Rick Ferrell interview
Date1989 May 22
DescriptionTwo audio cassettes featuring an interview with Rick Ferrell conducted by Rod Roberts on behalf of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on May 22, 1989 in Detroit, Michigan.
Object numberHF-1994-0001-018
Interviewer
Roberts, Rod
Interviewee
Ferrell, Rick, 1905-1995
Subject
Ferrell, Rick, 1905-1995
Classificationsaudio/visual materials
Collection NumberBA RMA 001 Rod Roberts oral history collection
Library Call NumberCTA 838
Library Call NumberCTA 837
Dimensions2 audio cassettes
TrannscriptionCassette 1 Side One -- Track 1 - Seen a lot of great defensive play in 25 years in the Major Leagues (00:00:00 to 00:01:05) Track 2 - Bob Feller the roughest pitcher; hit against him a long time, he was the toughest on Ferrell; never struck out much but Feller struck him out three times in one day, George Earnshaw struck him out three times in one day; very similar pitching styles, good fastballs and good curve balls; Feller came up with a slider later in his career, pitched 11 one-hit games in his career, Ferrell beat him out of one with a swinging bunt in St. Louis, Feller picked it up and threw it over first baseman's head, Ferrell wound up on third and they gave him a hit on it; when Feller came up at 18, he could throw hard and developed a great curve, got better control; not sure if Feller was faster than (Lefty) Grove in his prime; Grove and Feller were fastest; Curt Simmons and Robin Roberts came up together when Ferrell was coaching, Cy Perkins was with them and told Ferrell to watch Simmons; Wish Egan and Billy Evans with Detroit asked Ferrell which he liked better, he said Roberts better than Simmons; Herb Score one of fastest pitchers, also Ryan Duren; Ray Narleski had a good arm (00:01:05 to 00:08:47) Track 3 - On picking a good team, didn't see Babe Ruth in his heyday; Ferrell's first six years were Ruth's last six years; greats were (Joe) DiMaggio, (Mickey) Mantle, (Ted) Williams, Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Simmons; Cochrane a great catcher, would rate (Johnny) Bench up there with Cochrane; Cochrane a good hitter, good receiver, fast for a catcher, kept the team fired up; (Bill) Dickey was a great catcher; Hartnett he didn't see as much; (Al) Lopez one of best receivers, didn't hit as well (00:08:47 to 00:11:46) Track 4 - On hands being broken six times, but letting them heal properly so they didn't get gnarled; on catchers not getting hurt as much today with big mitts; today's catchers (Lance?) Parrish, (Gary?) Carter and fine catchers use one hand all the time; outfielders catch with one hand all the time; don't use the other hand the way it used to be taught (00:11:46 to 00:14:50) Track 5 - Biggest changes in the game: Astroturf has made a big difference; today they use the bullpen more than they used to, so you don't see many complete games; one year his brother Wes had 31 complete games; using the bullpen is very effective; pitchers can be overused; Wes won 91 games in his first four years from age 21-24 and he came up with a bad arm; don't know about (Nolan) Ryan today; interviewer talks about Sandy Koufax; Ferrell said he was wild as a March hair; wrapping up, tape runs out (contains profanity) (00:14:50 to 00:19:41.5) Side Two -- Track 1 - On fox hunting with (Roger) Cramer, Ferrell had Walker hunting dogs, sometimes ride horses in fox meets (00:00:00 to 00:02:29) Track 2 - On Joe Cronin taking over as player-manager for Bucky Harris, in '34; was a better manager after he stopped playing; Moe Berg also a catcher then, was a good friend, interesting and intelligent man, Ferrell would test his knowledge, Berg knew seven languages, would talk to the cabbies in New York; was with the intelligence services during World War II; Berg was a loner, by himself a lot; Ferrell got to know him better after they stopped playing baseball; as a player, he was a shortstop and changed to catcher, he improved but didn't hit much and couldn't run, didn't play much (00:02:29 to 00:06:38.5) Track 3 - didn't strike out much, a line-drive hitter, only struck out 200-some times in 18 years, more than 6,000 times at bat, walked a lot, more than any catcher (phone rings, Ferrell answers and gets off;) still holds Triple A American Association record of only striking out four times in one season when he was in Columbus; was never going for the big home run, concentrated on putting ball in play; leave home runs to Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Simmons; Ferrell hit a lot of doubles; might have hit more if he'd stayed in Boston; Ferrell and Bill Werber hit the Fenway fence a lot; ball parks make a difference in statistics (00:06:38.5 to 00:11:18) Track 4 - On the catcher calling the pitches, not the manager; Cronin, playing shortstop asked him once if he knew what pitches he wanted because he let Dykes hit a fastball, and Ferrell said he wanted to call the pitches, work with the pitcher; they had Foxx, Simmons, Mule Haas and Cochrane, and Cronin was worried about Dykes; in Washington they asked him to call pitches with Jake Early and(?) Evans from the dugout and he said no; catchers have to learn to work with the pitcher, think for themselves; players are brought up from the Minors too early, they don't have a chance to learn; have to teach in the Majors now like used to teach in Minors; too many clubs need players (00:11:18 to 00:15:47) Track 5 - On Jimmie Foxx being one of greatest talents in baseball history, could do it all, could run 100-yard dash, more talent than anybody you can name; would have been a great catcher if not for Cochrane, the greatest; Foxx could hit that ball nine miles, hit over the roof in Shibe Park; Ferrell played with him four years, and he hit out of every ballpark they played; give you the shirt off his back, thought of everybody but himself, give you his last dollar; went into pitching for a while, got divorced (00:15:47 to 00:19:05) Track 6 - Played with Al Simmons in Washington and St. Louis, a great hitter, a 38-inch bat, peculiar stance "in the bucket," covered the plate well, could pull the ball, good power (00:19:05 to 00:21:28) Track 7 - On playing in Washington with Bobby Estalella, a lot of Cubans on the team because their scout lived in Cuba; (Mike?) Guerra; Ossie Bluege, not Cuban, managed the club, Mickey Vernon was a good first baseman, good hitter; Buddy Lewis, Cecil Travis, Buddy Myer, (George?) Case, good club but didn't win the pennant; Tigers beat them last game in '45, (Hank) Greenberg hit a home run to win (00:21:28 to 00:23:40) Track 8 - On '45, Roger Wolff, knuckleball pitcher, tough to catch, four knuckleballers, Dutch Leonard, Mickey Haefner, Johnny Niggeling, all were starters, could pitch 250 innings a year, Wolff won 20 one year, Leonard won 20, Haefner win 16-17, Niggeling win 12; Haefner was left-handed so it broke differently, good fastball and curveball, good control; others threw 80% knuckleballs; hard to catch, especially with a small glove; (?) Richards brought in large gloves and helped receiving; hard to pick off runners with knuckleball pitches (buzzer in background, Ferrell answers;) theories on how a knuckleball breaks, wind makes a difference, night games make a difference, the way the pitcher holds it, doesn't spin, it floats; 8 out of 10 break down (00:23:40 to 00:28:32) Track 9 - On split finger pitch, not hard to catch, not like a knuckleball, more like a curve, have to be ready for wild pitches; same as a forkball; knuckle curveball can be a good pitch (00:28:32 to 00:30:36) Track 10 - On having a long career without winning or being in World Series; other people missed out also Ted Lyons, (?) Banks, George Kell; finished second or third a few times, beat the last day of the season; would have liked to be in a World Series (tape runs out) (00:30:36 to 00:32:13) Cassette 2 Side One -- Track 1 - Born in Durham, NC, raised in Greensboro, NC, mother had eight boys, no girls; first child died; he was in the middle, three older brothers, three younger brothers and they all played baseball; eight years from oldest to youngest; brother Wes Ferrell was a great pitcher; brother George Ferrell was a great Minor League ballplayer with 3,000 hits, today he'd be in Major Leagues; younger brother Marvin signed with St. Louis Browns as a pitcher, but had an auto accident and hurt his shoulder; family were dairy farmers, father also was an engineer with the Southern Railroad; all the boys worked on the farm (00:00:00 to 00:03:04) Track 2 - Mother's maiden name was Carpenter; native to NC; boys played baseball constantly; he was always the catcher because he was very small, 8-10 years old; played on full-sized ball fields; high school didn't have a baseball team, so didn't have a uniform until his college team (00:03:04 to 00:05:12) Track 3 - Attended Guilford College in Greensboro as a day student; scouts from different teams came; Billy Doyle for the Detroit team signed him from college; went to college three years and he progressively got better; reported to Kinston, NC for Class B ball; then went to Columbus, OH for Triple A; following year went to San Antonio, TX with Detroit, sent him back to Columbus; Judge Landis made him a free agent because they mis-handled his contract and he signed with the St. Louis Browns for $25,000, and $10,000 a year for three years; held the bonus record for a long time, a lot of money back then, in 1929; he was ready to play, jumped right in (00:05:12 to 00:08:20) Track 4 - On Heinie Manush, Goose Goslin, Sam Gray, Walter Stewart, George Blaeholder, Alvin Crowder, Wally Schang was one of the catchers, Steve O'Neill, Clyde Manion, but they released Steve O'Neill when they signed Ferrell (00:08:20 to 00:09:05) Track 5 - On Crowder, nickname "General;" on Beauty McGowan (00:09:05 to 00:09:48) Track 6 - Good ball club but the Yankees and the Athletics dominated at the time; Philadelphia one of the greatest clubs of all time (00:09:48 to 00:10:26) Track 7 - On Benny Bengough, great friend of Ferrell's; good catcher but couldn't hit much; Bengough would catch the second game of a double-header, on playing in the heat in St. Louis and Washington, played for those two clubs, also played for Boston; on gnats and mosquitoes; weather was the worst, lived at Forest Park Hotel and didn't have air conditioning; take bedding and pillows and sleep in the park, 100 degrees night and day; Ferrell was there '29 to '33, in '33 traded to Boston, went back to St. Louis in '41 to '43, then traded to Washington in ‘44 (00:10:26 to 00:13:46) Track 8 - On Smead Jolley, a great hitter, not a good fielder; best streak, Ferrell hit between Dale Alexander, a power hitter, and Jolley, also a power hitter, and Ferrell was a contract hitter and he did well in between them: Jolley played left field in Fenway Park, there was a bank and he had problems going up and down the bank, Mule Haas slid down it on his butt (00:13:46 to 00:15:45) Track 9 - On Washington Senators old Griffith Stadium, 405 feet down the line, so couldn't hit a home run; he hit one home run inside the park, an unusual piece of real estate; pitchers liked the park, George Case and (?) Spencer; Case was very fast; got some great speedsters now, (Willie?) Wilson with Kansas City; (Vince?) Coleman with the Cardinals; but Case was just as fast; didn't emphasize base stealing as much then as now; Case could race the 100-yard dash; Ben Chapman could run the dash; put Case against professional runners and he was competitive; ran against a horse once (00:15:45 to 00:19:22) Track 10 - In Boston, Bucky Harris was the manager, also played for him in Washington; a fine manager, patient with young ballplayers; ballplayers have changed so managers have changed, the attitude and character of the game has changed; great managers like (?) McCarthy would have to change; Charlie Dressen changed with the game, tough, hard-nosed guy; John McGraw couldn't relate to present-day ballplayers; players never discussed money or salary, never printed in the papers, unlike today; players negotiated their own contracts, never heard of an agent or lawyer (00:19:22 to 00:22:53) Track 11 - On being together with brother Wes in Boston; traded together to Washington for Bobo Newsom and Ben Chapman; two good players; Newsom one of the finest guys, good-hearted and funny, and a good pitcher, Ferrell caught him in St. Louis and Washington; Lefty Grove was with them in Boston, still a good pitcher, but hurt his arm in spring training so he won and lost eight games, had to go to the curve ball; next year, Grove won 20 ball games; Wes won 25; Grove led the league in earned run averages; in '33 Boston on the bottom; Ferrell was first player Tom Yawkey bought when he bought the club; added Herb Pennock, Bill Werber, Dusty Cooke, Roger Cramer, (Johnny?) Marcum from the As; Jimmie Foxx, (Joe?) Cronin was a good ball player; Grove, a great competitor and one of the greatest pitchers he ever caught, Grove the greatest left-handed pitcher and his brother Wes the greatest right-handed pitcher; Grove had a temper, wouldn't speak to anyone after a loss; Ferrell and Grove were good friends, went to his house, played guitar together; Ferrell played Hawaiian guitar and they played Hawaiian songs; Grove had a pickin' guitar; Pepper Martin used to play music for the Cardinals, a lot of good musicians in NC (00:22:53 to 00:30:02) Track 12 - On Pennock as a pitcher, had great control; Ferrell let him throw what he wanted, didn't give signs, a cultured gentleman; Pennock, Grove and Cramer used to come to Ferrell's farm to fox hunt and visit (tape runs out) (00:30:02 to 00:31:27) Public Access NotePlease note that not all works are on view at all times - their availability is subject to change per the discretion of the Museum staff. 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