What Was Fireballer Bob Feller's Greatest Achievement?

Bob Feller. (Public domain)

When I came home from the hospital after I was born, there were four teddy bears in my crib, named after the starting rotation of the Cleveland Indians. Three of these became Hall of Famers--Bob Lemon, Early Wynn and Bog Feller. The fourth, Mike Garcia, twice led the league in ERA and was a 20 game winner the year I was born.

Like the 1980s and 90s Atlanta Braves, the Indians were loaded with pitching talent. Premiere among them was an Iowa farm boy who in his prime threw a nearly unhittable fireball, Bob Feller.

I'll interject here that of my four teddy bears, Feller and Lemon were my favorites, in that order. Both were black and stuffed bears. Feller had a white torso with skinny black arms and legs, and black head with button eyes and pinched face. If you see pictures of toddler holding a teddy bear at their side with the hand gripping an arm, that would have been me and Feller.

While thinking about our Major League Baseball season that's gone AWOL this year, I began reflecting on some of the baseball memories of my youth. This led me to looking up stats whereupon I came across a webpage dedicated to Bob Feller. Or more correctly, it was a 2010 poll that asked readers to choose what they considered his greatest achievement. Mike Peticca is listed as the author.

This is what Lemon looked like. My
Feller had skinnier arms and legs.

Frankly, I am always impressed when young people achieve big things early on and somehow keep it from getting into their heads. Bob Feller was a smoking hot pitcher from the start, going to work on the mound for Cleveland while he was still in high school, age 17. In his first start he struck out 15 batters. Before the season ended he went back to high school, but not before typing the major league single-game record for strikeouts in a single game: 17.

I can picture the first day of school. "So, what did you do this summer, Bobby?" 

At the end of his school year his high school graduation in the spring of 1937 was broadcast nationally by NBC Radio. As a parent one might worry all that celebrity would go to the kid's head. Somehow he hung in there and went back to work with zeal. The following year, before he had even turned 20, Feller became the first pitcher in the 20th century to strike out 18 batters in a game.

Now, let's get into the meat of it. What was Bob Feller's greatest pitching achievement? What would you choose?

__ A 5-3 record, 3.34 ERA, 76 strikeouts in 62 innings, a record-tying 17-strikeout game, in 1936, before his senior year in high school.

__ Winning 107 games, with 54 losses, at age 22, before enlisting in the U.S. Navy and serving in World War II.

__ Leading the majors in wins (27-11 record) and strikeouts (261) and leading American League in ERA (2.61) at age 21 in 1940.

__ A 26-15 record, 2.18 ERA, a then-record 348 strikeouts, 36 complete games, 10 shutouts, four saves in 1946, his first full season after World War II.

__ Leading American League in wins five straight years (1939-41, 46-47), not counting the nearly four seasons he fought in World War II.

__ Leading majors in strikeouts in each of his first seven seasons (1938-41, 46-48) as a full-time starting pitcher.

__ Retiring as first pitcher to throw three no-hitters in the 20th century, and tied with Nolan Ryan for most one-hitters (12).

THE ANSWER
According to Mike Peticca: "Feller's greatest achievement, though, was that he gave up nearly four prime years of his baseball career to serve the United States in World War II. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on Dec. 9, 1941, the first major leaguer to join the military after the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor that Dec. 7."

The Sporting News called him the greatest pitcher of his time. Ted Williams said he was the fastest and best pitcher he ever faced. But his enlistment and service on the USS Alabama in the South Pacific theater speaks much about his character that goes beyond his record as a fireballer.

* * * *
Here is a link to the original article:
https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2010/12/bob_feller_what_was_the_greate.html

Related Links
Reflections on The Natural
Moneyball Worth More Than the Price of Admission

Black History Month: 100th Anniversary of the Negro Leagues

When I was born, my baby crib included--besides me--four Teddy bears. The unique feature of these bears was not their looks, since they varied in color and size, but rather their names. My parents named my Teddy bears after the Cleveland Indians starting rotation, which include three pitchers who would later be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

One of these pitchers was fireballer Bob Feller. (The other three were Bob Lemon, Early Wynn and Mike Garcia.) Feller, who was my favorite, had a white torso with black arms, legs and head. I can still picture myself carrying him around by that skinny, black arm.

Feller was one of many great ballplayers who had their careers interrupted by doing service in the U.S. military in World War II. Despite three years lost during his prime, he was the winningest pitcher in Cleveland Indians history.

I mention all this because of his role in becoming a bridge toward the integration of Major League baseball.

After the war, Feller came up with the idea of assembling a team of players for a barnstorming road tour in the off-season. Perhaps he was in it for the money, but the hunger for baseball was strong and if he could deliver an all-star show people would fill the stands to watch their heroes.

For opponents, he contacted the well-connected star pitcher of the Negro Leagues, Satchel Paige. Feller had seen Paige pitch back in the Thirties and knew he could muster up a team that would be competitive against the white pros of Major League Baseball. Feller chartered DC-3 planes to ferry the players to the 34 games he arranged. He also hired a doctor, a trainer, a lawyer and a publicity man.

Pittsburgh Crawfords. Satchell Paige third from left, back row. (Public domain)

While segregation was a shameful period in baseball history, the Negro Leagues were a resounding success and an immense source of pride for black America. Though Jackie Robinson is famous for having been first to cross the color barrier, I thought Satchel Paige was the coolest of the cool, and the Cleveland Indians became among the first to be peppered with black players from the Negro League.

I've not seen a lot written about it, but this year happens to be 100th Anniversary of the Negro Leagues. According to this story by Rob Ruck in the Chicago Reporter, on February 13, 1920,  "teams from eight cities formally created the Negro National League. Three decades of stellar play followed, as the league affirmed black competence and grace on the field, while forging a collective identity that brought together Northern-born blacks and their Southern brethren. And though Major League Baseball was segregated from the 1890s until 1947, these teams played countless interracial games in communities across the nation."

Ken Burns' fabulous documentary series on baseball was profoundly important because of the respect he showed for the Negro League and that other side of baseball history, some of it shameful, lest it be forgotten.

Larry Tye's 2010 story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer noted how those exhibitions featuring Bob Feller and Satchel Paige helped advance integration in baseball. No doubt this contributed to the Indians becoming leaders in welcoming people of color into the locker room.

Everyone remembers the name of Jackie Robinson, the first player to cross the color barrier, just as everyone remember Neil Armstrong, the first to walk on the moon, and George Washington, the first president. The second Negro League player to wear a Major League Baseball uniform was Larry Doby of the Cleveland Indians. The year I was born he led the majors in runs scored and home runs.

Interestingly, my observation above (about being second means being forgotten) was first stated by Bob Feller himself.

Second black player to play in the Majors.

Of Doby, Bob Feller later said, "He was a great American, served the country in World War II, and he was a great ballplayer. He was kind of like Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, because he was the second African-American in the majors behind Jackie Robinson. He was just as good of a ballplayer, an exciting player, and a very good teammate."

The years after Larry Doby joined the team the Indians added more Black stars, Satchel Paige and Minnie Minoso. I remember seeing Minnie Minoso when I was a kid. Sometimes I liked players just because they had cool names. My grandfather used to take his grandsons (my brother Ron and I) to numerous Indians games in the 50s. There are baskets of memorable moments stored in our craniums.

I feel a measure of pride knowing that of the first 20 Negro League players to cross over into the Majors from 1947-1951, six were recruited by the Cleveland Indians. The New York Yankees did not recruit a black ballplayer until 1955, Elston Howard being their first.

I don't recall how old I was when I saw Elston Howard for the first time, but I remember him. I saw numerous Yankees-Indians double headers in the 1950s when the Indians were perennial also rans. (They did win the pennant in 1954,) What I remember was a game in which we had box seats directly behind home plate. Elston Howard was the Yankees catcher that day, and I remember observing how big he seemed.

He was also a powerful hitter, and in each game of that doubleheader he slammed a game-winning home run over the center field fence. They were impressive blasts, Cleveland having one of the longer center field fences.

These memories were all stirred when I saw the book at the top of this page on a shelf a Zenith Books last week. If you live here in Duluth, check it out.

Related Links
The Short Story of Satchel Paige
by Roman Mikhail on Medium

Satchel Paige Quotes

Major League Baseball: Some Things Have Changed, Some Haven't

More Memories of the Great American Pastime

Bob Feller dreamed up the idea of barnstorming with the Negro team during his long shifts manning anti-aircraft guns on the USS Alabama during World War II. He knew that getting other major-leaguers to join him would be easy, and he signed up the best. It was a unique time in baseball history, just before the color barrier came tumbling down. It would still be years before African Americans could live where they wanted. The Civil Rights Act outlawing discrimination wasn't passed until 1964.

Bob Feller's Passing Brings Back Memories

I was a first-born child, born in Cleveland, Ohio, but when I came home from the hospital I was not alone. There were four teddy bears in my crib, named after four great Cleveland Indians pitchers: Feller, Lemon, Garcia and Wynn. Feller, with his spindly black arms, stubby ears white tummy and button-eyed face, was my favorite. (It's funny how when I learned to talk, my stuffed animals learned to talk to each other as well.) This week, the real Bob Feller passed on to bigger and better things after a lifetime of inspiration due to his achievements as a pitcher in the middle of the last century. He led the American League in strikeouts seven times, pitched three no-hitters and a record number of twelve one-hitters. More records would have been added had he not spent the heart of his career in the service of his country, having enlisted in the navy at the outbreak of World War II.

I was born during the pennant race of 1952, a nail-biter of a season with the Indians coming up two games short against their arch-nemesis, the Yankees. The Indians, famous for their pitchers, would spend most of the 1950's falling short like this, though in 1954 they did punch through and captured the American League pennant, again behind a dominant starting rotation that heralded four 20-game winners, three of whom would become Hall of Famers.

I do not recall my first ballgame in Cleveland Stadium. I have a memory of box seats on the third base side on a sunny summer day when I was about four. I remember many games after that over the years including several games in the hopes of being present when Early Wynn reached his 300th lifetime career win. I remember learning how to keep the box score in the scorecard when I was barely old enough to write.

I like to tell people that we went to every Yankee-Indian double header back then, but I'm sure my memory is faulty and it only seemed that way. We did go to a lot of games and I do recall one double header when Yankee catcher Elston Howard slammed game-winning home runs over the center field fence in both games. Other household names in Cleveland in those days included Rocky Colavito, Herb Score, Woody Held, Vic Power and Tito Francona.

It wasn't until I was grown up that I learned from my dad that we went as often as we did because my grandfather, who was a supervisor at the Packard plant in Warren, routinely acquired free tickets. It's only natural to want to take your grandkids out to the ballgame. And who better to go see than the Yankees.

I remember one game in which the Indians were losing going into the ninth and my dad said it was time to leave so we could beat the traffic. We walked to the car hoping against hope for a comeback, and sure enough the Indians tied it up while we headed back to Maple Heights. When we got home the game was still going and I remember sitting in the back yard rooted to a lawn chair sipping kool-aid. We beat the traffic but missed a great comeback. No biggie.

Bob Feller's fame could be attributed to his fastball, a sizzler once purportedly clocked at 107 miles per hour. But now that I'm grown I think his fame lay in that wonderful blend of good-heartedness combined with talent. At seventeen years of age he was already pitching in the major leagues. In addition to being a great ballplayer he was an exemplary person.

I'm not the only writer with fond memories of Cleveland baseball. Indians fans owe a debt of gratitude to veteran sportswriter Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer for his loving coverage of the team over the years. Strongly recommended reading for Indians fans: The Curse of Rocky Colavito, which details the story of heartbreak most Indians fans have experienced since those mid-century glory days.

In remembrance of Bob Feller, here's Pluto's account of a visit to the Feller family farm in Iowa. Bob "Rapid Robert" Fellow passed away on Wednesday, December 15, after a bout with leukemia. He was 92. The Indians have not won it all since he took them there in 1948.

1952: From the Beginning

As noted in a previous post, no man is an island. Nor any woman. From the moment we enter this world we not only have a connection to our personal families, we are simultaneously connected to our extended family, the body of humanity.

Of course this is not something we immediately sense – and some never sense it at all. But as we enter this world, we do come to appreciate and understand that our grand appearance here takes place within a context.
My own context was as a firstborn to young parents in Cleveland, Ohio. My mom and dad each had rural roots, West Virginia and Kentucky respectively, but had taken up residence in a second floor apartment in a section of town known as Little Italy.

They were evidently avid baseball fans because the four teddy bears they surrounded me with in my crib were named after the Cleveland Indians starting rotation: Mike Garcia, Bob Lemon, Early Wynn and fireballer Bob Feller. These guys were awesome pitchers in their prime but only handed Indians fans one pennant in the fifties due to the heartless dominance of the Yankees of that era. I don’t recall what happened to Wynn and Garcia (the teddy bears), but Lemon and Feller accompanied me for many a year.

So did the love of baseball. One of my mom’s favorite players was the Indians’ second baseman Bobby Avila. Three times a candidate for the League’s Most Valuable Player, Avila hailed from Mexico, a fact which I learned many years later while living in Monterrey in 1981. My wife and I were walking through the Baseball Hall of Fame in that city whereupon I saw a Cleveland Indians baseball uniform. (I will try to find the photo I took and post it here.) It immediately made me think of my Mom.

In the fifties my grandfather and dad took my brothers and I to many a ball game at Cleveland Stadium. I can recall box seats behind the Indians dugout on a bright sunny afternoon. On another occasion I remember box seats just a little to the right of the backstop during a double header in which the Yankees’ Elston Howard hit home runs over the deep center field fence in each game.

Every spring, as the baseball season commenced, our family watched the movie It Happens Every Spring, starring Ray Milland, about a professor who discovers a way to juice a baseball so that it avoids being hit by wood. Like the annual airing of The Wizard of Oz, our family watched this annual Saturday Night at the Movies feature year in and year out.

Within this context, it’s hard to imagine not having an interest in baseball.

Maybe things would have been different if the Indians had not been contenders. And probably it would have been much different if I had been born and raised in a town with no team at all. But it is what it is. And for this reason, to some extent Fate has a hand in how we become who we are… though I must immediately add that I believe, too, that our decisions today help make us who we will become.

Besides my own appearance here, other significant events of 1952 include the publication of Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea and John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Herman Wouk won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for The Caine Mutiny. Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower won the 1952 election for president of the United States. The Korean Conflict was happening across the Pacific, and McCarthyism was in full swing in the corridors of power here in the homeland.

Two other features of note. First, not that it matters much, 1952 was a Leap Year. And second, 1952 was a year in which a major wave of Baby Boomers entered the world. One of them was Bob Costas, a sports announcer who many Americans recognize and welcome into their homes via television. Currently he is the anchor for this year’s Olympic Games. He is a passionate fan of baseball to such an extent that he has even been considered for the position of baseball commissioner.

Costas has certainly had a charmed life, being in a position where he not only gets to meet his heroes and the great sports figures of our time, he gets to ask them probing questions, to find out what makes them tick. Hopefully he still gets a thrill from this privileged position. He certainly excels at projecting the kind of educated passion that makes people (and by this, I mean viewers) want to spend time in his presence.

If I were interviewing Mr. Costas, I would like to know…
Did your parents name your teddy bears after the New York Yankees starting rotation? (He grew up in the Queens, New York.)
How many Yankees vs. Indians double headers did you see in the fifties?
When did you see your first All Star Game? (I saw mine in Cleveland, 1963.)

What would you consider the three greatest sports moments of the past thirty years?
And finally, what makes you tick? It has to be more than the money, which can’t be half bad. What do you love most in life and what are your goals for the next thirty years?

And, if you could ask Mr. Costas a couple questions, what would they be?

Bob Costas Trivia: Costas was a huge Mickey Mantle fan and purportedly carried a 1958 Mickey Mantle baseball card in his wallet. Here's a picture of my own 1958 Mickey Mantle card, one of baseball's legendary heroes when we were both young fans.

For the record, there was another significant person born in 1952… the day after I was born on September 11 that year. I did not meet him till sometime after I started dating his sister in 1976. A quick tip-of-the-hat to my brother-in-law Lloyd…

And now, back to the Olympics. Go, team.