Wes Ferrell Stats

Wes Ferrell was born on Sunday, February 2, 1908, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ferrell was 19 years old when he broke into the big leagues on September 9, 1927, with the Cleveland Indians. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Wes Ferrell baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"His (Wes Ferrell) best ball, of course, is his fast ball. But he also has a most servicable curve, such a curve as many pitchers fail to acquire in years of patient practice. And young and inexperienced as he is, he has developed a baffling change of pace." - Lane, F.C. Columnist. Baseball Magazine. March 1930. Page 28.

Wes Ferrell

Wes Ferrell Autograph on a 2004 Legendary Cuts Baseball Card (#WF)

Wes Ferrell Autograph on a 2004 Legendary Cuts Baseball Card (#WF)

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Birth Name:   Wesley Cheek Ferrell
Nickname:   Wes
Born On:   02-02-1908  (Aquarius)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Greensboro, North Carolina
Year of Death Data Died On:   12-09-1976 (500 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Sarasota, Florida
Cemetery:   New Garden Friends Cemetery, Greensboro, North Carolina
High School:   Guilford High School (Guilford, NC)
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Right   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   6-02   Player Weight Chart Weight:   195
First Game:   09-09-1927 (Age 19)
Last Game:   05-06-1941
Draft:   Not Applicable

Wes Ferrell

Wes Ferrell Pitching Stats

1927 19 Indians 1 0 1 0 0 .000 27.00 0 0 0 1.0 8 3 3 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 -
1928 20 Indians 2 2 0 0 2 .000 2.25 1 0 0 16.0 67 15 4 5 0 5 1 4 0 0 0 0
1929 21 Indians 43 25 12 21 10 .677 3.60 18 1 5 242.2 1,061 256 97 112 7 109 11 100 2 3 3 -
1930 22 Indians 43 35 8 25 13 .658 3.31 25 1 3 296.2 1,274 299 109 141 14 106 4 143 5 0 1 -
1931 23 Indians 40 35 4 22 12 .647 3.75 27 2 3 276.1 1,227 276 115 134 9 130 8 123 3 3 0 -
1932 24 Indians 38 34 3 23 13 .639 3.66 26 3 1 287.2 1,244 299 117 141 17 104 5 105 4 0 1 -
1933 25 Indians 28 26 2 11 12 .478 4.21 16 1 0 201.0 886 225 94 108 8 70 4 41 1 2 0 -
1934 26 Red Sox 26 23 3 14 5 .737 3.63 17 3 1 181.0 785 205 73 87 4 49 2 67 3 0 0 -
1935 27 Red Sox 41 38 3 25 14 .641 3.52 31 3 0 322.1 1,391 336 126 149 16 108 3 110 5 3 0 -
1936 28 Red Sox 39 38 1 20 15 .571 4.19 28 3 0 301.0 1,341 330 140 160 11 119 6 106 3 6 0 -
1937 29 Red Sox 12 11 1 3 6 .333 7.61 5 0 0 73.1 357 111 62 66 14 34 3 31 1 1 0 -
1937 29 Senators 25 24 1 11 13 .458 3.94 21 0 0 207.2 909 214 91 111 11 88 8 92 1 2 0 -
1938 30 Senators 23 22 1 13 8 .619 5.92 9 0 0 149.0 694 193 98 111 12 68 0 36 3 1 1 -
1938 30 Yankees 5 4 1 2 2 .500 8.10 1 0 0 30.0 154 52 27 33 6 18 2 7 2 0 0 -
1939 31 Yankees 3 3 0 1 2 .333 4.66 1 0 0 19.1 85 14 10 10 2 17 2 6 1 0 0 0
1940 32 Dodgers 1 0 1 0 0 .000 6.75 0 0 0 4.0 21 4 3 3 0 4 0 4 0 1 0 -
1941 33 Braves 4 3 1 2 1 .667 5.14 1 0 0 14.0 64 13 8 8 1 9 2 10 1 1 0 -
15 Years 374 323 43 193 128 .601 4.04 227 17 13 2,623.0 11,568 2,845 1,177 1,382 132 1,040 61 985 35 23 6 0

Wes Ferrell

Wes Ferrell Hitting Stats

1927 19 Indians 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1928 20 Indians 2 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .250 .750
1929 21 Indians 47 93 12 22 5 3 1 0 12 6 0 28 3 0 0 0 .237 .283 .387
1930 22 Indians 53 118 19 35 8 3 0 0 14 12 0 15 3 0 0 0 .297 .362 .415
1931 23 Indians 48 116 24 37 6 1 9 0 30 10 0 21 2 0 0 0 .319 .373 .621
1932 24 Indians 55 128 14 31 5 2 2 0 18 6 0 21 6 0 0 0 .242 .276 .359
1933 25 Indians 61 140 26 38 7 0 7 0 26 20 0 22 1 0 0 0 .271 .363 .471
1934 26 Red Sox 34 78 12 22 4 0 4 0 17 7 0 15 3 0 0 0 .282 .341 .487
1935 27 Red Sox 75 150 25 52 5 1 7 0 32 21 0 16 8 0 0 0 .347 .427 .533
1936 28 Red Sox 61 135 20 36 6 1 5 1 24 14 0 10 5 0 0 0 .267 .336 .437
1937 29 Red Sox 18 33 7 12 2 0 1 0 9 7 0 3 1 0 0 0 .364 .475 .515
1937 29 Senators 53 106 7 27 5 0 0 0 16 9 0 18 2 0 0 0 .255 .313 .302
1938 30 Senators 26 49 6 11 2 0 1 0 6 15 0 7 6 0 0 0 .224 .406 .327
1938 30 Yankees 5 12 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 .167 .231 .250
1939 31 Yankees 3 8 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 .125 .125 .250
1940 32 Dodgers 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1941 33 Braves 4 4 2 2 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500 .600 1.250
15 Years 548 1,176 175 329 57 12 38 1 208 129 0 185 40 0 0 0 .280 .351 .446

Wes Ferrell

Wes Ferrell Fielding Stats

1927 Indians P 1 0 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1928 Indians P 2 2 48 5 2.5 5 1 4 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.81
1929 Indians P 43 25 728 75 1.7 73 10 63 2 3 n/a n/a n/a .973 2.71
1930 Indians P 43 35 890 60 1.4 58 19 39 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .967 1.76
1931 Indians P 40 35 829 96 2.4 93 19 74 3 3 n/a n/a n/a .969 3.03
1932 Indians P 38 34 863 74 1.9 73 14 59 1 5 n/a n/a n/a .986 2.28
1933 Indians LF 13 13 306 32 2.5 32 31 1 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.82
1933 Indians P 28 26 603 60 2.1 60 12 48 0 4 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.69
1934 Red Sox P 26 23 543 32 1.2 31 8 23 1 2 n/a n/a n/a .969 1.54
1935 Red Sox P 41 38 967 87 2.1 85 9 76 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .977 2.37
1936 Red Sox P 39 38 903 53 1.4 51 9 42 2 2 n/a n/a n/a .962 1.52
1937 Red Sox P 12 11 220 28 2.3 27 6 21 1 4 n/a n/a n/a .964 3.31
1937 Senators P 25 24 623 40 1.6 39 5 34 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .975 1.69
1938 Senators P 23 22 447 41 1.8 40 8 32 1 3 n/a n/a n/a .976 2.42
1938 Yankees P 5 4 90 12 2.4 11 2 9 1 3 n/a n/a n/a .917 3.30
1939 Yankees P 3 3 58 4 1.3 4 0 4 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.86
1940 Dodgers P 1 0 12 3 3.0 3 0 3 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 6.75
1941 Braves P 4 3 42 1 0.3 1 0 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.64
P Totals 374 323 7,869 671 1.8 654 122 532 17 30 n/a n/a n/a .975 2.24
LF Totals 13 13 306 32 2.5 32 31 1 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.82
15 Years 387 336 8,175 703 1.8 686 153 533 17 31 n/a n/a n/a .976 2.27

Wes Ferrell

Wes Ferrell Miscellaneous Stats

1927 Indians 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.00 0.00 18.00
1928 Indians 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.80 2.25 2.81
1929 Indians 1 0 1.000 4 0 n/a 93.0 3.3 7.8 0.92 3.71 4.04
1930 Indians 0 0 .000 10 0 n/a 0.0 7.9 8.4 1.35 4.34 3.22
1931 Indians 0 0 .000 8 0 n/a 12.9 5.5 3.9 0.95 4.01 4.23
1932 Indians 0 0 .000 17 0 n/a 64.0 6.1 7.1 1.01 3.29 3.25
1933 Indians 0 0 .000 20 1 n/a 20.0 6.4 5.4 0.59 1.84 3.13
1934 Red Sox 1 0 1.000 8 0 n/a 19.5 5.2 4.6 1.37 3.33 2.44
1935 Red Sox 0 0 .000 36 0 n/a 21.4 9.4 4.7 1.02 3.07 3.02
1936 Red Sox 0 0 .000 22 0 n/a 27.0 13.5 5.6 0.89 3.17 3.56
1937 Red Sox 0 0 .000 6 0 n/a 33.0 11.0 3.7 0.91 3.80 4.17
1937 Senators 0 0 .000 28 0 n/a 0.0 5.9 6.6 1.05 3.99 3.81
1938 Senators 0 0 .000 3 0 n/a 49.0 7.0 8.2 0.53 2.17 4.11
1938 Yankees 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 3.0 12.0 0.39 2.10 5.40
1939 Yankees 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 4.0 8.0 0.35 2.79 7.91
1940 Dodgers 0 0 .000 1 0 n/a 0.0 1.0 0.0 1.00 9.00 9.00
1941 Braves 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 4.0 4.0 2.0 1.11 6.43 5.79
15 Years 2 0 1.000 163 1 n/a 30.9 6.4 5.7 0.95 3.38 3.57

Wes Ferrell

Wes Ferrell Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1927 Cleveland Indians n/a Undetermined n/a -
1928 Cleveland Indians n/a Undetermined n/a -
1929 Cleveland Indians 22 Undetermined n/a -
1930 Cleveland Indians 14 Undetermined n/a -
1931 Cleveland Indians 14 $20,000.00 n/a -
1932 Cleveland Indians 14 $18,000.00 n/a -
1933 Cleveland Indians 14 $12,000.00 Stats -
1934 Boston Red Sox 12 Undetermined - -
1935 Boston Red Sox 12 Undetermined - -
1936 Boston Red Sox 12 Undetermined - -
1937 Boston Red Sox 12 Undetermined Stats -
1937 Washington Senators 12 Undetermined Stats -
1938 Washington Senators 10 $16,000.00 - -
1938 New York Yankees 25 "     "     - -
1939 New York Yankees 25 $12,000.00 - -
1940 Brooklyn Dodgers 21 Undetermined - -
1941 Boston Braves 30 Undetermined - -

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Wesley Cheek Ferrell was a Major League Baseball player with the Cleveland Indians (1927–1933), Boston Red Sox (1934–1937), Washington Senators (1937–1938), New York Yankees (1938–1939), Brooklyn Dodgers (1940), and Boston Braves (1941). When Wes, his nickname, made his big league debut on September 9, 1927, he became the second former student from Guilford High School (Guilford, NC) to play in the majors. The first? His brother, Rick Ferrell, who would become a Hall of Fame catcher!

Wes Ferrell Rookie Card | Baseball Almanac

Wes Ferrell Rookie Card | 1933 Goudey Baseball Card (#218 | Checklist)
Baseball Almanac Research Library

Wes Ferrell hit nine home runs in 1931, breaking the previous Major League record for most home runs in a season by a pitcher (8) set by Jack Stivetts in 1894. The history making nine home runs were hit during the following games: April 29, 1931 (#1), May 17, 1931 (#2), June 4, 1931 (#3), June 21, 1931 (#4), July 17, 1931 (#5), August 2, 1931 (#6), August 31, 1931 (#7 & #8), and September 26, 1931 (#9).

When Wes hit the two homers during the game on August 31, 1931, he tied the American League record for home runs in a game by a pitcher, a record he tied four more times during his career (July 13, 1934, August 22, 1934, July 31, 1935, August 12, 1936)!

Wes Ferrell was truly one of the best-hitting pitchers in Major League history finishing his career with 329 hits, 57 doubles, 12 triples, 208 RBIs, 175 runs, a .446 slugging percentage, a .280 batting average, and a Major League record 37 home runs - the most home runs in Major League history by a pitcher (37) and the most home runs in American League history by a pitcher (36).

Clearly, Wes Ferrell could hit, but he also had one hell of a career on the mound, putting together seven 15-win seasons (1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1935, 1936, 1938), six 20-win seasons (1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1935, 1936) and two 25-win seasons (1930 & 1935). He pitched more than 200+ innings eight years (1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1937), more than 300+ innings two years (1935 & 1936) and led the American league in innings pitched in three consecutive seasons (1935 through 1937). The four-time complete game champion (1931, 1935, 1936, 1937), also knew how to keep the hitters off-balance, finishing with five 4-hit complete games, four 3-hit complete games, six 2-hit complete games, one 1-hitter, and the following no-hitter:

Wes Ferrell No-Hitter | April 29, 1931

Wes Ferrell had won three of four decisions for Cleveland in 1931 when he took the mound to face the St. Louis Browns and veteran Sam Gray on Wednesday, April 29, before 4,000 fans in League Park. The Indians, following their pattern of the 1930s of starting fast and finishing fourth, were leading the American League, while the Browns, as usual, were in the second division.

Jim Levey led off the game with a grounder which shortstop Bill Hunnefield fumbled for an error. After Jack Burns popped to second baseman Johnny Hodapp in short right, Goose Goslin lined to third baseman Johnny Burnett and Levey was doubled off first.

In the second, Red Kress led off with a slow bounder to short which took a wicked hop, but Hunnefield jumped, grabbed it and threw him out. Ski Melillo opened the third with a pop to short left and Hunnefield made a fine play to snare it. Levey started the fourth by drawing Ferrell's first walk and, after Burns fanned, took second as Goslin rolled to first baseman Lew Fonseca. Kress bounced to short, ending the inning.

Not another Brown reached first until Levey walked again with two gone in the sixth, but Ferrell fanned Burns again. Goslin opened the seventh with a wicked liner to the mound. Ferrell threw up his hands, knocked the ball down, scrambled after it along the first-base line and flipped it to Fonseca for the out. After Kress fanned, Fred Schulte grounded to third and Burnett's throw just beat him to first.

With two out in the eighth, brother Rick Ferrell, retired twice on infield grounders, came up. Although Rick was probably hoping that Wes would get his no-hitter, since the Browns were behind 6-0. he did his best and it was almost enough. He lashed a hot shot past Burnett and it looked like a certain hit, but Hunnefield raced over behind the third baseman, scooped up the ball and fired to first. The throw just beat Rick to first but it pulled Fonseca off the bag. It was a play that could have been scored either way. The official scorer called it an error.

Wes wasn't out of trouble yet. Frank Waddey batted for Gray and hit a grounder to short which Hunnefield fumbled for his third error, tying the record for miscues in a no-hitter. Ferrell then fanned Levey.

In the ninth, Burns grounded to second but Goslin drew the third walk issued by Ferrell. Kress fanned for the second straight time and West got Schulte on a grounder to second to end the game. So completely did Ferrell master the Browns that only two balls were hit to the outfield, Schulte flying to left in the second and to center in the fifth.

The Indians scored in the second on Hunnefield's two-out double off the right field screen and Luke Sewell's single to left, and added another in the third when Burnett led off with a single, advanced on Fonseca's sacrifice and Earl Averill's infield out and scored on Hodapp's single to deep short. In the fourth, Sewell singled with two out and Ferrell, one of the best hitting pitchers in history, clouted a long belt into the left center field bleachers to become the first pitcher in modern baseball to hit a homer in his own no-hitter.

Cleveland made it 6-0 in the seventh when Burnett singled and, with two out, Averill homered over the right field screen. Rollie Stiles pitched the eighth and, with two out, Hunnefield singled to center, Sewell walked and Ferrell almost hit another homer, doubling high off the right field fence close to the foul line to send both runners home. Burnett walked and Fonseca singled to center to score Ferrell with the final run. wes batted in four runs to tie Cy Young's mark for RBIs by a pitcher in a no-hitter.

In addition to posting a 22-12 record and hurling a no-hitter this season, Ferrell set a record for pitchers by hitting nine homers.

Wes Ferrell No Hitter | Baseball Almanac

Wes Ferrell No-Hitter (Box Score | Detroit Free Press | April 30, 1931 | Page 1
Baseball Almanac Research Library

Did you know that Wes Ferrell was named one of the 100 Greatest Cleveland Indians Players ever? As part of the club’s 100th Anniversary Celebration in 2001, a panel of veteran baseball writers, historians and executives selected a roster of the Top 100 Greatest Indians and Ferrell was named one of the thirty-six pitchers.