Cleveland native and SI.com reporter Joe Posnanski writes about his early memories of Bob Feller. He writes how he grew up on the legends of Jim Brown, Paul Brown and Jesse Owens, but there was nothing like the stories about Feller. Mostly, though, there was the legend of Bobby Feller, Rapid Robert, the Iowa farm boy who at age...
Bob Feller in the dressing room following his one-hitter win over the Boston Red Sox May 1, 1955. Cleveland native and SI.com reporter Joe Posnanski writes about his early memories of Bob Feller. He writes how he grew up on the legends of Jim Brown, Paul Brown and Jesse Owens, but there was nothing like the stories about Feller.
Mostly, though, there was the legend of Bobby Feller, Rapid Robert, the Iowa farm boy who at age 17 took the mound at League Park in Cleveland, threw his hardest fastballs, and scared the living hell out of grizzled baseball men who thought they had seen it all.
Posnanski tells the story when he first talked to Feller, at a card show. This is where Feller, before signing a baseball card for Posnanski, asked him who was the greatest pitcher of all time. Posnanski told Feller it was Sandy Koufax.
To his credit, Feller did not seem put off by my answer. He, in fact, treated it with a measure of respect — the answer was wrong, sure, but it was more misguided than anything else. He set me straight. “How many games did Koufax win?“ he asked. “What did he win? Hundred fifty games?” There was a small stack of papers on the table, and Feller reached over and took one, handed it to me. These were stat sheets. They were put together to estimate what Bob Feller’s career numbers would have looked like had he not gone off to war from 1942-45. The estimate was that he would have won 373 games, struck out 3,651 men and thrown five no-hitters. The strikeouts and no-hitters would have been records.
Posnanski also writes about his favorite Feller quote when it comes to Feller's Opening Day no-hitter in Chicago in 1940. It is still the only no-hitter thrown on Opening Day.
“Name the only game in baseball history where every player on a team went into a regulation nine-inning game and came out of it with the same batting average.” That was Feller’s no-hitter. Each White Sox player came into the game hitting .000 and left hitting the same three digits.
A real American hero
Justice B. Hill writes on czarjustice.com about Feller, one of the icons of Cleveland sports and the most iconic figure when it comes to baseball in this city.
Feller, writes Hill, was unlike some famous athletes who jilted this city, discarding its affections so cavalierly, he never did. Feller was all that was good about athletes from the golden age of sports. To those men, fans mattered; an athlete’s standing in the public’s eye accounted for something; it wasn’t all about the benjamins or the Nike ads or the starlet on his arm.
Nobody can doubt he was an American hero, though most people would ascribe his fame to his ability to throw a baseball harder than anybody else in his generation. Feller was mindful of the fame that gift from God brought him; he was proud of it. His ability to throw a baseball drew crowds to him and earned him a plaque in Cooperstown.
But Feller was more than just a baseball player. He volunteered during World War II. He fought for his country.
Yes, his name will be revered in baseball circles forever, but fans do him an injustice when they forget who Bob Feller was: an American hero in the historical sense of the word.
Looking back
Alex Kimball writes on ESPN's Page 2 how he knocked Feller's pitches all over the park in 1994. At the time, Kimball was 30 and Feller was 75.
Feller was on a promotional tour. He pitched to a few members of the media before a Class A San Jose Giants game. After Kimball hit a few of Feller's pitches around the park. Feller went into his bag of tricks.
The next pitch was belt-high over the plate, and I drove it deep into the left-center field gap, and it one-hopped the fence.
Feller gave me a look. The catcher said, "Uh-oh, here comes the deuce."
Feller then broke off a beautiful curveball that seemed as if it broke a foot and a half. I waved at it weakly. Feller smiled, as if to say, "How'd you like that, kid?"
Pictures
Dallas Morning News photo editor Guy Reynolds went into the archives and pulled out some photos of Feller. The photos include Feller's son Steve, and wife Virginia.
Comedy routine
Listen to Abbott and Costello’s rare Bob Feller comedy routine. The routine on Feller starts at the 1:40 mark.