Alexander "Colonel" Ferson (July 14, 1866 – December 5, 1957) was a 5'9", 165 pound right-handed baseball pitcher who played from 1889 to 1890 and in 1892 for the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadi ...

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. Ferson began his big league career on May 4, 1889. That year, he went 17-17 with a 3.90 ERA in 36 games (34 starts, 28 complete games). Despite finishing 10th in the league in hits allowed (319), ninth in the league in losses and eighth in the league in hit batsmen, he was still the best pitcher on the team overall. Although the team finished last in the league with a 41-83 record (.331 winning percentage), Ferson managed a winning percentage of exactly .500. Furthermore, he was the only pitcher on the team with at least one decision to finish with a winning percentage of .500 or better (in contrast, George Haddock went 11-19 for a .367 winning percentage,

George Keefe George Washington Keefe (January 7, 1867 – August 24, 1935) was an American professional baseball left-handed starting pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals, Buffalo Bisons, and Washington Statesm ...

went 8-18 for a .308 winning percentage,

Hank O'Day Henry M. O'Day (July 8, 1859 – July 2, 1935), nicknamed "The Reverend", was an American right-handed pitcher and later an umpire and manager in Major League Baseball. After a seven-year major league playing career, he worked as a National ...

went 2-10 for a .167 winning percentage and

Egyptian Healy John J. Healy (October 27, 1866 – March 16, 1899), nicknamed "Egyptian" and "Long John", was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. Healy played for the St. Louis Maroons, Indianapolis Hoosiers, Washington Nationals, Chicago White Stockings, T ...

went 1-11 for a .083 winning percentage). Ferson also had the best ERA of any pitcher with at least two appearances, and he made the most appearances, games started, and he pitched the most innings. The rest of Ferson's career didn't really pan out for him. In fact, for the Bisons in 1890, he went 1-7 with a 5.45 ERA in 10 starts. For the Orioles in 1892, he went 0-1 in 2 games (1 start), posting an ERA of 11.00. He played his final game on July 25, 1892. Overall, Ferson went 18-25 in his three-year career, posting an ERA of 4.37. He made 48 appearances, starting 45 of them, completing 36 of his starts and shutting out one of his complete games. According to the Similarity Scores at Baseball-Reference.com, Ferson is most similar statistically to

Rick Matula Richard Carlton Matula (born November 22, 1953) is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1979 to 1981 for the Atlanta Braves. Listed at 6' 0", 190 lb., he batted and threw right handed. Born in Wharton, Texas, Matula ...

and

Parke Swartzel Parke B. Swartzel (November 21, 1865 – January 3, 1940) was a professional baseball pitcher who played one season in Major League Baseball for the American Association's Kansas City Cowboys in . In addition to his one major league season, he p ...

. A poor hitter, Ferson hit .133 in 150 career at-bats. After his death, he was buried in Saint Joseph (old) cemetery in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusett ...

External links

Baseball-Reference
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