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LEVELAND -- The Cleveland Indians say Hall of Fame Bob Feller has died. He was 92.


Bob Feller's numbers are spectacular, but they don't tell you everything you need to know about one of the best pitchers of all time, writes Tim Kurkjian. Story

Feller, the winningest pitcher in club history and one of baseball's greatest right-handers, died at 9:15 p.m. Wednesday night of acute leukemia at a hospice where he had been moved in recent weeks, said Bob DiBiasio, the Indians vice president of public relations.

Feller had been in failing health for months. He was diagnosed with leukemia this summer and underwent surgery to have a pacemaker installed.

"Bob was that rare man, whose legend and feats were matched by his intellect, strength and substance," said Indians president Mark Shapiro. " He was inspirational as a competitor and even more so as a man. I was privileged to have known him and each time I visited with him, he reinforced my passion for baseball and my appreciation of the Indians' heritage."

"Rapid Robert" won 266 games in 18 seasons for the Indians.

RIP Mr Feller.

Great, Hall of Fame pitcher .... And he was an even better man.

RIP Mr Feller.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/story/14447735/cleveland-loses-a-true-rare-legend-in-feller

Cleveland loses a true, rare legend in Feller - MLB - CBSSports.com Baseball

Bob Feller always seemed larger than life, as if he had just stepped off the screen from one of those old John Wayne or Clint Eastwood films.

He was a big man with a big career and big opinions. He never shrank from the mound, nor from throwing a fastball when he thought the situation called for it -- on or off the field.

In recent years, until his death on Wednesday night at the age of 92, you wanted straight talk from the Greatest Generation about today's game, Feller was a go-to guy.
In earlier years, until his retirement in 1956 following a war-interrupted 20-year career during which he went 266-162 with a 3.25 ERA, you needed to win a game, same thing.

Feller was one of the last links to Cleveland's last World Series title, way back in 1948. He was also one of the last links to the time before political correctness pervaded this country.

Forgive Pete Rose and install him into Cooperstown? Feller knew of at least one Hall of Famer who would boycott all future induction ceremonies if that were to happen: Himself.

He won 17 games as a 17-year-old rookie in 1936 and 24 games the next season (sophomore jinx? What sophomore jinx?).

He fired three career no-hitters, collected 107 victories by the time he was 23, then enlisted in the Navy. He lost most of the next four seasons to World War II, then came back in 1946 and went 26-15 with 371 1/3 innings pitched.

Yes, 371.

If he seemed a little grumpy in recent years regarding the modern pitcher and lowered expectations, well, he had earned every right to be grumpy.

Feller was born in Iowa, but he was pure Cleveland. Which was one of the best things about him, and one of the things so many of us will miss the most. The days of a retired player being identified with one city are slowly fading away, like video rental outlets and typewriters.

When Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia are 92, on which city's baseball issues will they be able to speak with authority?

Feller lived in Cleveland, wore the Indians uniform while signing autographs each spring at training camp and watched game after game each summer from a perch in the third row of the Cleveland press box.

If you were there covering a game, it was like having one of the gods atop Mt. Olympus right behind you.

Last time I spoke with him, he was there in a crammed press box -- rare, sadly, in recent days in Cleveland -- on a Sunday afternoon in mid-June watching the game's latest phenom, Washington's Stephen Strasburg, making only his second major-league start.

"He's got a good career coming up," Feller told me that day. "I understand he's very affable but very quiet. He'll probably be tougher on right-handers than on left-handers. He's two or three miles an hour slower when he's got men on base. I noticed that today. But that's typical. That's not unusual."

Feller pointed out that "he'll probably have half-a-dozen hitters or so who he can't get out. We all have that." Among his own, Feller said, were Tommy Henrich and Nellie Fox.

Even then, closing in on 92, he appeared larger than life. When I double-checked his height while writing this farewell, I was surprised that he stood only 6-feet. I could have sworn he was at least 6-3, 6-4.

It was his accomplishments on the field, his wartime service, the way he carried himself.

He was from an age when men left baseball to fight in wars ... and of an age that afforded him a perspective wholly different than what we have today.

To us, he was Rapid Robert, or Bullet Bob.

Who knew through all these years that he never much cared for either nickname?

"I don't like any of them that much, to be honest," he told Dennis Manoloff of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer during an interview last spring. "To me, Bullet Bob is Bullet Bob Turley (who won the Cy Young award in 1958).
"Rapid Robert is the most popular, but I don't care for it. Anne, my wife, doesn't like it either. I prefer to be called Bob. If they call me Rapid Robert, well, so be it."

So be it. By the time a life very well lived was finished, he had long since belonged to the ages.

At that point, the little things sort of get beyond a guy's control, don't they?

True icon on the field and hero off the field.

RIP Mr Feller.

R.I.P. Mr.Feller

RIP...... Mr. Feller

We Love ya & will miss you...

A great loss indeed...RIP Bullet Bob.

RIP Mr. Feller.

RIP Mr. Feller, I had the chance to meet him and talk to him a few time's what a great man he was, He will be missed

one of the great things about Bob Feller is that almost everyone has a Bob Feller story. Here's mine:


When I was a kid, Bob Feller had an autograph session at Drug-Mart (or Walgreen's one of those convenience stores). The line was long and we went after church, so we were near the back of it.

After an hour, an employee comes out and tells us that Bob's hand is cramping and he's not going to be able to sign anymore. Dejected, we start to walk away as Bob Feller walks out. He told everyone he felt horrible that his hand wouldn't cooperate. Next thing you knew, he was sitting there in a lawn chair that was on display outside the store and telling stories about the '48 season, the best pitcher he ever saw (Satchel), the toughest hitter he had to face (Mantle) and anything else anyone ever wanted to ask or whatever tangent he wanted to go. Great times, great stories.

RIP Mr. Feller, you will be missed.

one of a kind.

my grandfather is in his late 70's, heard the indians win the world series on the radio of the football locker room at st ignatius, and the only guy i have ever heard him really be blown away by meeting was bob feller a few years ago. he saw him in the grocery store, bob approached him with a conversation about st ignatius, and went into fanboy mode. my grandfather has never been like that. he's about 6'3" 6'4" and is about as intimidating as it gets.

cleveland fans should really celebrate what bob feller meant to cleveland, because the way things are going with baseball, you will never have an icon like that ever again.

R.I.P. Bob.

To me, Bob was the last link between pure baseball, and modern baseball.


A true childhood hero for me.



Sorry to see a era end.

RIP......we lost the man, but retain a 'Legend'.

Gods speed Mr. Feller.....some how I can see you in the starting line up in Heaven.

A true sports legend. RIP.

RIP Bob. My mom actually babysat for his kids several times when she visited relatives in the summers of 52 and 53. She was a tomboy and a diehard Indians fan, and loved telling this story. Bob fixed her up with lots of autographed photos and cards from the early 50's Indians. Unfortunately, she glued them all into a notebook, really hurting their monetary value.

Excerpt from the NY Times here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/sports/baseball/16feller.html

“I don’t think anyone is ever going to throw a ball faster than he does,” Joe DiMaggio was quoted as saying during his epic 1941 season, when he hit in a record 56 consecutive games. “And his curveball isn’t human.”


RIP, Bob Feller.

My uncle dated his daughter back in the day..I had the chance to go to his house for a fall cookout.
I had a wiffle ball and bat in the trunk.
long story short,we played a 5 on 5 wiffle ball game...I went 6 for 9 vs Feller in his backyard in a 1.5 hr game.....
I said hey "Bob, how ya like those apples!"
he goes 'but you were using a big red fat wiffle ball bat"
he got me there