St. Louis Browns left-handed pitcher, Stan Ferens, was born on March 5, 1915, in Wendel, Pennsylvania. "Lefty" would spend most of his professional baseball career within the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns organizations. He would tally a 67-57 record across seven seasons with seven different teams.
Stan Ferens began his baseball career at
St. Louis Browns left-handed pitcher, Stan Ferens, was born on March 5, 1915, in Wendel, Pennsylvania. "Lefty" would spend most of his professional baseball career within the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns organizations. He would tally a 67-57 record across seven seasons with seven different teams.
Stan Ferens began his baseball career at the age of 22 with the Brooklyn Dodgers minor league affiliate, Greensburg Green Sox, in 1937. There is no record of Ferens playing college or semipro baseball before signing with the Green Sox. He would only appear in one game, which ended with a complete game victory. For an unknown reason, Ferens missed the 1938 season before returning to Greensburg, they were a affiliate of the Washington Nationals and were called the Senators.
Ferens would spend the next two seasons in the Cardinals organization, playing for the Albany Cardinals (1940), Houston Buffaloes (1941), and Columbus Redbirds (1941). After reaching a 19-5 record with Columbus, he was drafted by the St. Louis Browns in the 1941 Rule 5 draft.
Ferens would spend the entire 1942 season with the Browns, making his MLB debut on June 10, against the Boston Red Sox. He would appear in 69 innings over 19 games. Primarily used out of the bullpen, he would close out eight games but would not register a save. He would make three starts, and even pitch a complete game on July 17 in an 11-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox. He finished the 1942 season with 29 earned runs, 23 strikeouts, and 21 walks.
Stan Ferens would miss three seasons (1943-45) during World War II. Due to childhood accident where he lost a portion of his left thumb, Ferens was assigned a "4F" identification and was not allowed into active service. He would spend the three years within the production factories that supported the war effort.
Stan Ferens returned to the Browns in 1946, and saw action in 34 games. His role remained the same as he worked in 28 games out of the pen. His value increased as he struck out 28 batters across 88 innings, reaching an ERA of 4.50. He would make six starts, and one resulted in a complete game victory over the Washington Nationals on July 30. In two seasons with the Browns he would accumulate 51 strikeouts, walk 59 batters, 73 earned runs, and a 4.18 ERA.
Stan Ferens split the 1947 season between the Toledo Mud Hens and San Antonio Missions in the Browns' minor leagues. He would retire from baseball after the season.
There is little documented on the life of Stan Ferens after baseball. He would eventually settle down in the Hempfield Township of Pennsylvania.
Today's Browns Quote
"I was called by the Associated Press in Cleveland and was told that I won the night before the award was announced. The Associated Press congratulated me for being the MVP . The next morning they called me again and told me they were sorry, but I didn’t win the award after all. Apparently New York writers left me off
Today's Browns Quote
"I was called by the Associated Press in Cleveland and was told that I won the night before the award was announced. The Associated Press congratulated me for being the MVP . The next morning they called me again and told me they were sorry, but I didn’t win the award after all. Apparently New York writers left me off the ballot entirely. Yogi Berra won the MVP. I don’t have any bitterness toward baseball except for this."
~ Ned Garver, on his second place finish in the 1951 MVP race. This appeared in "The Hardball Times" with Gregory Wolf, October 11, 2012
BROWNS' BIRTHDAYS ON THIS DAY
1915 - OF Pete Gray (1945)
1915 - Catcher Bob Swift (1940-42)
TRANSACTIONS
1904 - The Browns traded RHP Jack Powell to the New York Highlanders for RHP Harry Howell and $8,000. This trade of equal pitching talent would help build the Browns pitching staff for the rest of the decade. Jack Powell was the best pitcher on the Browns staff for the first two seasons the team was in St. Louis. From 1902-03, he pitched an amazing 634.2 innings in 80 games, completing 71 of the 80 games. He had a 37-36 record with 306 strikeouts and 151 walks with a 3.06 ERA. He was sent to the Highlanders for Harry Howell and cash. Harry Howell came to the Browns after one mediocre season in New York, where he was 9-6 with a 3.53 ERA. Once he put on a Browns uniform, Howell's pitching career took off. He would pitch for the Browns from 1904 through 1910. He would record an ERA of 2.06 in 201 games, with 712 strikeouts and giving away 390 walks. Howell would lead the Browns pitchers in most categories for his time in St. Louis. Jack Powell would return to the Browns after only a year with New York. Powell's return would make the Browns staff one of the best in the era. He would continue a second act with the Browns from 1905-1910 where he recorded a 78-81 record with a lean 2.63 ERA. Both Powell and Howell would finish their careers in St. Louis, anchoring the Browns pitching staff.
The impact of the 1951 St Louis Browns seems to describe more of a circus than a competing baseball team. The team finished with a 52-101 record, 46 games behind the World Champion New York Yankees. The batting and pitching statistics do not show how competitive this team was, or was not. This team landed in last place in the American Lea
The impact of the 1951 St Louis Browns seems to describe more of a circus than a competing baseball team. The team finished with a 52-101 record, 46 games behind the World Champion New York Yankees. The batting and pitching statistics do not show how competitive this team was, or was not. This team landed in last place in the American League on June 20 and never stopped looking up.
There was one shining player - Ned Garver who won 20 games. He would be the first pitcher in MLB history to win 20 games on a team that lost 100 games. He would also record a league leading 24 complete games, with an ERA of 3.73. He would finish second in the 1951 MVP voting, to New York catcher Yogi Berra. There have been reports of a conspiracy to promote Yogi to the MVP over all other players, including Ned Garver. Coincidentally, every New York based writer gave Berra their first place votes. No one from New York gave Garver a single vote. At the time, the largest number of writers covering baseball, and voting for awards were from New York. Garver would still receive 47% of the MVP votes. So for a conspiracy to isolate Garver from the MVP award has merit behind it. 1951 was the only year that Garver was elected to the All Star game.
The second player highlight came with the signing of Satchel Paige, who would patrol the bullpen from 1951-53.
This year was best known for the first season in which Bill Veeck owned the Browns. He did everything possible to draw fans to the stadium to see his team play. He brought in Eddie Gaedel, allowed the Grandstand to select what happened on the field, and introduced the idea of fireworks after weekend games. Unfortunately, these gimmicks failed to bring the number of fans Veeck was envisioning. The Browns continued to lose money throughout the season, and the end of the American League in St. Louis was coming soon.