{"id":10285,"date":"2010-12-19T20:50:25","date_gmt":"2010-12-20T03:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=10285"},"modified":"2010-12-21T16:16:56","modified_gmt":"2010-12-21T23:16:56","slug":"remembering-rapid-robert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/19\/remembering-rapid-robert\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering “Rapid Robert”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The numbers are staggering:\u00c2\u00a0 266 victories, over 3,800 innings\u00c2\u00a0pitched, 279 complete games, twelve one-hitters–all while missing nearly four seasons\u00c2\u00a0due to military service.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, he was also a World War II hero (gun captain on the USS Alabama), World Series champion, and an eventual\u00c2\u00a0baseball Hall of Famer.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0When I first heard\u00c2\u00a0about the death of legendary pitcher Bob Feller last week, I immediately thought, ‘Man–there<\/em> was a guy who did it ALL.’\u00c2\u00a0 He was a cherished sports icon in Cleveland, for sure; elsewhere, he was sometimes\u00c2\u00a0thought of as being a bit\u00c2\u00a0stuffy, grumpy, and a bit full of himself.\u00c2\u00a0 One thing was never debated, though:\u00c2\u00a0 the man could flat-out PITCH like few others EVER have.<\/p>\n

I look back on Feller’s 1946 season with Cleveland and just say ‘Wow.’\u00c2\u00a0 People were wondering before Feller’s first start that year if the guy\u00c2\u00a0could ever be a dominant starting pitcher again.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, he HAD pitched effectively in nine games\u00c2\u00a0after returning from the service in 1945, but the question still\u00c2\u00a0remained:\u00c2\u00a0 Could he ever shake off the extended\u00c2\u00a0military-stay “rust” and be a 20-25 game winner once\u00c2\u00a0again?\u00c2\u00a0 Feller’s answer:\u00c2\u00a0 26 wins, 36 complete games, 371<\/em> innings (you read that correctly) and 348 strikeouts.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, Bob Feller never DID have a problem answering critics throughout his lifetime.\u00c2\u00a0 And when he spoke, he made SURE he was heard.<\/p>\n

I met Bob Feller for the only time\u00c2\u00a0back in 1980 at\u00c2\u00a0a West\u00c2\u00a0Haven Whitecaps (Eastern League) game; he was there\u00c2\u00a0during a promotional tour–available to sign\u00c2\u00a0autographs for the first few innings.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0I was in college\u00c2\u00a0at the time and was keenly aware of the man’s legendary status–mostly due to my Dad having always\u00c2\u00a0told me that Feller and Sandy Koufax\u00c2\u00a0were the best pitchers he’d ever seen (ironically, my Dad knew the woman who’d later\u00c2\u00a0become\u00c2\u00a0Feller’s second wife–Anne Gilliland–and carried her books to school on occasion as a youth).\u00c2\u00a0 I just\u00c2\u00a0HAD to get a ball signed by him that evening; it’s not\u00c2\u00a0often that you’re in the company of true\u00c2\u00a0baseball royalty.\u00c2\u00a0 I had also known that Mr. Feller could be a bit stand-offish and gruff; how would he react when I reached the front of the line?\u00c2\u00a0 Should I say something?\u00c2\u00a0 What<\/em> would I say?\u00c2\u00a0 When I finally\u00c2\u00a0handed him the ball to be signed, I recall nervously saying, “Mr. Feller, it’s an honor to meet you–and my father STILL\u00c2\u00a0says you’re the best pitcher he’s ever seen.”\u00c2\u00a0 I remember him\u00c2\u00a0replying something like, “Thank you,\u00c2\u00a0kid–was your father a Cleveland fan?”\u00c2\u00a0 I think I was too nervous to answer at that point and my friend,\u00c2\u00a0Bob–who accompanied me to the game–proceeded to engage in some small talk with the legend.\u00c2\u00a0 It didn’t take long\u00c2\u00a0for Feller to realize that we were true baseball fanatics as\u00c2\u00a0my friend and I\u00c2\u00a0proceeded to start\u00c2\u00a0reeling off\u00c2\u00a0some famous Indians over the years.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Then, while exchanging handshakes, our jaws nearly dropped\u00c2\u00a0when\u00c2\u00a0Feller said, “When I’m done here, boys, I’ll come look for you in the stands and we’ll talk more baseball.”\u00c2\u00a0 I didn’t fall down\/pass out\u00c2\u00a0at the time–but I know I came close.\u00c2\u00a0 Would baseball Hall of Famer Bob Feller REALLY\u00c2\u00a0seek\u00c2\u00a0us<\/em> out and spend some time with US?\u00c2\u00a0 I had my doubts as we returned to our usual,\u00c2\u00a0behind-the plate bench seats.<\/p>\n

Two innings later–almost inconspicuously–Feller and an aide entered the ballpark seating area; we waved at him and he simply pointed back at us.\u00c2\u00a0 Without hesitation, he walked up the stairs and took a seat next to us; yeah, the game suddenly\u00c2\u00a0became secondary.\u00c2\u00a0 I kept thinking\/wondering:\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0So THIS\u00c2\u00a0is the ornery, uncooperative man with the questionable personality?\u00c2\u00a0 I didn’t see it–not THAT night.\u00c2\u00a0 I recall us\u00c2\u00a0talking about some modern-day players, how the game has changed over the years, then finally asking him who was\u00c2\u00a0the toughest hitter he ever faced.\u00c2\u00a0 He replied, “Ted Williams was the best hitter–but DiMaggio and Tommy Henrich always gave me<\/em> more trouble.”\u00c2\u00a0 After another few minutes of stimulating\u00c2\u00a0conversation among ‘the three Bobs’\u00c2\u00a0(he also talked about his military record–which he took great\u00c2\u00a0pride in), Feller excused himself–lamenting, “Well, guys, I have a flight to catch–a pleasure meeting you.”\u00c2\u00a0 The autographed ball is still displayed in my bedroom; I gaze at it from time to time and remember\u00c2\u00a0that special\u00c2\u00a0conversation from 30 years ago.\u00c2\u00a0 Yeah–I always smile.<\/p>\n

My Monday Night Sports Talk <\/em>co-host Tony DeAngelo on Feller:\u00c2\u00a0 “I had to laugh when he (Feller)\u00c2\u00a0went to the Baseball Encyclopedia<\/span> once and asked them to put In the Service of our Country<\/em> next to the\u00c2\u00a0names of players\u00c2\u00a0who missed time\u00c2\u00a0during the war; they told him it would be\u00c2\u00a0an ‘inconvenience’ to do so.\u00c2\u00a0 Feller then\u00c2\u00a0remarked ‘Inconvenience?\u00c2\u00a0 What do you think it was for me <\/strong>getting bombed and shot at on an aircraft carrier every day?’\u00c2\u00a0 And this came\u00c2\u00a0from a man who did his\u00c2\u00a0running and throwing\u00c2\u00a0on the boat between attacks.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes–what an inspiration for those who will choose to\u00c2\u00a0listen.”<\/p>\n

Yeah, I guess there was only ONE Bob Feller–“Bullet Bob” back in the day.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Again, many fans\/colleagues\u00c2\u00a0didn’t care for the man due to his disdain for the modern-day player (he consider them spoiled–and hadn’t earned<\/em> what they reaped); they also considered Feller egotistical–on the verge of being boisterous.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes,\u00c2\u00a0perhaps it came down to which Bob Feller you met on a particular day.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m just\u00c2\u00a0glad I was able to meet the Bob Feller who simply\u00c2\u00a0enjoyed talking baseball with two “pie-eyed” young men on a summer evening\u00c2\u00a0a few decades\u00c2\u00a0ago.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ll prefer to\u00c2\u00a0remember him in a positive\u00c2\u00a0way the rest of my life, too.<\/p>\n

Rest in peace, “Rapid Robert.”<\/p>\n

Bob Lazzari is an award-winning sports columnist for both Connecticut\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/em>Valley Times<\/em> and NY Sports Day<\/a>, where his \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sports Roundup\u00e2\u20ac\u009d column is featured weekly. He is a member of the Connecticut Sports Writers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Alliance and host of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Monday Night Sports Talk<\/a>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a cable television show on CTV\/Channel 14 in Connecticut.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The numbers are staggering:\u00c2\u00a0 266 victories, over 3,800 innings\u00c2\u00a0pitched, 279 complete games, twelve one-hitters–all while missing nearly four seasons\u00c2\u00a0due to military service.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, he was also a World War II hero (gun captain on the USS Alabama), World Series champion, and an eventual\u00c2\u00a0baseball Hall of Famer.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0When I first heard\u00c2\u00a0about the death of legendary pitcher Bob […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":730,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4235],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-top-stories"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/730"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10285\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}