Way back in 1936, during an exhibition game between the
Cleveland Indians and the St. Louis Cardinals, a 17-year-old
pitcher by the name of Bob Feller made his first big-league
appearance. The youngster threw three innings of relief, faced nine
Cardinals and struck out eight of them.
A bit later on, in his initial regular-season start, Feller fanned
15 St. Louis Browns. Three weeks after that, the whiz kid whiffed
17 Philadelphia Athletics, thus tying Dizzy Dean’s major league
record for strikeouts in a game. Then, the teenager went back home
to Iowa and finished high school.
Cleveland first took notice of Bob Feller in 1935, and
although league rules prohibited the signing of high school
students, the club went ahead and signed him anyway. The
violation was discovered in due time, and as a result the team was
fined $7,500. In addition, Feller was free to negotiate with any
other major league club, but opted to remain with the Indians. The
Indians, and the citizens of the city of Cleveland were glad he did.
Needless to say, Bob Feller was one of the finest pitchers
that ever performed in the majors. During his 18-year-career the
hard-throwing righthander won 266 games and lost 162. He fanned
ten or more batters in a game 55 times, appeared in eight all-star
games, racked up three no-hitters, and tossed 12 one-hitters. On six
occasions Bob lead the American League in wins and was tops in
strikeouts seven times.
Feller completed 279 of his 484 career starts -- a completion
rate of 58 per cent. Over a six year period early in his career he
averaged 26 complete games per season, by comparison, the entire
1997 Cleveland Indians’ pitching staff managed to go the distance
just four times. Furthermore, he often appeared in relief.
But the rubber-armed Feller was as wild as he was
spectacular. Consider: In 1938 he set the record for strikeouts in
one game by fanning 18 Detroit Tigers, a mark that stood for 31
seasons. Also that year, he led the American League with 240
strikeouts, yet Feller walked 208 batters. What’s more, Bob tops
in free passes four more times after that, and even though he
struck out 2,581 hittters throughout his career, there were also
1,764 bases on balls -- fifth all time.
Still, Feller’s pitching velocity was unrivaled, hence the
nicknames Rapid Robert and Bullet Bob. In 1940, the folks were
wondering just how fast he really was. Of course, radar guns
weren’t around back then, so a test was set up: the plan was for a
motorcycle traveling at a speed of 86-miles-per-hour to pass Feller
at the exact moment he threw at a target 60 feet, six inches away.
When all was said and done, it was determined that the baseball
had traveled 104 mph.
By the time Feller turned 23, he had already won 107 games,
however, at the time, World War ll was in full swing, and he joined the U.S.
Navy. Rapid Robert was no slouch as a seaman either, earning six
battle stars. Reports say that the proud combat hero figures the
four-year absence from baseball cost him at least 100 victories and
1,000 strikeouts.
Following the war, the talk was that Feller’s best days were
behind him. After all, said the experts, such a lengthy spell away
from the game would surely have a negative effect. “Not so fast”,
replied the fireballer.
Feller, who was supposedly over the hill, no-hit the Yankees in
April 1946 and didn’t stop there. During that summer Feller won
26 games, chalked up 348 strikeouts, recorded ten shutouts,
pitched 371 innings and tossed 36 complete games -- all league
highs that year.
The winningest pitcher in Cleveland Indians’ history retired
in 1956, and six years later was elected to the Hall of Fame.
» John White writes a weekly sports column for The New Waterford Community Press.
Also by John White
» My First Visit to Fenway
» Sam "The Jet" Jethroe
» More submissions
Posted July 23, 2001.
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