There have numerous sibling rivalries on baseball fields.
Back in 1933, the Wes Ferrell and Rick Ferrell met in Fenway Park on July 19.
It wasn’t the first time they had been rivals in the diamond as the Cleveland Indians picked up an 8-7 win that day over the Boston Red Sox in a 13-inning affair.
In the top of the 13th with Boston’s Bob Kline on the mound, the Indians scored the winning run without a hit as Red Sox first baseman Bob Seeds was attempting to make a play on a sacrifice bunt by Bill Knickerbocker. Seeds airmailed the ball to right field allowing Bill Cissell to score from first after walking to begin the frame.
The Ferrell brothers are an important part of the history of baseball. Rick, the older of the two siblings, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, while Wes set the big league career standard for home runs by in pitcher with 38.
On this day in July at Fenway, the two brothers homered in the same game for the only time in their careers.
Wes was the starting pitcher for the Indians, while Rick was behind the plate for the Red Sox.
In the fourth inning, Wes drilled a two-run homer off Boston starter Hank Johnson as the Indians went on top 5-0.
Rick responded with a three-run bomb off his brother in the bottom of the fourth and it was 5-3. It was the only time they hit homers in the same game.
In a Boston Globe article, writer James C. O’Leary offered a description of the interaction between the two siblings during the unique situation.
After the homer by Wes, “when he came around the plate he was all smiles, and gave Rick the laugh.”
The aftermath of Rick’s long ball was discussed as well, “Wes did not regard it as a “brotherly act. When a new ball was tossed out to him, he kicked it all over the diamond, apparently very much peeved.”
The contest would eventually be tied at 7-7 as the contest went into extra innings with the Indians eventually coming out on top. Wes worked into the seventh inning on the mound and didn’t get a decision.
Rick
Rick played 18 seasons in the big leagues from 1929-1947. Beginning his career with the St. Louis Browns, he went to Boston in 1933.
He was with the Red Sox until moving on to the Washington Senators during the 1937 season. He would return to the Browns in 1941 and then go back to the Senators in 1944.
A seven-time all-star, he and his brother would be teammates for the first time as they we both were on the American League roster for the inaugural all-star affair at Comiskey Park in Chicago in 1933.
In his career, Rick batted .303 with 1,692 hits and 28 home runs, which was 10 fewer than his brother. When he retired, he had been in more games than anyone in the American League with 1,806. Ivan Rodriguez currently is at the top of the all-time major league list with 2,427.
Wes
Even though he was younger, Wes reached the majors with Cleveland two years before his brother. Granted he only appeared in three games and had an 0-2 mark in 1927 and 1928.
However as a 21-year old, Wes won 21 games for the Indians and won 25, 22 and 23 contests over the next three years.
The 1933 season was to be his last in Cleveland as he finished 11-12, but was named to the all-star team for the first of two times.
Wes joined his brother in Boston prior to the 1934 season and eventually topped the AL with a 25-14 mark in 1935.
The brothers were traded to the Senators in the middle of the 1937 season.
Wes was released by Washington in August of 1938 and then signed with the New York Yankees, who went on to win the World Series. He didn’t pitch in the Fall Classic and was let go by the Yankees early in 1939. We would hang on and pitch five games for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1940 and 1941.
Overall, Wes was 193-128 with six 20-win seasons.
Rick’s Hall of Fame Speech
During his induction speech in Cooperstown, Rick mentioned the incident.