1934-1936 Diamond Stars: #94 Wes Ferrell

Sunday, August 13, 2023

#94 Wes Ferrell - Boston Red Sox

Wesley Cheek Ferrell

Boston Red Sox

Pitcher

Bats: Right Throws: Right Height: 6'2" Weight: 195

Born: February 2, 1908, Greensboro, NC

Major League Teams: Cleveland Indians 1927-1933; Boston Red Sox 1934-1937; Washington Senators 1937-1938; New York Yankees 1938-1939; Brooklyn Dodgers 1940; Boston Braves 1941

Died: December 9, 1976, Sarasota, FL (68)

Wes Ferrell pitched in parts of 15 big league season, finding the most success in his 11 years with the Indians and Red Sox. Ferrell joined the Indians' staff for good in 1929, putting up his first of six 20-win seasons. He'd have a career year in 1930, going 25-13 with a 3.31 ERA in 43 appearances with a career best 143 strikeouts. Ferrell would win 22 games in 1931, 23 games in 1932 and be named to the first American League All-Star team in 1933. He pitched a no-hitter on April 29, 1931 against the Browns. Dealt to the Red Sox in May 1934, Ferrell would be a workhorse for Boston, leading the league in innings pitched and complete games three seasons in a row between 1935 and 1937. He'd win 25 games again in 1935 and travel to his second All-Star Game in 1937. Ferrell bounced around towards the end of his major league career, spending time with the Yankees, Dodgers and Braves.

In 374 games, he was 193-128 with a 4.04 ERA and 227 complete games, which is currently 104th all-time. He walked more (1,040) than he struck out (985). Some have argued for Hall of Fame status for Ferrell, given his impressive pitching statistics all came while pitching for mostly mediocre teams. He was a major threat at the plate too, setting records for home runs in a season (9) and over his career (37), while batting .280 overall. Ferrell is a member of both the Hall of Fames for the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox. His brother, catcher Rick Ferrell (#48), was a teammate of his with the Red Sox between 1934 and 1937, and Rick was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984.

Building the Set

July 24, 2023 from Tomball, TX (The Battersbox) - Card #84

It's been a minute since I added any new cards to my growing Diamond Stars set build. In fact, all set building has taken a back seat so far this spring/summer to the non-stop activities of our two teenage sons, who have kept us busy with baseball tournaments, tennis camps, trips to and from the gym, trips to and from the batting cages, piano lessons, outings with friends, trips to the beach and other time consuming but fun endeavors. In need of vintage baseball cards, I ordered this Ferrell card and the Luke Appling (#95) card from The Battesbox in late July. As further evidence of how busy we've been, again in a good way, the cards sat on my side project table for three weeks until I found some spare time on a late Friday afternoon in mid-August to appreciate them.

As of this writing, I'm 32 cards away from my version of a complete set, which includes 11 notable variations. I have a feeling the final cards needed will be a combination of the priciest cards in the set, Lefty Grove (#1), Mel Ott (#50) and Jimmie Foxx (#64) and the hard to find cards from the third series - basically the final six cards of the set.

Variations Available

1 - 1936 / blue back / 1935 statistics / 1936 copyright

The Card / Red Sox Team Set

This is probably the most well-known baseball card of Ferrell's, and it's much more appealing than his 1933 Goudey rookie card, which features a somewhat eerie photo. As is the case with many third series cards, the back includes biographical and career summary information in lieu of a baseball tip. The write-up here covers all the highlights of Ferrell's career, including his no-hitter, his being named to the All-Star team in 1933, his fantastic 1935 season, his solid hitting skills and finally, the fact his current catcher is his brother Rick.

1936 Season

Ferrell led the league in starts (38), complete games (28), innings pitched (301) and hits allowed (330), while going 20-15 with a 4.19 ERA. The Red Sox finished in sixth place in the American League, spared from the basement by the Browns and Athletics. Their most frequently used starting pitchers were Ferrell, Grove, Fritz Ostermueller (#73) and Johnny Marcum.