Bob Feller, From Phenom To WWII Anti Aircraft Gunner To ‘The Greatest Pitcher I Ever Saw’

Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller, a 266-game winner, someone who once threw 343 and 371.1 innings in back-to-back seasons -- for comparison’s sake, Roy Halladay led baseball in 2010 with 250.2 IP -- and struck out 2581 batters over an 18-year career, died Wednesday night, succumbing to his battle with acute leukemia. He was 92 years old.

Feller’s career began in 1936, at the age of 17. To put that in perspective, Feller made his first major league start on Aug. 23 -- striking out a then record 15 batters -- and then when the season ended, returned for his senior year of high school. More on Feller from Northern Ohio Journal columnist Jim Ingraham (via Rob Neyer):

The year he was born, Alexander Graham Bell was still alive. So were Wyatt Earp and Orville Wright.

When Feller debuted in Van Meter, Iowa, Christy Mathewson was still alive. So were Honus Wagner, Napoleon Lajoie, and Cy Young.

Ty Cobb? Not only was he still alive, he was STILL PLAYING!

As a 17-year-old rookie with the Indians in 1936, Feller needed a place to live. Cy Slapnicka, the scout who signed him, found a room for him in a boarding house in Cleveland. One of Feller’s fellow-boarders in the house had fought in the war -- the Civil War.

Feller’s on-the-field numbers were of course impressive -- 266 wins, six 20+ win seasons, 2581 strikeouts, led the league in strikeouts seven times -- but it was his off the field accomplishments that truly defined him (from John Sickels, manager of our Minor League Ball blog, and author of a Bob Feller biography, “Bob Feller: Ace of the Greatest Generatio”):

Feller’s activities off the field were just as intriguing as the ones on the field. He volunteered for the Navy two days after Pearl Harbor, even though he had a draft exemption and wasn’t required to serve. He further volunteered for combat duty, serving as an anti aircraft gunner aboard the battleship Alabama. He was an extremely active barnstormer, and his activities with barnstorming against Negro League players helped set the stage for integration. He was the first player to incorporate, and was the most aggressive player of his generation in regards to endorsements, something which rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

More from Sickels:

I can’t say I knew him well on a personal basis, but I talked with him enough to see both sides of his personality. Feller’s persona dominated any room. He could be very pleasant, gracious, honest, and kind. He could also be irascible, tactless, prideful, and abrasive. Sometimes he was all of these things at the same time. When I introduced my then-five year old son Nicholas to him, he said “hello” very kindly to my son, shook his hand, then commented somewhat grumpily to me and my wife, “he’s a cute kid, but needs a haircut.”

There’s much to be said about a man who lived to be 92, was one of baseball’s best pitchers ever and volunteered for WWII. But maybe Ted Williams said it best: “Bob Feller’s the greatest pitcher I ever saw.”