Mississippi State To Honor David 'Boo' Ferriss Saturday

May 01, 2003

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Former Mississippi State and Boston Red Sox pitching standout David "Boo" Ferriss will be honored during on-the-field ceremonies prior to Saturday's Mississippi State-Louisiana State baseball game at Dudy Noble Field.

Ferriss, the first baseball player to receive a full scholarship at Mississippi State, will have his jersey retired and throw out the first pitch before the start of Saturday's 3 p.m. regionally-televised MSU-LSU baseball game.

He was a stellar right-handed pitcher on coach Dudy Noble's 1941 and 1942 Mississippi State baseball teams before launching his career in professional baseball in 1945. Ferriss won 21 games during a remarkable rookie year with the Red Sox that season and compiled a 65-30 record with 296 strikeouts and eight saves in six seasons with Boston where he later served as the Red Sox' pitching coach.

Ferriss also achieved great success as a collegiate coach, skippering the Delta State University baseball program to 639 wins, four Gulf South Conference championships and three advancements to the NCAA Division II College World Series over 26 seasons.

The Shaw, Miss., native retired from coaching at DSU following the 1988 season, but the honors accrued from a lifetime of affiliation with baseball have continued through the years. He was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1962, became a charter inductee into the Mississippi State University Sports Hall of Fame in 1970, was honored by his peers in coaching with induction into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1988, joined the Delta State University Hall of Fame in 1989, and last November was enshrined with some of professional baseball's all-time greats in the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame.

He obviously played before my time but as a fan of the game and someone who loves the history of the sport, this is always good to see. Congrats to Coach Ferriss