Jackson: The Turk, the Bear, and the Bird: outlaw night riders

From SABR member Frank Jackson at The Hardball Times on October 30, 2017:

Thomas James Ferrick arrived on the major league scene in 1941 with a so-so (8-10, 3.77, 119.1 innings pitched) rookie season as a member of the Philadelphia A’s. He followed it up with a decent sophomore season (3-2, 1.99, 81.1 innings) for Cleveland before his  career was interrupted by World War II.

Returning in 1946, he toiled in American League (Browns, Senators, Yankees) bullpens through 1952. The results were neither here nor there (40-40, 3.47). Notably, as a Yankee, he picked up a victory in relief of Ed Lopat in Game Three of the 1950 World Series. That might have been the high point of his playing career, but it was not his most distinctive contribution to baseball history.

In 1959, Ferrick was a pitching coach for the Phillies. Above and beyond the call of duty, he had to deal with the Animal House faction of the pitching staff, young men who had forged a group identity while moving up in the farm system. Ferrick dubbed this group of rowdies the Dalton Gang. The name caught on and the Daltons galloped into baseball history.

Read the full article here: https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/the-turk-the-bear-the-bird-outlaw-night-riders/



Originally published: October 30, 2017. Last Updated: October 30, 2017.