Hall of Famer Bob Feller has acute myeloid leukemia.
Bob Feller threw out the first pitch of springtime at Goodyear Ballpark last March at the age of 91. It was announced on Sunday that Feller is afflicted with leukemia.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Indians legend Bob Feller, 91, has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
He said he has been receiving multiple chemotherapy shots every day "for the past week or so.''
"I'm just trying to be practical about it,'' Feller said from the Progressive Field pressbox Sunday afternoon. "It's curable -- but not always. Only time will tell. The prognosis is: So far, so good.''
Feller said he had been feeling weak and thought something was wrong with his heart. His eye doctor, during a routine checkup, sounded the alarm that blood was the problem.
"My white blood cells weren't doing their job,'' he said. "I got two quarts of blood right away. They pumped it in as fast as they could. The good news is, my heart is in very good shape.''
According to the WebMD website: "Adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes abnormal myeloblasts (a type of white blood cell), red blood cells, or platelets.
"Adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. This type of cancer usually gets worse quickly if it is not treated. It is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults. AML is also called acute myelogenous leukemia, acute myeloblastic leukemia, acute granulocytic leukemia, and acute nonlymphocytic leukemia.''
Feller said his next doctor's visit is scheduled for Monday.
"That's when we'll find out how effective the treatment's been,'' he said. "Right now, I have plenty of energy. I'm not going to complain.''
Feller has been an outpatient at Cleveland Clinic.
"I'm fortunate to be going to one of the best hospitals in the world,'' he said.
Feller was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. He threw three no-hitters and 12 one-hitters in a career that spanned from 1936 to 1956, all with Cleveland. He was 266-162 and 3.25 ERA. He lost three full seasons (1942-44) and most of a fourth (1945) while serving in the Navy in World War II.
Feller is the third-oldest living member of the Hall of Fame. He is younger than 92-year-olds Lee MacPhail and Bobby Doerr.