Turk Farrell

Who was Turk Farrell?

Richard Joseph "Turk" Farrell was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who had a 14-year career from 1956 to 1969. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Colt .45s and Astros, all of the National League.

Before the 1953 season, Farrell was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent. The 19-year-old was assigned to the class A Schenectady Blue Jays, where over a two-year span, he would build an 18–18 record and a 3.30 ERA. He spent 1955 in the IL with the Syracuse Chiefs, going 12–12 with a 3.94 ERA, and in 1956 he played for the Miami Marlins, going 12–6 with a 2.50 ERA.

Farrell would get a late-season look in 1956 by the Phillies and would lose his only decision, but set the groundwork for a 14-year run in the major leagues. Farrell was one of the young Phillies pitchers of the late 1950s, along with Jack Meyer and Jim Owens, dubbed the "Dalton Gang" for their fun-loving late-hour escapades. It was once said of Farrell by a teammate, "When he loses, he loses his temper, but when he wins he's the life of the party." After one tough defeat he broke a mirror with his fist in a Milwaukee bar explaining, "I looked in the mirror and didn't like what I saw so I threw a punch."²