IF YOU DON'T KNOW ALL ABOUT BOB FELLER, YOU REALLY SHOULD
After two injections in my ailing shoulder & then having my knee manipulated by my orthopedist, I can't sleep at all. So I've been watching ESPN's Mike & Mike in the Morning since it came on here at 5AM & they began talking about the death of Bob Feller yesterday. They rattled off many of his stats, 266 wins, nearly 2,600 strikeouts, a 1st ballot Hall of Famer, World Series champ, no-hit pitcher etc. etc. etc. I met Feller in Chicago a few days after Linda & I went to the 50th All-Star game back in '83. I was fortunate enough to talk to him for nearly a half an hour. Appearing at the National Sports' Collectors Convention, he was kind of shoved into a corner & wasn't generating much interest from the younger attendees. He told me he had missed four seasons of his prime because of World War II, from age 22 to 26. Sound young? Feller made his Major League debut at 17-years of age. Seriously, he was signed right out of an Iowa high school for a $1 signing bonus. In his first year in the majors, Feller struck out 17 batters in one game.
He threw hard, so much harder than anyone else playing at the time, he was as intimidating as they came. He held the Major League record for hit batsmen. He was clocked at 102, 104 & 107 MPH at different points in his career. After serving in the War, Feller came back in the 1946 season........& recorded 346 strikeouts.
I knew much of this, I was, at one time a walking baseball encyclopedia, but the strike of '94 soured me so badly, I never came back to the game. But I heard Mike Greenberg say this morning that not only had Feller missed four prime seasons because of the War, he enlisted in the Navy the day after Pearl Harbor & said it was the best thing he ever did in his life. He didn't have to, because of his occupation, the draft boards allowed professional athletes to get deferments, you know keep the folks on the homefront happy? Not for Feller, not for Ted Williams either. Two of the greatest players in Major League history who never hesitated to serve their country in wartime. Golic said that would be like Roger Clements enlisting the day after 9/11, which of course he didn't, he was busy shooting steroids. The only professional athlete that gave up their career for military service after 9/11 was the late Pat Tillman, killed in Afghanistan in 2004.
If you've never heard of Bob Feller, who passed away yesterday at 92, the internet is an easy source for information. Take 5-minutes & read something about a great American. You'll be glad you did.
He threw hard, so much harder than anyone else playing at the time, he was as intimidating as they came. He held the Major League record for hit batsmen. He was clocked at 102, 104 & 107 MPH at different points in his career. After serving in the War, Feller came back in the 1946 season........& recorded 346 strikeouts.
I knew much of this, I was, at one time a walking baseball encyclopedia, but the strike of '94 soured me so badly, I never came back to the game. But I heard Mike Greenberg say this morning that not only had Feller missed four prime seasons because of the War, he enlisted in the Navy the day after Pearl Harbor & said it was the best thing he ever did in his life. He didn't have to, because of his occupation, the draft boards allowed professional athletes to get deferments, you know keep the folks on the homefront happy? Not for Feller, not for Ted Williams either. Two of the greatest players in Major League history who never hesitated to serve their country in wartime. Golic said that would be like Roger Clements enlisting the day after 9/11, which of course he didn't, he was busy shooting steroids. The only professional athlete that gave up their career for military service after 9/11 was the late Pat Tillman, killed in Afghanistan in 2004.
If you've never heard of Bob Feller, who passed away yesterday at 92, the internet is an easy source for information. Take 5-minutes & read something about a great American. You'll be glad you did.
Comments