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Games of Note: It's 1936, and Wes Ferrell is unhappy. Ferrell has walked off of the mound in the middle of a Yankees' rally, a walk-off he attributes to a lack of support from the Red Sox. It's the second time in five days he has done this, as he walked off the mound during the game against the Washington Senators in his previous start as well. Manager Joe Cronin suspends Ferrell and fines him $1,000, and while Ferrell is fine with the suspension, he freaks over the fine, refusing to pay it.
The Red Sox lift the suspension after just four days, but, possibly by the request of Ferrell's own words ("They can suspend me or trade me, but they're not getting any dough from me"), he's dealt the next summer to the Senators. What's odd about Ferrell's belief that he received a lack of support is, well, everything. He led the American League in wins in 1935 while with Boston, despite their 78-75 record and his great, but not exactly world-changing, 134 ERA+. In 1936, he won "just" 20 contests, but also pitched worse (124 ERA+) on a worse team (74-80).
Moving forward to 1984, Roger Clemens has one of his best outings as a rookie, striking out 15 Kansas City Royals without walking a single one in an 11-1 Red Sox win. Clemens throws a complete game, and the only start of his freshman campaign that's any better is his complete game shutout of the White Sox from a month prior, a start that featured 11 punch outs against three walks.
Transactions: The Detroit Tigers send outfielder Rob Deer to the Red Sox as part of a conditional deal on this date in 1993. The 32-year-old Deer had hit .217/.302/.381 with the Tigers, with 14 homers and 120 strikeouts in 367 plate appearances. As a Red Sox, the righty would hit just .196, but thanks to 20 walks in 38 games, post a .303 on-base percentage to go with a .203 Isolated Power. Rob Deer was a fun player, even if this wasn't the best of times for him. He had just one season left in the bigs besides this, as he finished his major-league career in 1996 with the Padres. All told, Deer hit .220/.324/.442 over 11 years, good for a 109 OPS+, mashing 230 homers, drawing 575 walks, and striking out 1409 times.
He led the league in whiffs four times, struck out at least 150 times on six occasions, and averaged 198 strikeouts per 162 games for his career. When you also average 32 homers and 81 walks per 162, though, then it helps offset things. That and the lack of hitting into double plays, ever -- Deer hit into all of 38 double plays in 4,513 plate appearances. Adrian Gonzalez has 37 double plays as a Red Sox. You'd rather have Adrian, of course, for a whole lot of reasons. But give Deer some credit for making his outs a solitary thing.
Deer is of course the inspiration behind the "Three True Outcomes" idea, given his affinity for the three true outcomes, the things that happen entirely due to the hitter/pitcher relationship, without any input from fielders: walks, strikeouts, and homers. While Deer was the harbinger of all of this, Adam Dunn is the TTO Lord, especially in 2012, where he is currently leading the AL in homers (36), strikeouts (176), and walks (88).