Rick Ferrell, a Hall of Fame baseball player who for 41 years held the major-league record for games caught, died Thursday. He was 89.
He died of arrhythmia at the Woodward Hills Nursing Home in Bloomfield Hills.
Ferrell, a native of Durham, N.C., played in the major leagues from 1929 through 1947 for the St. Louis Browns, Boston Red Sox and Washington Senators. He was voted into the Hall of Fame by the veterans’ committee in 1984.
His record of 1,806 games caught stood until broken by Carlton Fisk of the White Sox in 1988.
Ferrell was the AL catcher in the first All-Star Game in 1933 and was the last surviving American League player from that game. AL manager Connie Mack had him catch all nine innings of the 1933 game even though Bill Dickey and Mickey Cochrane were on the squad.
Ferrell, who played 18 years in the majors, had a career batting average of .281 with 1,692 hits, 28 home runs and 734 RBIs. His brother, Wes, was a major-league pitcher, winning 193 games in 15 years, including six 20-victory seasons.
Rick Ferrell was an executive with the Detroit Tigers from 1950 to 1992, serving as a coach, general manager, farm director, vice president and consultant.
Ferrell is survived by sons Rick Ferrell Jr. and Tom Ferrell and daughters Maureen Ferrell and Kerrie Ferrell.
