[Big Six]

Boston Herald, March 8, 1938

SARASOTA, FLORIDA—The Boston Red Sox opened their spring training camp this week, minus two of the most familiar names in their history. The team did, however, welcome the return of one even more storied name to its player roster.

Quietly, as befit a man who throughout his career let his talents speak for themselves, pitcher Neal Brady announced his retirement from baseball in January. Brady, a Kentucky gentleman who spent the vast majority of his career in a Red Sox uniform, retired with 305 career wins and a strikeout total exceeded by only four men in major league history.

Brady’s announcement came as somewhat of a surprise, as he had pitched effectively in relief for the Red Sox in 1937. He posted a 1.72 earned run average, allowing fewer than one hit per inning and displaying his trademark control. The lure of quiet retirement appealed to Brady, who will almost certainly be enshrined in Cooperstown not long after he becomes eligible for that honor.

Neal Brady will, however, always be best known in Boston as the player who, as an after-thought, was added to the deal that brought Lou Gehrig to the Red Sox in exchange for Babe Ruth. Brady’s emergence meant that the Sox received two of the finest players in baseball history in exchange for one such player.

The Red Sox also broke camp without infielder Frank Frisch. Like Brady, Frisch came to the Sox in a trade with a New York club; in Frank’s case, the Giants. A career .312 batter, Frisch accumulated 2755 base hits, drove in and scored over 1500 runs apiece, and stole over 600 bases.

Like Brady, Frisch played quite well for the 1937 Sox, bouncing back to hit .279 after a disappointing .246 mark in 1936. His retirement at age 39 opens up a spot for Bobby Doerr, a talented Californian half Frank’s age who has his eye on the Red Sox second base job.

There will be no Brady or Frisch on the Red Sox playing roster, but there might once again be an O’Farrell. This time it’s Mike, who has thrown well in his first professional camp. Signed out of the University of Notre Dame last June, O’Farrell won ten games for the Little Rock and Minneapolis clubs, but struggled somewhat at the higher level. It is likely that O’Farrell will begin the season with the Millers in order to sharpen his skills, but it is also likely that the young righthander will before long be plying his trade in the city where his father won his fame.