When he signed his first contract, he received one dollar and an autographed baseball. He went straight to the majors – no minor leagues at all. He played for Cleveland, because that’s where he wanted to play. Stayed there his whole career.
Hall of Famer Bob Feller
Bob Feller lived in that era when everyone had to have a nickname, so he was Blazin’ Bob or Rapid Robert. He had a fastball learned on the Iowa farm where his family built a baseball diamond in a cornfield. He is one of only two in baseball history to strike out their age – Feller fanned 17 batters in a game when he was at that tender age. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962, having spent his entire career with the Indians.
Bob Feller died last night, age 92. Although he enjoyed good health most of his life, he began a decline this past year, and contracted pneumonia earlier this month.
In an age when baseball players follow the dollar, rarely staying with a single team, Bob Feller is one of the last of his kind. He was a world champion, in 1948, the last time the Cleveland Indians won the pennant, shortly after he returned from serving his country during World War Two.
Baseball fans of an age will remember Bob Feller. Cleveland will never forget him. Americans should admire a man whose convictions and patriotism were never compromised as he fought like a man for his country and played with boyish spirit the game of baseball.