Pictures in this series of posts have been of Cubs players (or other people connected with the Cubs). Bob Feller is neither, but he was at the Convention several times, promoting his museum in his hometown of Van Meter, Iowa (just off I-80 at exit 113),1 and you can’t not include a picture of him (even if it isn’t the best picture in the world).
I’m not sure how much most baseball fans know about Bob Feller today, but I am pretty sure it’s not enough. I’m not going to go into a long story. Let me just mention a few things:
- Bob Feller was, along with Jackie Robinson, one of the first two men elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot since the very first ballot in 1936. He got 93.8% of the votes.
- He won 266 games, even though he missed almost four full seasons, when he was ages 24 to 27, while serving in the Navy. He enlisted on December 9, 1941, the first professional athlete to enlist.
- He threw three no-hitters, including the only no-hitter on Opening Day in 1940 (against the White Sox), and twelve one-hitters.
- Only two pitchers have ever struck out a number of batters equal to their age. It was amazing when Kerry Wood struck out 20 at age 20 in 1998. It may have been even more amazing when Bob Feller struck out 17 at age 17 in 1936.
- LeBron James had high school basketball games broadcast on TV. Bob Feller's high school graduation was broadcast on national radio.
Here is Bob Feller at the 2006 Convention (when he was 87):
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1 The museum is now located inside the Van Meter City Hall.
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