR (38) by a pitcher, and averaged .280 lifetime. "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 ML playing days. "A lot of guys could do it if they tried."

Ferrell's older brother and sometime batterymate, Rick, is enshrined in Cooperstown. (A third Ferrell brother, George, had a 20-year minor league career.) Journalist Bob Broeg suggested that Wes, too, could have made the Hall of Fame if arm trouble (which changed him from a blinding fastballer into a curveball and off-speed specialist) hadn't curtailed his career. Broeg also wrote, "If...there was one major difference between [Wes and Rick] Ferrell, it was in their temperament. Wes was a prima donna and hotheaded. Rick, though he lost his cool occasionally, was... a soft-spoken team man." Wes's Cleveland manager, Roger Peckinpaugh, fined and suspended him for refusing to leave a 1932 game. His Bosox skipper, Joe Cronin, fined him for leaving a 1936 game without permission. Later, as a minor league manager, Ferrell was slapped with suspensions for belting an umpire, and removing his team from the field. (TJ)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » May 26, 1930: The Indians take a pair from the White Sox winning 7–3 and 3–2 behind Wes Ferrell and Clint Brown. Ferrell's mound opponent Red Faber holds the Tribe hitless until two are out in the 5th, when eight straight hits drive him from the mound. In the nitecap, White Sox lefty Pat Caraway twice throws third-strike seeds past Joe Sewell, an occurrence that Joe later blames on the white shirts in the CF bleachers. It is the last time the Indians 3B will fan this season, and he will end the year by striking out only three times in 353 at bats. Once before, on May 13, 1923, Sewell was fanned twice in a game. » June 18, 1930: The Athletics beat Wes Ferrell of the Indians 7-2 with three consecutive HRs in the fifth (Al Simmons, Jimmie Foxx, and Bing Miller). » August 14, 1930: Wes Ferrell of Cleveland breezes to a 15–0 win over the league-leading A's for his 20th win. » September 6, 1930: In the first game of a doubleheader, Ted Lyons of Chicago beats Wes Ferrell of Cleveland, ending Ferrell's winning streak at 13. Only two bases on balls are issued in the doubleheader. » April 29, 1931: Wes Ferrell pitches a 9-0 no-hit game for Cleveland against the St. Louis Browns. His brother, Rick, almost gets a hit for the Browns when he beats out a grounder that is ruled an error. Ferrell strikes out 8 and bats in 4 runs with a HR and a double. » July 29, 1931: Cleveland's Wes Ferrell shuts out Washington 6-0, scattering 10 hits, as the Senators leave 15 runners on base. » August 31, 1931: Wes Ferrell of Cleveland hits two home runs, as he beats the White Sox 13–5 at Chicago. He will end his career with a record 37 home runs as a hurler, plus one as a pinch hitter. » July 23, 1932: Cleveland P Wes Ferrell makes 10 assists in a 12-inning game, but loses to the White Sox 6-5. The record in both leagues is 12. » August 1, 1932: The Indians drop another 1-0 game to the A's at Municipal Stadium, as Rube Walberg beats Wes Ferrell. » August 21, 1932: Wes Ferrell becomes the first 20th-century pitcher to win 20 or more games in each of his first 4 seasons, beating Washington 11-5. » August 30, 1932: Wes Ferrell is suspended 10 days by the Indians for insubordination. » September 23, 1932: Trailing 8–6 to Cleveland after five innings, White Sox reliever Bill Chamberlain gives up five runs to start the 6th. In disgust, Sox manager Lou Fonseca, an infielder-outfielder throughout his career, inserts himself as pitcher. With two runners on, he retires all three batters he faces, then turns the ball over to Chad Kimsey to finish the game. The Tribe wins, 13–6, as Wes Ferrell wins his 23rd. » August 26, 1933: Cleveland's Wes Ferrell stops Heinie Manush's hitting streak at 33, as Washington loses 5-4 in 11 innings. » September 3, 1933: Wes Ferrell easily gains his 11th victory as the Indians scalp the White Sox, 11–3. Ferrell hits a homer and Joe Vosmik collects four hits for Cleveland. » April 27, 1934: Wes Ferrell is suspended by Cleveland for failing to report 10 days after the season has started. » May 25, 1934: The Red Sox buy Wes Ferrell, who was suspended by the Indians, for $25,000 and pitcher Bob Weiland and Bob Seeds. Dick Porter also goes to the Sox. » August 12, 1934: Making a farewell appearance in Boston, Babe Ruth draws a record 46,766 fans, with an estimated 20,000 turned away at Fenway Park where he began his career as a pitcher 20 years ago. Ruth singles and doubles in the first game, but the Yankees lose to Wes Ferrell 6-4. Walks hold him to one official at bat in the second game, which the Yankees win, and he leaves the field to standing cheers in the 8th inning. » August 22, 1934: P Wes Ferrell hits two HRs in a 10-inning, 3-2 win for the Red Sox over the White Sox. It is the 2nd time this season he has a pair of HRs, and the 3rd in his career. He will hit 2 HRs in a game 6 times before he finishes. » September 3, 1934: Washington's player-manager Joe Cronin collides with Boston's Wes Ferrell in a play at 1B. Cronin fractures a bone in his arm and is out for the season. The Senators, last year's champs, will finish 7th. » September 18, 1934: Buck Newsom of the Browns continues the unusual, losing a no-hitter with 2 out in the 10th inning. Two walks and a single produce the game's only run as Boston's Wes Ferrell hurls a 10-hit shutout 1-0. » June 23, 1935: At Chicago, the White and Red Sox divide a pair, the Pale Hose winning the opener, 4–2, then losing 8–2. Ted Lyons takes the opener, beating Wes Ferrell, then Boston hands Johnny Whitehead his fifth straight defeat. Whitehead had started his major league career with eight straight wins. » July 31, 1935: Two AL pitchers each hit two HRs in a game. Wes Ferrell clouts a couple against Buck Newsom of the Browns and knocks in four runs in a 6-4 win for Boston. Mel Harder hits two for Cleveland but loses 6-4 to the White Sox. No other hurlers will hit 2 HRs this season. » September 5, 1935: Trailing the St. Louis Browns, 5–1, Lefty Grove is lifted for pinch-hitter Wes Ferrell who hits an RBI single as Red Sox score six runs in the 6th inning enroute to 9-5 win. Grove is winning pitcher. » September 22, 1935: At Fenway, a record crowd of 47,627—with 10,000 turned away—watch the Yankees sweep the Red Sox, 6–4 and 9–0. New York stops Wes Ferrell's bid for his 25th win in game one, and Walter Brown, the hurling mammoth, gives up just four hits in the nitecap. In game 2, the Yanks have seven ground rule doubles into the roped-off crowd. The Sunday Law stops the game after eight innings. » May 6, 1936: Jimmie Foxx hits his 7th and 8th homers of the season as Wes Ferrell beats the St. Louis Browns, 9–6, to keep the Red Sox in first place. » July 26, 1936: The Tigers strand 14 runners and lose to Boston and Wes Ferrell, 10–3. The Tigers have 13 hits included Goose Goslin with 3-for-3. Jimmy Foxx hits his 28th homer of the year in Boston's 5-run 8th, then hits another in the 9th, to pin the loss on Eldon Auker. » August 21, 1936: Wes Ferrell, in a tantrum for what he considers shabby support, walks off the mound during a Yankee rally and is suspended and fined $1,000 by Boston manager Joe Cronin. It is the second time in five days he has walked off the mound, having done it in Boston last Sunday in a game against the Senators. Ferrell, furious when he hears about the fine, says he will not pay it. "They can suspend me or trade me, but they're not getting any dough from me." The Red Sox lift the suspension in four days and will trade Ferrell after the season. » May 13, 1937: Detroit's George Gill makes his first ML start and shuts out the Red Sox, 4–0. Gill allows five hits, three by Joe Cronin, as Detroit replaces the Red Sox in 3rd place. Wes Ferrell allows just five hits, including a double and homer by Charlie Gehringer. » May 22, 1937: Facing Wes Ferrell in Boston, Hank Greenberg hits a long centerfield home run out of Fenway Park. It exits to the right of the flag pole and is called the longest home run ever hit at Fenway. Gee Walker has three hits to run his hit streak to 26 straight games, but the Red Sox counter with 14 hits of their own to win, 11–9. Walker's streak will end on the 24th after 27 games. » May 30, 1937: At Boston, Senators pitcher Pete Appleton pitches and bats his way to an 11–4 win over the Sox. Appleton drives in six runs, hitting a single and triple with the sacks full in the 2nd and 3rd and going 4-for-5, to beat Fritz Ostermueller. Appleton's RBI mark ties the major-league record for pitchers that Vic Raschi will top (7 on August 4, 1953). Wes Ferrell did it last year. » June 1, 1937: White Sox P Bill Dietrich pitches an 8-0 no-hitter against the Browns. It is the third no-hitter Luke Sewell has caught, having previously been behind the plate for Wes Ferrell in 1931 and Vern Kennedy in 1935. » May 18, 1938: At Detroit, Wes Ferrell pitches and bats the Indians to a 5–1 win. Ferrell hits a solo homer, while his batterymate, brother Rick Ferrell, goes hitless. » June 3, 1938: Washington's Rick Ferrell and Wes Ferrell each double in runs as Wes beats the White Sox, 5–1. Simmons adds a double and home run for the Nats. » June 12, 1938: The Senators jump in front of the Tigers, 11–1, a seemingly insurmountable lead with Wes Ferrell in the mound. But after a long rain delay, Charlie Gehringer leads off the 6th with a home run for the Tigers, and they knock out Ferrell enroute to an 18–12 win. » May 28, 1939: Robert Joyce, who gave up two home runs to New York's George Selkirk yesterday, relieves for the A's. Selkirk hits two more home runs off Joyce, giving him four home runs in four at bats against the same pitcher in two successive games. Yankees win, 9–5. The Yanks release vet Wes Ferrell, who never came back after arm surgery over the winter. Ferrell will appear with the Dodgers in '40 and the Braves in 1941. » July 26, 1940: New York P Spud Chandler beats the White Sox with his bat, knocking in six runs with a single and two HRs, one a grand slam off Pete Appleton. The six RBI ties the AL record held by Appleton, George Uhle and Wes Ferrell.