Is this Iowa? No, it's Heaven.
(Props to Don)
Or
Signing Off
(More whoop whoop for Don)
Prolific autographer Bob Feller has continued the exodus of Cleveland’s athletes, succumbing to leukemia and pneumonia at the age of 92. A high school star in Van Meter, Iowa, Feller joined the Indians essentially as a summer intern in 1936, but instead of getting coffee and filing paperwork, he struck out 15 batters in his major league debut, then 17 more 3 weeks later. After the season, he went back to high school for his senior year, where he was greeted by the governor of Iowa, although these days the governor of Iowa opens malls, so it’s not all that impressive. His graduation the following spring being broadcast on NBC Radio – and you thought they were desperate for programming with 5 hours of Jay Leno in primetime. Feller racked up his 100th win at age 22, en route to 266 wins in an 18-year, with 3 no-hitters and 12 one-hitters. He enlisted in the Navy two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, ignoring the deferment he could have requested as the supporter of his family and costing himself 4 years and possibly 100 wins, while earning 8 battle stars for combat in the Pacific and North Atlantic. Like many Cleveland athletes, he did his best to prevent a championship for the Mistake by the Lake, losing twice in the 1948 World Series, but the Indians overcame him and won their last title to date. Despite signing his first contract for $1 and a ball autographed by the 1936 Indians, he was one of the first players to earn $100,000 a year, adding bonuses for increases in attendance on days he pitched and supplementing his income with barnstorming tours against Negro Leaguers, and in 1950, he helped the players’ union develop its first pension plan. He and Jackie Robinson were inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, the first players inducted in their first year of eligibility since the inaugural class in 1939. In his retirement, he redefined himself as a cranky codger, denouncing players accused of taking steroids, relief pitching, greedy owners and players, Pete Rose for lying about betting on baseball, the decision to let Vietnam draft dodger Muhammad Ali throw out the first pitch at the 2004 All-Star Game, the United States for not using enough force in Iraq, and the media for preparing Stephen Strasburg’s Hall of Fame plaque before he’d made his 13th start, which at the current pace, might come in April 2012. Still, he could bring it, donning an Indians jersey last summer at the age of 90 and pitching to three batters in the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame Classic.
Or
Signing Off
(More whoop whoop for Don)
Prolific autographer Bob Feller has continued the exodus of Cleveland’s athletes, succumbing to leukemia and pneumonia at the age of 92. A high school star in Van Meter, Iowa, Feller joined the Indians essentially as a summer intern in 1936, but instead of getting coffee and filing paperwork, he struck out 15 batters in his major league debut, then 17 more 3 weeks later. After the season, he went back to high school for his senior year, where he was greeted by the governor of Iowa, although these days the governor of Iowa opens malls, so it’s not all that impressive. His graduation the following spring being broadcast on NBC Radio – and you thought they were desperate for programming with 5 hours of Jay Leno in primetime. Feller racked up his 100th win at age 22, en route to 266 wins in an 18-year, with 3 no-hitters and 12 one-hitters. He enlisted in the Navy two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, ignoring the deferment he could have requested as the supporter of his family and costing himself 4 years and possibly 100 wins, while earning 8 battle stars for combat in the Pacific and North Atlantic. Like many Cleveland athletes, he did his best to prevent a championship for the Mistake by the Lake, losing twice in the 1948 World Series, but the Indians overcame him and won their last title to date. Despite signing his first contract for $1 and a ball autographed by the 1936 Indians, he was one of the first players to earn $100,000 a year, adding bonuses for increases in attendance on days he pitched and supplementing his income with barnstorming tours against Negro Leaguers, and in 1950, he helped the players’ union develop its first pension plan. He and Jackie Robinson were inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, the first players inducted in their first year of eligibility since the inaugural class in 1939. In his retirement, he redefined himself as a cranky codger, denouncing players accused of taking steroids, relief pitching, greedy owners and players, Pete Rose for lying about betting on baseball, the decision to let Vietnam draft dodger Muhammad Ali throw out the first pitch at the 2004 All-Star Game, the United States for not using enough force in Iraq, and the media for preparing Stephen Strasburg’s Hall of Fame plaque before he’d made his 13th start, which at the current pace, might come in April 2012. Still, he could bring it, donning an Indians jersey last summer at the age of 90 and pitching to three batters in the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame Classic.
Labels: baseball, Hall of Fame
posted by The Grim Reaper at 10:58 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home