Cliff Lee surprised a lot of people last week, including the Indians, when he didn't sign the biggest free agent contract available. By rejoining the Phillies, he gives them a rotation that may rival some of the best in history.
View full sizeCliff Lee surprised some people by spurning big offers from the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies. Lee surprised them and everyone else last week when he turned down bigger offers from the Yankees and Texas to return to the Phillies, the team that sent him packing after he won two World Series games for them in 2009 because they liked Roy Halladay better.
It's not as if Lee signed for a song. A five-year deal worth $120 million is a nice Christmas present. Add the $27.5 million vesting option in 2016, and it gets a lot closer to the deals he left on the table.
The Phillies' rotation of Halladay, Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels may glitter more than all of Lee's money. It has a chance to be the best rotation since Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine started for Atlanta from 1993 through 1999.
In Cleveland, it will draw comparisons to the 1954 rotation of Early Wynn (23-11), Bob Lemon (23-7), Mike Garcia (19-8), Art Houtteman (15-7) and an aging Bob Feller (13-3).
Some say the Indians' 1955 rotation of Wynn (17-11), Lemon (18-10), Garcia (11-13) and rookie Herb Score (16-10) is a better comparison simply because of Score's promise that ultimately went unfulfilled.
Peace of mind: Indians broadcaster Mike Hegan is happy with his decision to reduce his workload for next season. He'll do all home games with WTAM AM/1100 play-by-play man Tom Hamilton.
Hegan must use oxygen when he flies, which makes road trips a challenge. Jim Rosenhaus will partner with Hamilton on the road.
"This is going to work out well," Hegan said.
On the move: Kinston, the Indians' Class A affiliate in the Carolina League, has been sold to Zebulon, N.C. They'll move there after the 2011 season.
Is it just me . . . Or did Kerry Wood return to the Cubs for $1.5 million because he'd saved his pennies from the two-year, $20.5 million deal he signed with the Indians before the 2009 season? A deal, shall we say, that left both parties unsatisfied, save for Wood's bank account. . . . Colorado was interested in Adam Everett before the Indians signed him to a minor-league deal last week.
The endless story: Talking to the friends, teammates and opponents of Feller, who died last week, was enlightening. In case you didn't know:
•For a long time, Feller snubbed Yankees Hall of Famer Yogi Berra. Finally, Berra asked Feller, "Did I do something wrong?' Feller told him he didn't have much use for anyone who didn't serve his country when it needed him.
Berra told Feller that he was in the Navy and took part in the Normandy invasion. After that, they became fast friends.
Said a friend: "Yogi wasn't Yogi when he joined the Navy. He was just a 19-year-old minor-leaguer with the Yankees. Bob didn't know that."
•Feller was the unofficial ambassador for the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark and President Jeff Idelson loved him. It was always thought Roger Clemens would one day take Feller's place in that role.
Now Clemens, entangled in steroid allegations, might not even get elected to the Hall when he becomes eligible.
•Former Indians outfielder Rocky Colavito was amazed at the schedule Feller kept after he retired.
"His energy was unbelievable," Colavito said. "He was always making an appearance here and there. And he was no spring chicken."
Colavito, 77, is on the comeback trail following right knee replacement surgery.
•When Feller joined the Indians as a 17-year-old rookie in 1936, Fred Weisman was the team's 9-year-old batboy. His dad, Whitey, was the Indians' trainer.
"We were on our eastern trip [New York, Boston and Philadelphia]," Weisman, 84, said. "Bob joined us in Philadelphia. He had no control whatsoever. The batters weren't worried about getting a hit, they were worried about getting killed. Everyone was hitting with one foot in the bucket."
When the Indians returned to Cleveland, Feller stayed at Weisman's parents home in Cleveland Heights until he found a place to live.
"We slept in the same bed," said Weisman, still a practicing attorney. "He was green, right off the farm. At dinner, my mother put a big crock of applesauce next to Bob. It was for everyone at the table, but Bob ate it all. No one said a thing."
•Former Yankees third baseman Bobby Brown talked a lot about Feller last week, which dovetailed into stories about playing the Indians at old Municipal Stadium.
"There used to be a Dairy Queen-type ice cream store right next to the ballpark," Brown said. "When we came to town, the clubhouse manager would hire an extra clubbie just to buy us ice cream. He'd walk in the door with a tray of ice cream cones, and he wouldn't get 10 feet before they were all gone.
"One day we played a doubleheader. Allie Reynolds wasn't pitching, and I asked him how many he'd eat. He said 10. Ten between games of a doubleheader."
Brown said the Yankees would always play the Tigers in Detroit before coming to Cleveland.
"What a wonderful 10 days that would be," Brown said sarcastically. "We had to face Art Houtteman, Fred Hutchinson, Hal Newhouser and Dizzy Trout in Detroit. Then come to Cleveland and face Feller, Bob Lemon, Early Wynn, Mike Garcia and Steve Gromek. But we never felt overmatched because we had guys like Allie Reynolds, Vic Rashi, Whitey Ford and Eddie Lopat."
Newhouser, Feller, Lemon, Wynn and Ford are in the Hall of Fame.
Services: A public memorial service will be held for Feller in the near future. The Feller family will hold a private service in the near future.
Charitable contributions can be made in the name of Bob Feller to Cleveland Indians Charities (indians.com) and the Bob Feller Museum (bobfellermuseum.org).
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: phoynes@plaind.com, 216-999-5158