1908
Born February 2, 1908
Greensboro, NC, USA
Wes Ferrell Marquee
b. February 2, 1908 · Cleveland Indians 1927–1933, Boston Red Sox 1934–1937, Washington Senators 1937–1938, New York Yankees 1938–1939, Brooklyn Dodgers 1940, Boston Braves 1941
He won 20 games in each of his first four full seasons, 1929 to 1932, and 25 in 1930 and again in 1935, when he led the American League. Fifteen seasons gave him 193 wins against 128, 227 complete games and 2,623 innings. The earned run average, 4.04, is a fact about the 1930s and the ballparks he worked in.
He also hit 38 home runs, which no other pitcher has done, with 329 hits and a .280 average, and was used as a pinch-hitter for years. In 1935 he won 25 games and hit .347.
His brother Rick caught for eighteen seasons, hit 28 home runs and was elected to the Hall of Fame by a committee in 1984. Wes has been considered by fourteen committees and every writers' ballot he appeared on and has never been elected, which is among the odder pairs of outcomes the voting has produced. He died in 1976, at sixty-eight.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 2 | 1933, 1937 |
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 6 | 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1935, 1936 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 1 | 1930 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1927 | CLE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1928 | CLE | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| 1929 | CLE | 47 | 93 | 12 | 22 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 28 | 1 | .237 |
| 1930 | CLE | 53 | 118 | 19 | 35 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 0 | .297 |
| 1931 | CLE | 48 | 116 | 24 | 37 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 30 | 10 | 21 | 0 | .319 |
| 1932 | CLE | 55 | 128 | 14 | 31 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 6 | 21 | 0 | .242 |
| 1933 | CLE | 61 | 140 | 26 | 38 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 26 | 20 | 22 | 0 | .271 |
| 1934 | BOS | 34 | 78 | 12 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 7 | 15 | 1 | .282 |
| 1935 | BOS | 75 | 150 | 25 | 52 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 32 | 21 | 16 | 0 | .347 |
| 1936 | BOS | 61 | 135 | 20 | 36 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 24 | 14 | 10 | 0 | .267 |
| 1937 | BOS/WSH | 71 | 139 | 14 | 39 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 16 | 21 | 0 | .281 |
| 1938 | NYY/WSH | 31 | 61 | 7 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 16 | 11 | 0 | .213 |
| 1939 | NYY | 3 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .125 |
| 1940 | BRO | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| 1941 | BSN | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
| Career | — | 548 | 1176 | 175 | 329 | 57 | 12 | 38 | 208 | 129 | 185 | 2 | .280 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1927 | CLE | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 27.00 |
| 1928 | CLE | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 16.0 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2.25 |
| 1929 | CLE | 21 | 10 | 43 | 25 | 5 | 242.2 | 256 | 97 | 109 | 100 | 3.60 |
| 1930 | CLE | 25 | 13 | 43 | 35 | 3 | 296.2 | 299 | 109 | 106 | 143 | 3.31 |
| 1931 | CLE | 22 | 12 | 40 | 35 | 3 | 276.1 | 276 | 115 | 130 | 123 | 3.75 |
| 1932 | CLE | 23 | 13 | 38 | 34 | 1 | 287.2 | 299 | 117 | 104 | 105 | 3.66 |
| 1933 | CLE | 11 | 12 | 28 | 26 | 0 | 201.0 | 225 | 94 | 70 | 41 | 4.21 |
| 1934 | BOS | 14 | 5 | 26 | 23 | 1 | 181.0 | 205 | 73 | 49 | 67 | 3.63 |
| 1935 | BOS | 25 | 14 | 41 | 38 | 0 | 322.1 | 336 | 126 | 108 | 110 | 3.52 |
| 1936 | BOS | 20 | 15 | 39 | 38 | 0 | 301.0 | 330 | 140 | 119 | 106 | 4.19 |
| 1937 | BOS/WSH | 14 | 19 | 37 | 35 | 0 | 281.0 | 325 | 153 | 122 | 123 | 4.90 |
| 1938 | NYY/WSH | 15 | 10 | 28 | 26 | 0 | 179.0 | 245 | 125 | 86 | 43 | 6.28 |
| 1939 | NYY | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 19.1 | 14 | 10 | 17 | 6 | 4.66 |
| 1940 | BRO | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6.75 |
| 1941 | BSN | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 14.0 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 5.14 |
| Career | — | 193 | 128 | 374 | 323 | 13 | 2623.0 | 2845 | 1177 | 1040 | 985 | 4.04 |
On this day & linked events
1976
Died December 9, 1976
1927
Major-league debut: Wes Ferrell
Wes Ferrell made a major-league debut on September 9, 1927.
1931
Wes Ferrell's No-Hitter
Wes Ferrell threw a no-hitter for the Cleveland Indians against the St. Louis Browns on April 29, 1931, winning 9–0.
1941
Final major-league game: Wes Ferrell
Wes Ferrell played a final major-league game on May 6, 1941.
Image: Goudey, public domain