© Tabi Walters

Tigermania

Kerrie Ferrell at the Book Fest

by Michael Betzold

posted 9/8/2012

As a young girl, Kerrie Ferrell dreamed of becoming the first female major league baseball player. But her local Little League banned her--even though, she says, in neighborhood ball games, "I was better than the boys."

Now she's the only female on the Kerrytown Book Fest's "Tigermania!" panel September 9, telling warm stories from Rick Ferrell, Knuckleball Catcher, her meticulously researched "labor of love" bio of her father. A Hall of Fame catcher, Rick Ferrell played from 1929 through 1947 and after that was a scout and front-office official for the Detroit Tigers nearly up until his death in 1995.

Ferrell, a U-M English grad who's lived in Ann Arbor since 1989, has had a career in education. She spent six years researching the book, reading old newspaper stories on microfilm to learn about her dad's playing career, which predated her birth. Her most cherished memories are set at Tiger Stadium, where her dad, though a club honcho, preferred to sit in the seats behind home plate with the fans.   

[Originally published in September, 2012.]