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Bob Feller
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| Biography: Bob Feller |
An Iowa farm boy who became a star for baseball's Cleveland Indians, Bob Feller (born 1918) threw harder than any pitcher of his generation. Six times, he won 20 or more games in a season, and he set new standards as a strikeout artist. Feller also won medals for his service as a Navy aircraft gunner in World War II.
Feller won 266 games and lost 162 over his career, spent entirely with Cleveland from 1936 through 1956. He might have won many more games had he not served four years in the Navy during the war. His record of 348 strikeouts in 1946 stood for many years, and he pitched three no-hitters during his career. Players of his time were in awe of his blazing fastball. "If anybody threw that ball harder than Rapid Robert, then the human eye couldn't follow it," said pitcher Satchel Paige.
Teenage Sensation
Bob Feller was born on November 3, 1918 in Van Meter, Iowa. He grew up on a farm with his hard-working parents and his sister Marguerite. "We were far from destitute, even during the Depression," Feller recalled in an interview. "My father was a very successful farmer, and that was for one reason: he worked, and he was smart." His mother was a schoolteacher, a nurse, a newspaper correspondent, and a school board member. Their drive to succeed influenced their son who, from an early age, had one overriding desire: to play baseball. His father, who had been a semi-professional pitcher in his younger days, encouraged Feller's interest in baseball. He built a pitching mound and set up a home plate between the house and the barn. Young Feller spent hours a day throwing pitches to his dad and building up his arm strength. In the winter, father and son would play catch inside the barn.
As a child, Feller always wanted to play baseball with older kids. When he was 12, he helped his father build their own baseball field on the farm, complete with a grandstand. His father started a team, with his son as the pitcher, and charged 35 cents admission. Feller grew into a strong, strapping teenager, who looked older than his age. Sometimes more than a thousand people came to the farm to see him pitch. By the time he was in high school, major league scouts had heard about his fastball.
At the time, organized baseball's rules prohibited major league clubs from signing players who were still in high school. But Cleveland wanted the young phenomenon so badly that the club secretly signed him to a contract when he was 16. Pitching soon after for an amateur team in Des Moines, Iowa, Feller attracted so much attention that the Detroit Tigers also offered him a contract. Feller then admitted he was already signed. Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis fined the Indians $7,500. On the open market, Feller could have commanded an $100,000 bonus, an unprecedented sum at the time. Instead, he remained with the Indians.
The Indians brought Feller to Cleveland during the 1936 season. In July he pitched in an exhibition game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Feller, who had never pitched a single game in the minor or major leagues, looked raw and nervous. But, using only a fastball, he struck out eight batters in three innings. The Indians immediately put him into their bullpen, even though he was only 17 years old. In his first start, on August 23, he struck out 15 and beat the St. Louis Browns, 4-1.
Because of his blazing fastball, Feller soon earned the nickname "Rapid Robert." In September, he tied the major league record by striking out 17 batters in a game against the Philadelphia Athletics. He was so wild in that game that he allowed nine walks; so poor at holding runners that he allowed nine stolen bases. For the season, Feller struck out 76 batters in 62 innings. After the season ended, Feller went back to Iowa to finish high school.
The amazing teenage pitching sensation was an instant drawing card for the Indians. When he pitched, attendance would rise by about 10,000 fans. In his second season, Feller joined the club after high school was finished in Iowa. He won nine games, lost seven, and struck out 150 batters in 149 innings. In 1938, his first full season with the Cleveland Indians, he won 17 games and led the league in strike-outs with 240. Baseball had never seen someone of such a young age so completely dominate the opposition.
Control problems are common for a hard-throwing young pitcher, but even so Feller was extremely wild in the early days of his career. In 1938, he walked 208 batters in 278 innings. On the last day of the season, Feller struck out 18 Tigers to set a new major league record. By then he had developed an effective curveball to go with his blazing fastball.
In 1939, Feller lead the American League in wins with 24, in complete games with 24, in innings pitched with 297, in walks with 142 and in strikeouts with 246. To start the 1940 season, Feller pitched a no-hitter on Opening Day against the Chicago White Sox. That year he again dominated hitters: 261 strikeouts, 27 wins, 320 innings, 37 starts and 31 complete games - all tops in the American League.
In 1941, Feller again led the league in wins (25), starts, innings, strikeouts and walks. At age 23, he had already posted 107 career wins (against only 54 losses) and 1,233 strikeouts. He already had more than a third of Walter Johnson's then-record career strikeout total. Never in baseball history had a pitcher enjoyed so much success at such an early age. It appeared that Bob Feller was going to completely rewrite the record books.
Service and Triumphs
On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor. That very day, Feller volunteered to join the Navy. "I did not have to go," Feller recalled. "My father was dying of brain cancer, so I was pardoned. But it was a war we had to win." Feller spent the next 45 months on active duty, putting his baseball career on hold. He became an anti-aircraft gunner on the battleship Alabama, serving in five campaigns in the North Atlantic and South Pacific theaters and earning eight battle stars.
Feller returned to baseball near the close of the 1945 season, after the end of World War II. He had missed nearly four full seasons at the prime of his career. But he picked up right where he had left off. In 1946, he pitched his second no-hit game, against the Yankees on April 30. Later that season, Feller became the first pitcher to have the speed of his pitches checked with a radar device. He was clocked at 98.6 miles an hour. For that season, he pitched a career-high 377 innings and struck out 348 batters, a new twentieth century record. Feller won 26 games, ten of them shutouts, and completed 36 games - all league highs. The Indians were not a good team that year and, in games Feller did not pitch, won only 42 games and lost 71.
In 1947, Feller again displayed his pre-war dominance, leading the league in wins, strikeouts, innings and starts. But he hurt his arm after slipping on the mound that year, and he was never again as dominant. The following season, Feller won his seventh and final strikeout crown, won 19 games, and helped lead the Indians to a rare appearance in the World Series. In the opening game, Feller locked horns with the Boston Braves' Johnny Sain in a scoreless pitching duel for seven innings. In the bottom of the eighth inning, catcher Phil Masi reached second base. Feller whirled and threw to second base in a great pick-off move, but the umpire called Masi safe on a close, disputed play. Tommy Holmes then brought Masi in to score with a single, and the Indians lost, 1-0. Feller lost game five as well, but the Indians won the series, four games to two.
After Feller turned 30, his strikeout totals declined dramatically. But he remained effective. On July 1, 1951, he pitched another no-hitter, this time against Detroit. That season was the last of six in which he would lead the league in wins. In 1952, however, he won only nine games and lost 13 and struck out only 81 batters.
In 1954, Feller was the fifth starter on an Indians team that won 111 games behind tremendous pitching. Feller won 13 games and lost only three, but he did not pitch in the World Series, in which the Giants swept Cleveland. Feller would win only four more games before retiring in 1956.
Competitive Fire
One constant in Feller's career was his determination to play and earn victories for his team. He was a workhorse who could be depended upon to keep his team in the game. Besides his three no-hitters, he hurled 12 one-hitters during his career.
Injuries didn't stop him. "I only hurt my arm once, in 1937," he said in an interview. "I slipped on the mound throwing a curve ball at League Park. It hurt my elbow. Mother Nature took care of it. I didn't have to have surgery." He also missed the All-Star Game in 1947 after slipping on the mound and hurting his knee - the injury which put strain on his arm and diminishing his effectiveness.
Personal problems couldn't keep Feller from taking his turn in the pitching rotation. His first wife battled alcoholism and drug addiction, and Feller was unable to help her. But the tragedy didn't distract him from baseball. His second marriage was more stable and enduring. Throughout his life, Feller was a close friend of Ronald Reagan, whom he had first gotten to know when the future president was a sports announcer in Iowa.
Feller was easily elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. Later, his hometown of Van Meter, Iowa, built him a museum. At Jacobs Field in Cleveland, there is a large statue of Feller, the most successful pitcher in Indians history. Had he played in New York, his fame no doubt would have been much greater.
Baseball historians often speculate what Feller's career numbers might have looked like had he not lost almost four full seasons to World War II during the prime of his career. In the four seasons before the war and the three seasons after it, Feller won 158 games, an average of 23 per year, and struck out 1,715 batters, an average of 245 a season. If four additional seasons with those averages were added into Feller's career totals, he would have finished with 351 wins - the eighth-best in baseball history - and 3,502 strikeouts, which would be ninth on the all-time list and second only to Walter Johnson among pitchers who retired before 1960.
Despite the impact on his career, Feller never complained about the years lost to the war. He remained as proud of his military service as he was about his baseball career. His celebrity as a teenager and young adult didn't leave him with a swelled head, either. Feller was dependable, unflappable, and a solid, unassuming competitor who didn't draw attention to himself. His terrifying fastball did most of the talking for him.
Books
Dickey, Glenn, The History of American League Baseball Since 1901, Stein and Day, 1980.
Periodicals
Publishers Weekly, February 9, 1990.
Online
"Baseball Legends," Total Baseball,http://www.totalbaseball.com/player/f/fellb101/fellb101.html.
" #19 Bob Feller," Tribe Universe,http://www.tribeuniverse.com/Feller.html.
"Myth Busters," The Benjamin Rose Institute,http://www.benrose.org/myth/feller.asp.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Bob Feller |
Feller, Bob (Robert William Andrew Feller), 1918-, American baseball player, b. Van Meter, Iowa. Famous for his extraordinary fastball, Feller pitched 18 seasons with the Cleveland Indians, beginning in 1936. He led the American League in wins six times while compiling 266 career victories. The right-hander pitched 3 no-hit and 12 one-hit games, and led the league in strikeouts 7 seasons. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
| Wikipedia: Bob Feller |
| Bob Feller | |
|---|---|
 Bob Feller in 2006 |
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| Pitcher | |
| Born: November 3, 1918 Van Meter, Iowa |
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| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| July 19, 1936 for the Cleveland Indians | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 30, 1956 for the Cleveland Indians | |
| Career statistics | |
| Pitching record | 266-162 |
| Earned run average | 3.25 |
| Strikeouts | 2,581 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
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| Member of the National | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame |
|
| Induction | 1962 |
| Vote | 93.8% (first ballot) |
Robert William Andrew "Bob" Feller (born November 3, 1918 in Van Meter, Iowa), nicknamed the "Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob" and "Rapid Robert", is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
Contents |
Early life
Feller was born and raised in the small town of Van Meter, Iowa, the first child of Bill and Lena Feller. His father was a baseball fan who ran the family farm, and his mother was a registered nurse and teacher.[1] A healthy, active child, Feller developed an early interest in baseball, playing games of catch with his father both outside and inside the house.[1] As an Iowa farm boy in the 1920s, much of Feller's childhood consisted of chores. He has credited milking cows, picking corn, and baling hay with strengthening his arms and giving him the capacity to throw as hard as he did.[2] He refers to his farm days in Iowa very fondly, saying of them, "What kid wouldn't enjoy the life I led in Iowa? Baseball and farming, and I had the best of both worlds."[3] The Robert William Andrew Feller Farmstead is now on the National Register of Historic Places.[4]
The Feller family built a baseball diamond on their farm from 1931 to 1932. It was on this "field of dreams" that Bob Feller learned to play baseball.[5] Upon completion of the ballpark, complete with a scoreboard and seats, it was named Oak View Park and became the home field for the Oakviews, the team coached and recruited by Bill Feller.[6]
Feller attended high school at Van Meter High School, where he was one of the starting five pitchers for their baseball team.[7] He also tried to turn his sister Marguerite, ten years his junior, into a baseball player. While she did not catch on, she did play for the girls' high school basketball team, and was the Iowa state ping-pong champion.[7]
Professional career
Feller was signed by scout Cy Slapnicka for $1 and an autographed baseball.[8] Upon being made GM of the Indians, Slapnicka transferred Feller's contract from Fargo-Moorhead to New Orleans to the majors without the pitcher so much as visiting either farm club, in clear violation of baseball rules. After a three-month investigation, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis made it clear that he did not believe what Slapnicka or Cleveland president Alva Bradley said, but awarded Feller to the Indians anyway, partly due to the testimony of Feller and his father, who wanted Bob to play for Cleveland.
Feller joined the Cleveland Indians without having played in the minors. He spent his entire career of 18 years with the Indians, being one of "The Big Four" Indians pitching rotation in the 1950s, along with Bob Lemon, Early Wynn and Mike Garcia. He ended his career with 266 victories and 2,581 strikeouts, and led the American League in strikeouts seven times and bases on balls eight times. He pitched three no-hit games and shares the major league record with 12 one-hitters. Feller was the first pitcher to win 20 or more games before the age of 21. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, his first year of eligibility. When he was 17 years of age, he struck out 17 batters; he and Kerry Wood are the only two players ever to strike out their age (Wood struck out 20 on May 6, 1998).
On Opening Day in the 1940 season, Feller pitched a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox, with the help of a diving play on the final out by second baseman, Ray Mack. This is the only no-hitter to be thrown on Opening Day in major league history.
Feller when asked if he threw harder than any other pitcher ever, responded that at the end of his career players who had batted against him and also against Nolan Ryan had said Feller threw harder than Ryan. If that was the case, Feller threw over 102 mph. There is footage of Feller being clocked by army ordinance equipment (used to measure artillery shell velocity) and hitting 98.6. However, this took place in the later years of his career, and the machine used, like most of the machines at the time, measured the speed of the ball as it crossed the plate whereas now the speed is measured as it leaves the pitcher's hand. Feller once mentioned that he was clocked at 104 mph at Lincoln Park in Chicago. He also holds the fastest recorded pitch ever clocked in at 107.9 mph in a game in 1946 at Griffith Stadium.
When Feller retired in 1956, he held the major league record for most walks in a career (1,764), and for most hit batsmen. He still holds the 20th century record for most walks in a season (208 in 1938).
In 1943, Feller married Virginia Winther (1916-1981), daughter of a Wisconsin industrialist. They had three sons, Steve (b. 1945), Martin (b. 1947), and Bruce (b.1950). He lives with his wife, Anne Feller, in Gates Mills, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.
Military service
On December 8, 1941 Feller enlisted in the Navy, volunteering immediately for combat service, becoming the first Major League Baseball player to do so following the Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7[9] Feller served as Gun Captain aboard the USS Alabama,[4] and missed four seasons during his service in World War II, being decorated with five campaign ribbons and eight battle stars. His bunk is marked on the Alabama at Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama.
Subsequent career
One year after his return to Major League action, in 1946, he registered an incredible 348 strikeouts while pitching in 48 games, starting 42 of those games. That year Bob was 26-15 with an ERA of 2.18 while pitching 36 complete games. He led the American League in strikeouts seven times and had 200 or more strikeouts five times. Bob pitched in 570 games during his career, and pitched in 40 or more games six seasons. Bob also threw three no-hit games including the only opening day no-hitter in baseball history in 1940. He had 46 shutouts during his career with 10 of those in 1946. Many baseball historians have speculated that Feller would have won perhaps 350 games with well over 3,000 strikeouts had he not joined the military. He was honored as "The greatest pitcher of his time" by the Sporting News.
Barnstorming
Throughout his career, Feller criss-crossed the country playing exhibition games in the off-season, showcasing his legendary fastball for fans in large, medium and small towns. His barnstorming tours often featured other big leaguers and/or negro league stars, like Satchel Paige.
In 1947, Feller announced that he would pitch in the Cuban winter league during the off-season, but major league baseball commissioner Happy Chandler ruled that no major leaguer could play in Cuba during the winter.
Feller's barnstorming business savvy made him one of the wealthiest players of his time. As a result, Feller did not have to take off-season jobs to make ends meet, like many players of his era did, which allowed Feller to become a physical fitness pioneer. While other players waited until spring training to get in shape, Feller had the time to do push-ups, sit-ups, calisthenics and stretching, following a rigorous regimen.
In June 2009, at the age of 90, Feller was one of the starting pitchers at the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame Classic, which replaces the Hall of Fame Game at Cooperstown, New York.[10]
Museum
In 1995, the Bob Feller Museum opened in Van Meter, Iowa. It was designed by Feller's son Stephen, an architect. The land was donated by Brenton Banks.[11] The museum is made up of two rooms which contain both Feller memorabilia and items from his personal collection.[12]
Highlights
- Winningest pitcher in Cleveland Indians history (266 victories)
- Led league in wins six times (1939-41, 1946-47, 1951)
- Led league in ERA (1940)
- Led league in strikeouts seven times (1938-41, 1946-48)
- Led league in bases on balls twelve times
- Led league in hit batsmen six times
- Pitched three no-hitters, including the only Opening Day no-hitter.
- 8-time All-Star (1938-41, 1946-48, 1950)
- Inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1962
- Only Chief Petty Officer in United States Navy history to be elected to a major sports Hall Of Fame.
- In 1999, he ranked Number 36 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
- Triple Crown
- List of Major League Baseball ERA champions
- List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions
- List of Major League Baseball wins champions
- List of pitchers who have struck out 18 or more batters in a nine-inning MLB game
- Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time
- Major League Baseball titles leaders
- List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
- DHL Hometown Heroes
Notes
- ^ a b Sickels, 6
- ^ Kalb, 205
- ^ Feller, Now Pitching, Bob Feller, 32
- ^ a b Hoffman, Dennis. "Bob Feller Biography". Bob Feller Museum. http://www.bobfellermuseum.org/about/bobFeller_Biography.asp. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- ^ Feller, Bob Feller's Little Black Book, 5
- ^ Sickels, 16
- ^ a b Feller, Bob Feller's Little Black Book, 4
- ^ a footnote to the source
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Bob Feller still a starter; 90-year-old legend plans to throw hard at Classic." The Associated Press, June 20, 2009
- ^ "About the Bob Feller Museum". http://www.bobfellermuseum.org/about/abouttheMusuem.asp. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
- ^ "Feller Museum, Van Meter, IA". http://www.ballparkreviews.com/places/feller.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
References
- Feller, Bob; Bill Gilbert (2002). Now Pitching, Bob Feller. Citadel Press. pp. 232. ISBN 9780806523620.
- Feller, Bob; Burton Rocks (2001). Bob Feller's Little Black Book of Baseball Wisdom. McGraw-Hill Professional. pp. 160. ISBN 9780809298433.
- Kalb, Elliott (2005). Who's Better, Who's Best in Baseball?. McGraw-Hill Professional. pp. 416. ISBN 9780071445382.
- Sickels, John (2004). Bob Feller: ace of the greatest generation. Potomac Books, Inc.. pp. 336. ISBN 9781574884418.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=buckheit/091112&sportCat=mlb
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- Baseball Hall of Fame – Member biography
- The Bob Feller Museum
- September 1995 by Barry Stagg
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lefty Gomez Hal Newhouser |
American League Strikeout Champion 1938-1941 1946-1948 |
Succeeded by Hughson & Newsom Virgil Trucks |
| Preceded by Red Ruffing Hal Newhouser Bob Lemon |
American League Wins Champion 1939-1941 1946-1947 (1946 with Hal Newhouser) 1951 |
Succeeded by Tex Hughson Hal Newhouser Bobby Shantz |
| Preceded by Lefty Grove |
American League Pitching Triple Crown 1940 |
Succeeded by Hal Newhouser |
| Preceded by Lefty Grove |
American League ERA Champion 1940 |
Succeeded by Thornton Lee |
| Preceded by Monte Pearson Ed Head Cliff Chambers |
No-hitter pitcher April 16, 1940 April 30, 1946 July 1, 1951 |
Succeeded by Tex Carleton Ewell Blackwell Allie Reynolds |
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Mentioned in
- 1950 Baseball News Highlights (Sports & Recreation Film)
- The Kid from Cleveland (1949 Drama Film)
- The Ballads of Madison County (1993 Album by Robert James Waller)
- Joe DiMaggio
