He helped the Indians win a World Series title in 1948 and an American League-record 111 wins and the pennant in 1954. Feller wrote to Chandler, challenging the league's limit on the number of games that were allowed to be played and proposing an increase; the Commissioner agreed to Feller's proposal. [86] On December 15, Feller died of complications from leukemia at 92. [73] He also threw the second fastest pitch ever officially recorded, at 107.6 mph (173.2 km/h), in a game in 1946 at Griffith Stadium. "[39] At one point during the season (as Feller thought he might be nearing Rube Waddell's AL record for strikeouts), Feller confirmed Waddell's record of 344 strikeouts with the AL office as opposed to 349. Greenberg said, "Feller's curve was jumping wickedly and with that and his fast ball, he was murder. Now which Feller are you talking about? Van Meter, Iowa 50261 [18] In October, Feller was fitted with a pacemaker and was diagnosed with pneumonia and thrush, an infection of the mucus membrane lining the mouth and throat. [10] Upon his retirement, Feller held the major league record for most walks in a career (1,764), and holds the 20th-century record for most walks in a season (208 in 1938). He recalled his childhood fondly: "What kid wouldn't enjoy the life I led in Iowa? Feller credited his arm strength and ball speed to milking cows, picking corn, and baling hay. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. @font-face {font-family: 'entypo-fontello'; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; I hope to reach a decision at that time. It was here on a stretch of land between the barn and the farm house that Bill Feller set up a makeshift backstop. Feller was renowned for his fastball, which was officially clocked at 98 miles per hour (A record at the time, later Broken by Nolan Ryan) by the U.S. Army, although it is commonly believed that he could throw much harder than that. [51] Along with Early Wynn and Mike Garcia, Feller reached the 20-win mark during the season; they were the first trio of pitchers on the same staff to earn 20 wins since 1931. When he was 17 years of age, he struck out 17 batters; he and Kerry Wood are the only two players ever to strike out their age (Wood struck out 20 on May 6, 1998). Feller died at the age of 92 in 2010. He sat at a table with a box of baseballs on his left and a stack of Bob Feller’s Little Black Book of Baseball Wisdom on his right. His sister Marguerite played for the girls' basketball team, and was the Iowa state ping-pong champion. We all agreed quickly on the figure after Bob showed up yesterday. url('http://bobfellermuseum.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/config-templatebuilder/avia-template-builder/assets/fonts/entypo-fontello.ttf?v=3') format('truetype'), His career was interrupted by four years of military service in World War II, during which time he served as Chief Petty Officer aboard USS Alabama. In June 2009, at the age of 90, Feller was one of the starting pitchers at the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame Classic, which replaces the Hall of Fame Game at Cooperstown, New York. "I was so tired from all the receptions I didn't know if I could finish the game", Feller said. His performances were mixed during the rest of the season, and he finished the year with a 15-14 record and a 3.75 ERA. "[1] He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, on his first ballot appearance; at the time, only three players had ever had a higher percentage of ballot votes. That year Feller was 26-15 with an ERA of 2.18 while pitching 36 complete games. My uncle, Paul Brownell, was your catcher on the Des Moines Farmers’ Union team in 1935!”, Feller grinned from ear to ear. src: url('http://bobfellermuseum.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/config-templatebuilder/avia-template-builder/assets/fonts/entypo-fontello.eot?v=3'); [1][3]:27 Feller said a 1974 test involving Nolan Ryan would be evaluated when he threw the ball rather than when it reached home plate, and as columnist Milton Richman wrote, Feller said "Sandy Koufax had the best live fast ball he ever saw. In this day of free agency and switching teams, Bob Feller remained loyal to the city and the team for over 70 years. The Indians came back to tie the game, but by the seventh inning, the Braves regained the lead for good and Feller was removed from the game. Feller was born and raised in Van Meter, Iowa.

[70], Feller and his wife, Virginia Winther, had three sons, Steve, Martin, and Bruce.

[71] Feller said "I know in my heart I would have ended up a lot closer to 400 than 300 if I hadn't spent four seasons in the Navy. Alabama also served during Operation Flintlock while primarily being used as an escort battleship in 1944. [2]:124–127, When the war ended, Feller was discharged as a Chief Petty Officer on August 22, 1945. In 1943, Feller married Virginia Winther (1916–1981), daughter of a Wisconsin industrialist. When I entered the basement of the Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter last summer, my eyes zoomed in on the barrel-chested man autographing baseballs. Feller participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea before his combat duty ended in January 1945; he spent the rest of the war at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station as an instructor. He finished the season with a 5–3 record, having appeared in 14 games; he had 47 walks and 76 strikeouts in 62 innings. Feller said a teammate had stolen the bat and eventually it was purchased by the Upper Deck sports card company for $107,000. [40][41][43] Feller finished 26–15 with an ERA of 2.18, the latter a career-low. [23] This is the only no-hitter to be thrown on Opening Day in major league history.

After the Indians returned to Cleveland and were given a victory parade, Feller said, "This is as good as being President.

He was an actor, known for Signs of the Time (2008), The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (1998) and Pride Against Prejudice: The Larry Doby Story (2007). No teen has ever matched Feller’s explosive debut on the major league scene. Was a part of an Abbot and Costello routine that preceded Who's on First. He continued, "What if I did pitch another year, so what? Feller was signed by scout Cy Slapnicka for $1 and an autographed baseball. url('http://bobfellermuseum.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/config-templatebuilder/avia-template-builder/assets/fonts/entypo-fontello.woff?v=3') format('woff'),

[10], Before the 1946 season, Feller signed a $50,000 (equivalent to $656,000 in 2019) contract for that year, including a bonus for attendance, as the Indians felt many were attending baseball games primarily to see him; he was offered $100,000 by Jorge Pasquel to play in the Mexican League, but declined to leave the States again. } [65] Feller's biographer John Sickels suggested: "They were trying to make money, but part of it was also, he felt that the black players weren't necessarily getting a fair chance and that he wanted to sort of showcase it. Players today wear their pants down to their shoes, making them look like they’ve got on pajamas.”. [87], On Opening Day of the 2011 season, the Indians invited Feller's widow, Anne, to present a silent first pitch. [2]:204 Lemon won Game Six and gave the Indians their second World Series championship. When Feller retired in 1956, he held the major league record for most walks in a career (1,764). As a result, Feller did not have to take off-season jobs to make ends meet, like many players of his era did, which allowed Feller to become a physical fitness pioneer.

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