O\'Farrell was born in Waukegan, Illinois where he grew up a Chicago White Sox fan. He signed with the Cubs in 1915 after playing an exhibition game for his local semi-professional team. His first manager was former catcher, Roger Bresnahan, who helped O\'Farrell develop his catching skills. After a season on the bench, O\'Farrell was sent to Three-I League where he spent two years before returning to the Cubs for the 1918 season. He served as backup catcher working behind Bill Killefer as the Cubs went on to claim the 1918 National League pennant before losing to the Boston Red Sox in the 1918 World Series. O\'Farrell went hitless in three at bats during the series.\n', '

In 1920 O\'Farrell caught the majority of the Cubs\' games and posting a .248 batting average as, Killefer was injured during the season. He began the 1921 season as backup catcher until August when, Killefer was named the Cubs new manager. O\'Farrell had a breakout season in 1922 when he hit for a .322 average along with 4 home runs, 60 runs batted in and a .439 on-base percentage. He also became one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, leading National League catchers in games caught, putouts, assists, baserunners caught stealing and in caught stealing percentage. He became skillful at framing pitches by moving his catcher\'s mitt towards the strike zone after having caught a pitch, in an effort to influence the umpire to call a strike. O\'Farrell had an even better year offensively in 1923, producing career-highs in home runs (12), runs batted in (80), stolen bases (10) along with a .319 batting average.\n', '

In July 1924, O\'Farrell suffered a fractured skull when a foul ball broke his catcher\'s mask. He had asked a club house attendant to bring him a newer mask however, not wanting to delay the game, decided to continue to play with the older mask when he was struck in the head. He missed most of the season, and lost his job when future Baseball Hall of Fame member, Gabby Hartnett, played well in his absence. The Cubs decided to keep Hartnett as their starting catcher and traded O\'Farrell to the St. Louis Cardinals at the start of the 1925 season for Mike González and Howard Freigau.\n', 'O\'Farrell experienced the highlight of his career in 1926 when he hit for a .293 average with a career-high 30 doubles, 7 home runs and 68 runs batted in as he helped the Cardinals clinch the National League pennant. He also led National League catchers in games caught and in putouts. In the 1926 World Series against the New York Yankees, O\'Farrell produced a .301 batting average but, is remembered for throwing out Babe Ruth trying to steal second base for the last out of the seven-game series as the Cardinals claimed their first-ever world championship. In November, he was voted the winner of the 1926 National League Most Valuable Player Award with 79 out of the possible 80 votes. He was the first catcher to win a Most Valuable Player Award.\n', '

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