RIP Bob Feller

[Winston's Empire]

The baseball world lost a true American Hero tonight in Cleveland Indian Legend, Pitcher Bob Feller. I wasn't old enough to ever watch Mr. Feller pitch, but the legend of this man carried across many generations. His service in WWII is more impressive to me than his baseball career and if I wanted an example for my son to follow it would be that of Bob.

My wife and I went to Cooperstown, NY this summer for the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and when I found out Bob was there, I HAD TO MEET HIM. We walked around the town and sure enough there he was signing autographs.

I had the honor to talk with Mr. Feller for a few minutes and I asked him if he would sign my baseball as a WWII Veteran. He told me he would and that ball today is one of my true material treasures.

The the United States and the Game of Baseball are both better because of "The Heater from Van Meter" and I am very glad I got to shake this mans hand and thank him for his service to our country.

RIP Bob Feller

[Navel Lint]

That’s a wonderful picture and the ball is a nice keepsake.



Bob Feller was a great pitcher and one of the first advocates for players rights and free agency.



RIP Bob.

[Greg Ambrosius]

That's a great picture Max. Bob Feller was one of the most unique people in baseball. He obviously was one of the greatest pitching talents of his time and he dominated even after a four-year leave to the war. He was as patriotic as anyone you'd ever meet and he also was very opinionated about subjects dear to his heart.



Bob was an autograph guest in the sports memorabilia industry for the last 20+ years and the old saying is that the only thing more common than an unsigned baseball is a signed Bob Feller baseball. The man must have signed millions of baseballs in the last 20 years. He was at spring training, he was at every major card show, he was at the Baseball Hall of Fame, he signed privately for folks who sent in items. He was a machine, but when he signed for folks he always took the time to take a picture or listen to a story or to tell a story. He enjoyed meeting people, which doesn't always come with the territory of autograph signers.



Feller knew the sports memorabilia industry and he would call the editors at Sports Collectors Digest from time to time to talk about Pete Rose or other items. Mainly it was about Pete Rose!! It was funny when I'd hear Tom Mortenson talking for about an hour and then have him say "that was Bob Feller who called." He called Iola often and enjoyed talking with Tom or T.S. when a subject was important to him.



He was one of a kind in a lot of ways and Bud Selig is right when he said that as good as he was as a pitcher he was an even better American. He loved his country and he fought for it during the prime of his baseball life. He will be sorely missed by many. Thankfully many people got to know him first-hand before he left.

[Ryan C]

Well done guys - I will try to add a little more.



As a boy growing up in Cleveland I came to love baseball not through my father , but rather through my mother. My father, a linebacker and southpaw boxer, was a "football" guy. He never threw a baseball to me my entire life. I don't think it was because he didn't want to, I just think he didn't really know how to. He could take any type of engine apart and put it back together, but the art of baseball was something he didn't really understand.



My mother on the other hand had a passion for baseball, and Indian baseball in particular, that would be hard to beat on the West Side of Cleveland. As a child of the Depression, it is not surprising that her favorite player was Bob Feller (Being Italian, Rocky Colavito was a close second).



My mother used to take my younger brother and I (we were the ballplayers) out in the yard and play catch with us for hours on end. It was she who pitched to us and taught us how to field grounders. She coached us. She drove us to endless little league games. She cheered for us. And best of all, she took us to the ballpark to see her beloved Indians with her.



Needless to say the Indians teams of the 70's and 80's weren't very good. It didn't matter. My mom regaled us with the legends of Indian greats, mainly of her hero, the great Bob Feller. She would tell us how he was REALLY the greatest pitcher of all time. Ironically, this is a question Bob himself reportedly would ask those millions who came up to ask for his autograph over the years. "Who is the greatest pitcher of all time?" he would ask as he was signing your baseball.



I called my Mom, who is 79, yesterday after I heard of Rapid Rob's passing. I said "Mom, I just heard about Bob Feller passing and I thought of you." There was a pause on the line - "Yes. God Bless Him, He was quite a man." We talked awhile longer and I asked her about seeing him pitch in the '48 series. She reminded me about how he lost the 1st game 1-0 after carrying a 1 hitter into the bottom of the 8th. She then added that he lost game 5 as well giving up 7 runs. The indians lost two games that series (the second and as of now last WS they would win) and Bob Feller started both of them.



We talked about the first game she ever took me to - Opening Day 1976, when Frank Robinson became the first African-American Manger in baseball. And we talked some more about Bob Feller.



"Did you know he signed up for the Navy the day after Pearl Harbor got bombed?"



Yeah, I knew. And I knew pretty much everything else about the legend of Bob Feller. I knew about how they timed his fastball against a speeding car. I knew that some say he threw as fast as 107 MPH. I knew that he actually didn't really like the nickname Rapid Robert. I knew about the no-hitters and the strikeouts and I knew about how many of both he likely lost to his military service, along with the countless wins that he didn't get to record. I knew he was only a 17 year old farmboy from Iowa when he made his debut for the Indians in 1936.



But most of all I knew what he meant to my mother. He was what was beautiful to her about baseball. He was the person that made her love it so. As for my father, he came on the phone after my mother said goodnight and said "You know he never liked it when people tried to call him a war hero. He said heroes didn't come back from the war so he was no hero." But of course he was - he was a baseball hero.



I personally don't think it's by accident that Mr. Feller passed away in the year that Cleveland fans mourned the loss of their modern day hero, Lebron James. He probably didn't like "The Decision" any more than any other Cleveland fan. If you believe in a higher power, than just perhaps he was letting us all reflect on who the real hero of Cleveland always was and always will be.



[ December 17, 2010, 02:27 AM: Message edited by: Ryan Carey ]

[Chest Rockwell]

Originally posted by Ryan Carey:

Well done guys - I will try to add a little more.



As a boy growing up in Cleveland I came to love baseball not through my father , but rather through my mother. My father, a linebacker and southpaw boxer, was a "football" guy. He never threw a baseball to me my entire life. I don't think it was because he didn't want to, I just think he didn't really know how to. He could take any type of engine apart and put it back together, but the art of baseball was something he didn't really understand.



My mother on the other hand had a passion for baseball, and Indian baseball in particular, that would be hard to beat on the West Side of Cleveland. As a child of the Depression, it is not surprising that her favorite player was Bob Feller (Being Italian, Rocky Colavito was a close second).



My mother used to take my younger brother and I (we were the ballplayers) out in the yard and play catch with us for hours on end. It was she who pitched to us and taught us how to field grounders. She coached us. She drove us to endless little league games. She cheered for us. And best of all, she took us to the ballpark to see her beloved Indians with her.



Needless to say the Indians teams of the 70's and 80's weren't very good. It didn't matter. My mom regaled us with the legends of Indian greats, mainly of her hero, the great Bob Feller. She would tell us how he was REALLY the greatest pitcher of all time. Ironically, this is a question Bob himself reportedly would ask those millions who came up to ask for his autograph over the years. "Who is the greatest pitcher of all time?" he would ask as he was signing your baseball.



I called my Mom, who is 79, yesterday after I heard of Rapid Rob's passing. I said "Mom, I just heard about Bob Feller passing and I thought of you." There was a pause on the line - "Yes. God Bless Him, He was quite a man." We talked awhile longer and I asked her about seeing him pitch in the '48 series. She reminded me about how he lost the 1st game 1-0 after carrying a 1 hitter into the bottom of the 8th. She then added that he lost game 5 as well giving up 7 runs. The indians lost two games that series (the second and as of now last WS they would win) and Bob Feller started both of them.



We talked about the first game she ever took me to - Opening Day 1976, when Frank Robinson became the first African-American Manger in baseball. And we talked some more about Bob Feller.



"Did you know he signed up for the Navy the day after Pearl Harbor got bombed?"



Yeah, I knew. And I knew pretty much everything else about the legend of Bob Feller. I knew about how they timed his fastball against a speeding car. I knew that some say he threw as fast as 107 MPH. I knew that he actually didn't really like the nickname Rapid Robert. I knew about the no-hitters and the strikeouts and I knew about how many of both he likely lost to his military service, along with the countless wins that he didn't get to record. I knew he was only a 17 year old farmboy from Iowa when he made his debut for the Indians in 1936.



But most of all I knew what he meant to my mother. He was what was beautiful to her about baseball. He was the person that made her love it so. As for my father, he came on the phone after my mother said goodnight and said "You know he never liked it when people tried to call him a war hero. He said heroes didn't come back from the war so he was no hero." But of course he was - he was a baseball hero.



I personally don't think it's by accident that Mr. Feller passed away in the year that Cleveland fans mourned the loss of their modern day hero, Lebron James. He probably didn't like "The Decision" any more than any other Cleveland fan. If you believe in a higher power, than just perhaps he was letting us all reflect on who the real hero of Cleveland always was and always will be. Nice work on Feller. I would encourage you to reread what you wrote and give some thought to what a great mom you have to. Good for you.

[Winston's Empire]

Agree! Great story and Mom Ryan!