When a team that has as long a history as the Red Sox it is natural to have players who have been largely forgotten. These are some players who simply do not get mentioned anymore or are largely forgotten.
Technically I covered Ferriss in a previous post, but he shared the post with Tex Hughson. And plus, I get to show off this card in this post:
This is a Diamond Signatures autographed card of Ferriss, released in 2006. This set had a number of autographed cards of players from the 1940's. I may have to grab a couple more, particularly the Mel Parnell.
Ferriss was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox prior to the 1942 season. He spent that year in the minors and showed some promise. He spent the next two seasons in military service then made it to the big leagues in 1945. That year he turned in one of the best rookie seasons by a Red Sox pitcher ever. Ferriss was an All Star and finished fourth in the MVP race after compiling a record of 21-10 with a 2.96 ERA in 264.2 innings pitched.
1946 saw Ferriss lead the rotation with a 25-6 record en route to the American League pennant. His ERA was 3.25 and he struck out 106 batters while walking 71 in 274 innings pitched. He was an All Star again and finished seventh in the MVP vote. He pitched in two games during the World Series, going 1-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 13.1 innings pitched. Unfortunately, pitching that many innings early on in his career caused some major issues with his arm. He had a 12-11 record with a 4.04 ERA in 218.1 innings pitched. 1948 saw him pitch more out of the bullpen, but he was just 7-3 with a 5.23 ERA.
Ferriss pitched in five games the next two seasons. He pitched in the Red Sox minor league system until 1952. He never made it back to the Majors and retired at the age of 30. Ferriss did not pitch long, but he was a big part of the rotation in the mid 1940's. He was one of the team's top pitchers in 1946.
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