1934-1936 Diamond Stars: #48 "Rick" Ferrell

Sunday, August 15, 2021

#48 "Rick" Ferrell - Boston Red Sox

Richard Benjamin Ferrell

Boston Red Sox

Catcher

Bats: Right Throws: Right Height: 5'10" Weight: 160

Born: October 12, 1905, Durham, NC

Major League Teams: St. Louis Browns 1929-1933; Boston Red Sox 1933-1937; Washington Senators 1938-1941; St. Louis Browns 1941-1943; Washington Senators 1944-1945, 1947

Died: July 27, 1995, Bloomfied Hills, MI (89)

Hall of Fame Induction: 1984

Rick Ferrell is regarded as the one of the best catchers in baseball during the 1930s and early 1940s, while playing for Browns, Red Sox and Senators. Ferrell was the American League's starting catcher in the inaugural All-Star Game in 1933 and throughout parts of 18 seasons in the majors he was an eight-time All-Star. His younger brother Wes (#94) was his teammate with the Red Sox for three and half seasons, and the brothers made an impressive battery for Boston. A dependable hitter, Ferrell batted over .300 in four different seasons. He hit a career high .315 in 1932 with the Browns and drove in a career high 77 runs in 1933 while splitting the season between the Browns and the Red Sox. But Ferrell was mostly famous for his durability and defense behind the plate, and later in his career he became known for his ability to successfully handle the Senators' many knuckle ball pitchers.

Ferrell led the league in runners caught stealing four times and was within the top five for fielding percentage among catchers every season of his big league career. Upon his retirement, he had caught more games than any other player in the history of the game with his 1,806 games caught mark broke by Carlton Fisk in 1988. Ferrell batted .281 with 1,692 hits for his career. He served as a coach for the Senators in 1948 and 1949, then for the Tigers between 1950 and 1954. Ferrell then joined the Tigers front office where he held various positions, including general manager, between 1955 and 1992. Ferrell was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1995.

Building the Set

July 16, 2021 from Port Washington, NY (Clean Sweep Auctions) - Card #22

A boring virtual work meeting got the best of me in mid-July and I found myself browsing eBay for reasonably priced cards to add to my slowly growing Diamond Stars set. I have no rhyme or reason as to how I'm collecting this set, and I imagine I'll get to the point where all I need are the pricey Hall of Fame cards of the more well known players. For this particular mission however, I set out searching for commons, relatively speaking, and semi-stars and I happily came away with four new cards. Three cards, including this Ferrell card, a surprisingly non-pricey Hall of Fame card, came from Clean Sweep Auctions in Port Washington, New York, and a fourth card came separately from eBay seller booklyn426 from, appropriately enough, Brooklyn. It's been slow-going building this set, and that's honestly what I expected. With my disposable income focused on building our 1965 Topps set, and with decent cards from the Diamond Stars set averaging $30 to $40 a piece, I'm happy to take my time and enjoy what could be a lengthy journey.

Variations Available

1 - 1935 / green back / 1934 statistics / 1935 copyright

The Card / Red Sox Team Set

Ferrell is shown posing with his catcher's mitt against what I believe to be a 1930s-style batting cage. The tip on the back instructs catchers how to track down foul pop flys, including the important adage, "Don't make the mistake of whipping off your mask too quickly."

1935 Season

Ferrell was the Red Sox' opening day catcher and he'd start 126 games behind the plate for the club, with Moe Berg (#121) serving as his primary back-up. He hit .301 with three home runs and 61 RBIs, but the big story was his brother Wes. With his brother behind the plate, Wes Ferrell went 25-14 with a 3.52 ERA, leading the leagues in wins and complete games with 31. Wes was runner-up for the A.L. MVP honors behind Tigers' slugger Hank Greenberg (#54).