From 25-game winner to naval hero
A model of this story initially ran in December 2021, on the eightieth anniversary of Bob Feller enlisting within the Navy.
By the age of 21, Bob Feller had gone from small-town Iowa farm boy to teenaged pitching sensation to one of many prime hurlers in Major League Baseball, however that was solely the start of his unimaginable odyssey.
In 1941, on the peak of his profession, a 23-year-old Feller determined to step away from the sport to defend his nation in World War II.
Today marks the anniversary of the date Feller enlisted within the United States Navy, changing into the primary American skilled athlete to volunteer for World War II. In honor of his heroism, let’s have a look again on the occasions surrounding Feller’s choice in addition to his subsequent return to baseball to place the ending touches on a Hall of Fame profession.
The Heater from Van Meter
Feller’s skilled baseball profession was atypical from the very begin.
Born within the small city of Van Meter, Iowa, the right-hander signed with Cleveland for $1 and an autographed baseball in 1936, when he was nonetheless in highschool. Armed with a blazing fastball that earned him the nicknames “The Heater from Van Meter,” “Bullet Bob” and “Rapid Robert,” Feller went on to the Majors and was a rookie star on the age of 17 for the Indians, putting out 15 batters in his first large league begin, 10 in his fourth and 17 in his fifth.
Cleveland almost misplaced Feller after the 1936 season because of protests from different groups — together with an impartial membership in Des Moines, Iowa, that contended its scouts had initially found Feller — claiming his deal violated the foundations governing the signing of novice gamers. (At the time, baseball guidelines prohibited Major League groups from signing amateurs to contracts earlier than they performed a Minor League recreation. Feller’s preliminary deal was technically with the Indians-affiliated Fargo-Moorhead Twins, however he was transferred from Fargo-Moorhead to the New Orleans Pelicans and finally Cleveland with out taking part in within the Minors, thus the controversy.)
Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis may have made Feller a free agent, however the teenager wished to stick with Cleveland, and Feller’s father threatened to sue if Landis didn’t enable it. Landis in the end dominated that Feller may stay with the membership, which needed to pay a $7,500 tremendous to the Des Moines membership.
Thereafter, Feller blossomed into one of many recreation’s finest and most sturdy pitchers, going 76-33 with 767 Ok’s in 960 innings from 1939-41. In 1940, he threw the primary of his three profession no-hitters, firing the one Opening Day no-no in AL/NL historical past.
But after a 1941 season during which he led the Majors in wins (25), innings (343) and strikeouts (260), every thing modified for Feller.
Enlisting in World War II
Dec. 7, 1941, is “a date which will live in infamy,” as President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously put it after Japan launched a shock navy strike upon the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii.
It’s additionally the day Feller determined to enlist within the armed forces, stepping away from baseball to battle for his nation in World War II, which the U.S. joined on Dec. 8 after beforehand taking a impartial stance.
“I was on my way to meet with the general manager of the Cleveland Indians to sign my 1942 contract the day of Pearl Harbor,” Feller instructed ESPN in 2009, one 12 months earlier than he handed away on the age of 92. “It was about noon; I had the radio on in the car and had just crossed the river into Quad Cities when I got the news. That was it. I had planned on joining the Navy as soon as the war broke out. Everybody knew that we were going to get in it sooner or later and that was the day.”
On Dec. 9, Feller enlisted within the U.S. Navy. He didn’t should; he was eligible for deferment as a result of his father was terminally ailing, however he wished to hitch the battle.
“It was a war that had to be won,” Feller mentioned. “I needed to join the Navy. If you ask the people in Europe who won World War II, they don’t say the Allies, they say the United States won the war and saved the world. Now, I’m no hero — heroes don’t come home from war, survivors return from wars. I’m very lucky, you know that.”
Feller was assigned to the USS Alabama, aboard which he served as a gun captain. During his service, he performed baseball for the Naval Station Norfolk and Great Lakes groups and saved his arm in form by taking part in catch aboard the ship.
Feller was discharged from the Navy on Aug. 22, 1945, incomes six marketing campaign ribbons and eight battle stars. Two days later, he donned his acquainted No. 19 and took the mound for Cleveland as soon as once more, firing an entire recreation with 12 strikeouts in a 4-2 win over the Tigers, who would go on to win the World Series.
The subsequent 12 months, on the age of 27, Feller turned in what was arguably his most interesting season, posting private bests in ERA (2.18), innings (371 1/3), strikeouts (348), full video games (36) and shutouts (10) and successful 26 video games. Altogether, he appeared in 11 seasons after the conflict.
Feller misplaced three complete seasons and most of a fourth because of his navy service. In his three seasons previous to enlisting, he averaged 25 wins, 320 innings and 256 strikeouts, so it’s doable he left 90-plus wins, 900-plus strikeouts and 1,200-plus innings on the desk, to not point out a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars}. With these additional years, Feller simply would have reached the illustrious 300-win and three,000-strikeout marks.
But regardless of on a regular basis misplaced, Feller was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first poll alongside Jackie Robinson in 1962. And whereas his navy detour prevented him from attaining statistical milestones few pitchers have reached, Feller wasn’t lamenting his choice when he seemed again on his service in an interview with creator Alan Schwarz for the 2006 guide, “Once Upon a Game: Baseball’s Greatest Memories.”
“A lot of folks say that had I not missed those almost four seasons to World War II during what was probably my physical prime I might have had 370 or even 400 wins,” mentioned Feller. “But I’ve no regrets. None in any respect. I did what any American may and may do: serve his nation in its time of want. The world’s time of want.
“I knew then, and I know today, that winning World War II was the most important thing to happen to this country in the last 100 years. I’m just glad I was a part of it. I was only a gun captain on the battleship Alabama for 34 months. People have called me a hero for that, but I’ll tell you this — heroes don’t come home. Survivors come home.”
