[GeoPoto]

Player #161A: Wesley C. "Wes" Ferrell. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1937-1938. 193 wins and 13 saves in 15 MLB seasons. 2-time All-Star. 1935 AL wins leader. He pitched a no-hitter in 1931. His 37 career home runs are the MLB record for a pitcher. He debuted with the Cleveland Indians in 1927-1933. His erratic behavior caused concern. He last played with the Boston Braves in 1941. He is a member of the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame. He is a member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame. His brother Rick is a member of the MLB Hall of Fame.

Deveaux continues: The brothers were North Carolina farm boys and Rick Ferrell, one of the best catchers of his time, was the more mild-mannered of the two. Three years younger than Rick, Wes Farrell was as handy with a guitar and a banjo as with a pitchfork or a baseball. Younger than Bobo Newsom (who'd won 47 big-league games to this point), Wes Farrell had already racked up six 20-win seasons in the majors. Included were two 25-win years, in 1930 and '35, when he led the league.

Wesley Cheek Ferrell seemed to have a lot more cheek than his older brother. He was a hothead who would at times fly into rages even if he was just having a bad day at the card table. Teammate Billy Werber told of how he'd seen him stomp on an expensive watch after some setback on the field. In 1932, Wes's manager at Cleveland, Roger Peckinpaugh, fined him for refusing to come out of a ballgame. In '36, Wes had a run-in with another old Nat, Joe Cronin, his manager at Boston, who fined him for doing exactly the opposite and leaving a game without permission. Later, while managing in the minor leagues, Wes would be suspended for smacking an umpire, and on another occasion for pulling his team off the field.

Apart from the fact that he'd won 20 or more in six of eight seasons, Wes Farrell also arrived in Washington carrying the reputation of being the best-hitting pitcher in the history of baseball. His lifetime .280 average and 38 home runs are still all-time records. In one memorable contest involving the Senators in late July 1935, he slammed two homers off Bobo Newsom while pitching the Bosox to victory -- remarkably, he hit two home runs in the same game on five different occasions. A week before he had victimized Bobo, he had pinch hit for the immortal Lefty Grove in the ninth inning with two men on base and the score 6-4. The pitcher was Tommy Bridges, who had 21 wins, four shutouts, and who led the league in strikeouts that year. Wes homered, for the victory. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)