Rick Ferrell, Knuckleball Catcher

Book excerpt: In 1947, after 18 major league seasons with the Browns, Senators, and Red Sox, Rick Ferrell retired as the longest playing catcher in the American League. His record 1,806 games would stand for more than 40 years, surpassed finally by another Hall of Famer, Carlton Fisk. A stout defender and choosy batter, Ferrell was an eight-time All-Star who caught a rotation of four knuckleball pitchers for the 1945 Washington Senators team that lost the American League pennant in the final week of the season. Perhaps that's one of the reasons he went on to work for the Detroit Tigers for 43 years, serving as coach, scout, and front-office executive. This biography includes highlights of Ferrell's career, letters written as Detroit's general manager, 15 interviews with Ferrell's friends and peers, as well as thirty-four photographs, some never before published.