RIP WWII SHIPMATE Legend has it that the first time Yogi ever faced the flame throwin' pitcher from Cleveland, Feller's first pitch was a called strike by the Ump. Yogi stepped out of the batters box and asked Blue where that was. Offended, the Ump raised his mask and said, "Right down the pipe". Yogi then said, "Oh, it sounded low."
R.I.P. RAPID ROBERT!! Saw him pitch at Old Boston Braves Field 1948 World Series...on of the very best!
I'll bet you are the only guy here who actually saw him pitch, did you see Early Wynn and Bob Lemon as well Joel? I was suprised to learn that he didn't win 300 games though.
When Washington's Stephen Strasburg made his second start in Cleveland, Feller refused to get caught up in the hype. "Check back with me when he's won 100 games," he said.
Like a lot of players of his era he lost 4 years to WWII. In the years 1942 - 1945 he only pitched 72 innings, all in 1945 and only won 5 games. In Feller's case that was right at the peak of his career. In the years 1939-1941 and 1946-1947 he won 121 games. Losing the 3 whole years and most of 1945 probably cost him 80 wins and over a 1,000 strikeouts. He was a heck of a player. RIP Rapid Robert Feller Robert Feller Career Record
My dad told me that when Feller was a rookie he piched against the Cardinals in a barn storming spring training game. Leo Durocher came up and the game was getting late and the sun was down. No lights of course. The first pitch was called a strike. The Lip stepped out, took a book of matches out of his pocket, lit one and held it if front of him. The ump asked if he was questioning the strike call. Durocher replied " I know you can see the ball. I want to be damn sure that kid can see me!"
Joel did you ever see Herb Score pitch before the Gil McDougal incident? Wasn't he supposed to be the next Bob Feller?
They say only the best players rate a nickname and Bob Feller had three: Rapid Robert Bullet Bob The Heater from Van Meter He was the one and only legit teenage star in the history of a game that has been played at the highest level since 1876; the same year as Custer's Last Stand. His first year, at age 17, was supposed to be his senior year in high school, but after striking out eight of nine St. Louis players in an exhibition, they brought him right up. He created fear where ever he went and today's LA Times quotes Ted Williams as saying that he always spent THREE DAYS thinking about facing Feller whenever he knew that part of the Cleveland rotation was coming up. Ralph Kiner said, "He was as fast as Nolan Ryan, but with a better curveball." Even after all these years and even in slow motion, there's an undeniable "Oh my God" feeling to watching Rapid Robert fire his fastball... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e765xy7LDvI
Never saw Herb Score pitch but grew up listening to him...one of the best and classiest play-by-play guys ever.
To me the most remarkable thing about him was the control he had right from his first start. (I beleive he struck out 15 in his first MLBB game.) I remember Ryan when he came up with the Mets. He had serious control problems his first few years. If he'd been half as controled as Feller, the idiot Mets would never have traded him for Jim Fregosi.
Sandy Koufax could find home plate with a map for years but when he did find it he had pinpoint control to the end.