Ferrarese was used both as a starter and reliever, throughout most of his MLB career. He began his career, as a reliever, on April 11, 1955, at the age of 26; in the first big league season, Ferrarese posted a 3.00 earned run average in 6 games. He never quite lived up to that promise, though. Perhaps Ferrarese‘s best season when he appeared mostly as a starter was. That year, he went 5 and 3, with a 3.20 ERA, in 76 innings of work. Although Ferrarese walked 51 and struck out only 45, he still gave up only 58 hits, that season. Ferrarese‘s finest season as a reliever was his last season. Spending time with the Phillies and Cardinals, he posted a combined 3.27 ERA in 63+ innings of work. Although Ferrarese went 1 and 5, his ERA was considerably lower than the league average. Ferrarese played his final big-league game on September 22, 1962. Overall, he was 19 and 36, with a 4.00 ERA, in just over 506 innings of work. Ferrarese struck out 350 and walked 295 batters. Ferrarese's career batting average was.156. The highlights of his hitting career came on May 26, 1959, and June 22, 1962, respectively. On May 26, 1959, Ferrarese collected three hits in three at-bats, all of them, doubles. He drove in two of the three runs the Indians scored, to help his team beat the White Sox, 3 to 0. The pitchers that Ferrarese faced in that game were Dick Donovan and Gerry Staley. On June 22, 1962, facing pitcher Jim Owens, Ferrarese hit a two-run home run, in the third inning. That was not enough though, as the Phillies — his former team — beat the Cardinals, 11 to 3. In Ferrarese‘s entire season, he collected one hit in 28 at-bats that year, for a.036 average. Ferrarese struck out in only 20.3% of his at-bats. As a fielder, Ferrarese posted a.952fielding percentage. Overall, his career statistics are most similar to those of Bryan Clark.
Major transactions
Ferrarese was involved in multiple trades in his career, even after his big league career was over:
April 28, 1962: Traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the St. Louis Cardinals for Bobby Locke and cash.
February, 1963: Traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Houston Colt.45's for Bobby Tiefenauer.
Other highlights
On May 5, 1956, Ferrarese struck out 13 batters, in a losing effort.
On May 12, 1956, he pitched a near-no hitter, holding the New York Yankees hitless, through the first eight innings. Andy Carey’s ninth-inning lead-off single broke it up, finishing with a 2-hit, complete game shutout.
