Enough video exists to show that Bob Feller was a rare pitching talent. More recent video features him as a great ambassador for baseball.
Bob Feller in 1938, at age 19.Cleveland, Ohio -- Bob Feller began his wondrous big-league pitching career with the Cleveland Indians as a 17-year-old in 1936.
Fortunately for baseball fans, by the time Rapid Robert was fanning batters at a stunning, unprecendented rate, there was -- relatively primitive as it may have been -- video capability.
It would be sweet if full-game film of some epic Feller performances existed, but if any does, it hasn't been discovered.
So, we settle for what is available, and it's certainly enough to display Feller's greatness. Also, videos of Feller in retirmement, in his role as an ambassador for the game of baseball and for the Cleveland Indians. Videos are from YouTube.com unless otherwise noted.
Video: Bob Feller in 1936, at age 17 and shortly after setting an American League record with 17 strikeouts in a game, throwing and getting tips from former Indians pitching great George Uhle.
Video: Bob Feller, in a video called "Speed Ball," throwing his fastball to be measured by U.S. Army equipment that measured artillery shell velocity. It's the late 1940's, after an arm injury slowed Feller's fastball. Still, he was clocked here at 98.6 miles per hour. The machine clocked Feller's pitch as it crossed home plate. The velocity of pitches now is measured when the baseball leaves the hand, when it is at maximum speed and hasn't slowed some between the mound and home plate. Thus, this pitch, experts say, would have easily been over 100 mph by today's measuring method.
Video: Film clips and vintage photos touching on Feller's life and his baseball career.
Video: From Vimeo.com, Bob Feller pitching. Note Bob wearing uniform Nos. 14 and 16, instead of the No. 19 he wore for most of his career. In this video, Feller fires two fastballs past Detroit Tigers Hall of Fame slugger Hank Greenberg, who, like Feller, volunteered for military service after Pearl Harbor.
Bob Feller footage from OleMissCub on Vimeo.
Video: Bob Feller interviewed in 1990 by the late Cleveland broadcaster, Nev Chandler, on Cleveland's WEWS/Channel 5 Eyewitness News "Live on Five." They talk about Feller's military service and baseball career, and about the 1990 Indians.
Video: From the Canton Repository. Bob Feller was famous for his accessibility to the media, and more important, the public. Here, from the Indians' 2008 spring training in Winter Haven, Florida, Feller and a friend talk with former Repositiory reporter Andy Call. Bob signed thousands upon thousands of autographs. He talks about that, and is seen signing, too.
Video: Bob Feller speaks to fans before the Indians' last eshibition game in Winter Haven in 2008. The team moved to Goodyear, Arizona for spring training beginning in 2009.
Video: From FOX Sports West at the Indians' Progressive Field in 2009, Bob Feller talks with Los Angeles Angels announcers Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler (a former Major league infielder) about the Indians winning the 1948 World Series; Bob's 1940 Opening Day no-hitter; his service in the U.S. Navy; and more.
Video: Bob Feller, then 90, pitching to fellow Hall of Famer Paul Molitor, then 52, at the 2009 Hall of Fame Classic in Cooperstown.
Video: ESPN's report on Wednesday night that Bob Feller had died. Tim Kurkjian talks about Feller's career.