John Francis Ferry (April 7, 1887 – August 29, 1954) was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

and occasional

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. He played for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

from 1910 to 1913."Jack Ferry Statistics and History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-10.

Early life and education

Ferry was born in

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the most populous city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfi ...

and helped lead Pittsfield High School to the 1905

Berkshire County Berkshire County (pronounced ) is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,026. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield. The county was founded in 17 ...

championship. Ferry attended

Seton Hall College Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

where he was a standout

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

player as a

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

Professional career

In 1909, Ferry signed his first professional contract with the

Jersey City Skeeters The Jersey City Skeeters were a minor league baseball team which operated in Jersey City, New Jersey. The club started in the 1860s and by 1870 joined the National Association of Base Ball Players. By 1885, Jersey City had joined the Eastern Le ...

of the Class A Eastern League. On the season, he posted a 1–5

win-loss record In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the tot ...

and a team-best 0.947 walks plus hits per innings pitched (WHIP). In 1910, he posted a 8–11 record in 26 games; grabbing the attention of major league teams with 203

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

and 90

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

. As a hitter, he batted .227 in 88

at-bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

. In mid-August of 1910, the defending

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

champion

purchased Ferry's contract from Jersey City. He made his major league debut on September 4, 1910, in relief of starter Howie Camnitz in the fifth inning of the game against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

. Ferry held the Reds to only one run in five innings pitched. He also went 2-for-3 at the plate. For the rest of the season, Ferry pitched to a 1–2 record with an impressive 2.32

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) in 31 innings pitched. In 1911, Ferry helped the Pirates both on the mound and at the plate. As a pitcher, he posted a 6–4 record with a 3.15 ERA in 26 games (8 starts). At the plate, he played one game in

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering syst ...

and was an occasional

slashing .310/.375/.414. In 1912, Ferry was poised to become a crucial part of the Pirates pitching rotation, however, he only made 11 appearances the entire season. From May 5, 1912, to August 19, 1912, Ferry pitched only five innings in three games. It is unclear why he was underused. Returning for the 1913 season, Ferry was described by Pirates executive

Barney Dreyfuss Bernhard "Barney" Dreyfuss (February 23, 1865 – February 5, 1932) was an executive in Major League Baseball who owned the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise from 1900 to his death in 1932. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2 ...

as having "a better curved ball than any other pitcher" in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

. Despite the high praise, Ferry only pitched five innings in four relief appearances before being sent to the

Columbus Senators The Columbus Senators Minor league baseball team was created in as a founding member of the Tri-State League. After that, the Senators played in the Western League (1897-1899), Interstate League (1900), Western Association (1901), and Ameri ...

. He pitched in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

until 1916 before moving back to Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Post-playing career

After returning home, Ferry began working at the

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

plant in Pittsfield. He stayed involved in local organized baseball and ran for local office as a Pittsfield councilman and alderman, as well as a member of the Board of Assessors.

References

External linkse

Jack Ferry
at

SABR Sabr () (literally 'endurance' or more accurately 'perseverance' and 'persistence'"Ṣabr", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'') is one of the two parts of Iman (concept), faith (the other being ''shukr'') in Islam. It teaches to remain Spirituality, sp ...

Bio Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferry, Jack 1887 births 1954 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Pittsburgh Pirates players Jersey City Skeeters players Columbus Senators players Shreveport Gassers players Baseball players from Pittsfield, Massachusetts Columbus Pawnees players Seton Hall Pirates baseball players 20th-century American sportsmen