The Leader of The Tribe: Bob Feller The Greatest Right Handed Pitcher Of All Time Is Dead at the Age of 92

BLACK BUZZ SPORTS NEWS SERVICE
Special Report
Cleveland Ohio
December 21, 2010
(BBSNS)

CLEVELAND (BBSNS) Bob " Rapid Robert" Feller the greatest right handed pitcher in baseball history is dead at the age of 92 after suffering with acute leukemia. Not only was Feller a great pitcher but he was true American hero who was the first Major League baseball player to enlist in the U.S. Armed forces after Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. On December 8, 1941 Mr. Feller enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and he served as a gun captain on the USS Alabama, earning several battle commendations and medals.
Can you imagine any of the professional prima donnas of today going into the armed forces for 4 years? The Navy wanted to use him as a GI sportsman and pitch in exhibition games for the troops but the "Fireballer" Feller chose to be assigned to a real Navy ship that went to war.
Mr. Feller won 266 games in 18 seasons all with the Cleveland Indians, and he took four years off to fight for the war cause.Feller led the American League in victories six times and strikeouts seven times, and he had six 20-win seasons. In 1946 Mr. Feller had 36 complete games, exactly half as many as the National League in 2010, which is the latest "Year of the Pitcher.
Feller had 2,581 career strikeouts, 12 one hitters, 3 no hitters. And Mr. Feller is the only pitcher in Major League history to pitch a Opening day no hitter, and he accomplished that feat on Opening Day in April 1940.
Ted Williams, who many baseball experts consider the greatest hitter in Major League history stated that Feller was the toughest pitcher he ever faced.

The Cleveland Indians signed Feller for $1 in 1936. And he made his first mound appearance with the Indians in 1937 and as a 17 year old, he struck out 15 St. Louis Browns. A few weeks later Feller by the fireball er struck out 17 tying Dizzy Dean's modern record for strikeouts in a game. When the season ended Feller went back to finish high school.
kickFeller had an excellent curve ball and he threw aspirin tablets on every pitch. Feller also had that high leg , which was copied by the Giants great Hall of famer Juan Marchial.
The American League also had the best hitters in the 1930's and 1940's. They had the great "Bimbino" Babe Ruth, the "Iron man Lou Gehrig, the great Joe DiMaggio, and the great Ted Williams.
The National League only started to catch-up to the American League in stardom and hitting prowess when they started signing the great talented players from the Negro Leagues such as Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Sam Jethroe, Willie Mays, Monte Irvin, Hank Thompson, Orlando Cepeda, Hank Aaron, Wes Covington, Billy Bruton, Ernie Banks, Frank Robinson, Vada Pinson, and the great Roberto Clemente. The three National League teams that dominated the 1950's the Braves, Dodgers and Giants also had the cream of the crop in Black ball players. And the National League had a strict quota system on the number of Black ball players that were permitted to make said clubs. The National basically dominated the All Star games between 1950 to 1987 winning 33 out of 42 with one tie because the National League had great Afro-Americans, and Afro-Puerto Ricans on their rosters. The All star game was made for "Sey Hey Kid" Willie Mays who I consider as the greatest baseball player in history, and the great Roberto Clemente. If the Giants had stayed in New York City Willie Mays may have hit 790 home runs. Candlestick Park in San Francisco robbed Willie Mays of least 100 home runs.

Feller was the leader of the "Famous Tribe" which also featured two other Hall of fame rs Early Wynn and Bob Lemon along with the great Mike Garcia.
Rapid Robert threw the second fastest pitch ever officially recorded, at 107.6 mph,in a game at Griffith Stadium, but the machinery was no where near as accurate as it was when Nolan Ryan threw 100.7 mph.
Also note to the best of my knowledge Satchel Page was never recorded when he was fastest on a modern machine.
Note I have excluded the great Negro Pitchers from this discussion. I do recognize that some of the Negro League pitchers may have been just as good as "Rapid Robert."
Feller was also instrumental in easing Larry Doby's integration to the Cleveland Indians. And Doby's transition to the Major Leagues wasn't as racially hostile as the great Jackie Robinson, but the racial climate was horrible in each Major League City in both the National and the American League.
Mr. Feller also advocated playing against the Negro League stars and he couldn't understand why the Negro ball players were excluded from playing in the Major Leagues.
Bob Feller was just an innocent Iowa farm boy whose parents did an outstanding job of raising him to be a great human being.
*When you think of sports in Cleveland the first name that comes to mind is Bob Feller in baseball and the great Otto Graham in football.