[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 90 (Wednesday, July 12, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1381-E1383]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




A TRIBUTE TO BASEBALL LEGEND BOB FELLER AND THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS 
                            GREATEST SEASON

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. STEVEN C. LaTOURETTE

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 12, 2006

  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to enter into the Record an 
article from yesterday's Akron Beacon Journal about a baseball legend 
who also happens to be one of my constituents--Hall of Famer Bob 
Feller. The article was written by columnist and author Terry Pluto, 
one of the Nation's most respected sportswriters and someone whose work 
I greatly admire.
  Pluto's article recounts the 60th anniversary of Feller's greatest 
season in 1946, his first full season after serving nearly four years 
in the Navy during World War II. It is a story for baseball fans of all 
ages, and it truly reminds me of all that is good in baseball and in 
America. As a lifelong Cleveland Indians fan, I am honored to share 
Pluto's wonderful story about Feller so it is forever preserved in the 
pages of the Congressional Record.

 All-Star for All Time Hall of Famer Bob Feller Put Up Season for Ages 
                                in 1946

       What Bob Feller did 60 years ago will never happen again. 
     That's not a surprise, a lot has changed in baseball since 
     1946.
       But what Bob Feller did in 1946 never should have happened 
     at all.
       Start with pitching the 36 games.
       Excuse me, the 36 complete games.
       That's 36 complete games in 42 starts.
       For a little context, the entire American League Central 
     Division--that's five teams, including the Indians--had 35 
     complete games in 2005.
       So in 1946, Bob Feller finished more games than all the 
     pitchers on all the teams in the Central Division--combined!
       In 2005, the Indians had the lowest ERA in the American 
     League, along with 10 shutouts--the same as Feller had in 
     1946.
       Did I mention the four saves?
       Feller also pitched in relief six times, saving four games.
       Just what was the premier starting pitcher in baseball 
     doing in the bullpen?
       ``I started every fourth day,'' Feller said. ``I'd rest a 
     day after my start, then I'd throw batting practice on the 
     second day. Other times, I'd help out in relief just to get 
     my throwing in.''
       He paused.
       ``Know what was crazy?'' he said. ``When I threw batting 
     practice, I didn't have a (protective) screen in front of me. 
     That was crazy, because I could have gotten hurt.''

[[Page E1382]]

       Everything in 1946 for Feller was insane, at least by 
     today's pitching parameters.
       Consider his 371 1/3 innings. His 348 strikeouts. His 26-15 
     record for a team that was 65-89. His 2.18 ERA.
       It was a season in which he threw a no-hitter, a one-
     hitter, was the starting and winning pitcher in the All-Star 
     Game and had a fastball clocked at 109 mph.
       After the final game of the year, he took one day off.
       ``Then me and Satchel Paige went on a barnstorming tour,'' 
     Feller said. ``Played about 35 games in 30 days across the 
     country--the major-league stars against the stars of the 
     Negro Leagues. Traveled around in two jets. I started every 
     game, usually pitched three innings.''
       Feller tells this story as if he were stating the obvious, 
     like this is July and sometimes the weather is warm.
       ``I didn't think it was a big deal,'' he said.
       The white-haired Feller, now 87, would like to lose a few 
     pounds. He comes to most Indians games. He has little use for 
     what he considers the coddling of pitchers--everything from 
     icing their arms to counting their pitches.
       ``I probably averaged 125-to-140 pitches (per game) that 
     season,'' he said. ``I was going for the strikeout record.''
       Feller says things like that, causing you to call a 
     timeout.
       Let's consider the pitch counts first, then the strikeout 
     record. Feller knows all of his crucial statistics, and he's 
     probably right in his estimate. An Associated Press story 
     reported Feller using 133 pitches to no-hit the New York 
     Yankees in Yankee Stadium. The story explained: ``The 
     Cleveland speedball artist threw 54 balls, 35 strikes (17 
     were called, 18 were missed), 29 were fouled off and 15 were 
     hit to the infielders and outfielders.''
       Feller fanned 11, walked five.
       ``I always threw a lot of pitches,'' Feller said. ``I had a 
     high school game where I threw a shutout, walked 14 and 
     struck out 14.''
       He paused.
       ``The game was called after five innings,'' he said.
       I laughed. He wasn't kidding. If you do the math on that 
     game, it meant only one batter made an out by hitting the 
     ball. It meant he constantly had the bases loaded, and that 
     he indeed threw a no-hitter.
       In high school, most of his games were no-hitters. So when 
     he threw three nohitters in the majors and a dozen one-
     hitters, at least one person wasn't shocked: Feller himself.
       Back to the 1946 no-hitter.
       Consider this: It was the bottom of the ninth inning. The 
     Indians had a 1-0 lead. The Yankees' George Stirweiss led off 
     by bunting for a hit, which was ruled an error on Tribe first 
     baseman Les Fleming. Newspapers from New York and Cleveland 
     both reported it was an easy play that Fleming botched, the 
     ball rolling through his legs.
       Think of today's unwritten rules about bunting to break up 
     a no-hitter in the late innings, how it's considered an 
     insult and somehow unsportsmanlike.
       ``Nah,'' said Feller last week. ``It was 1-0. He was just 
     trying to win the game.''
       Feller retired the next three hitters on ground balls to 
     preserve the no-hitter.
       ``There was some talk, especially in New York, that I was 
     washed up after the war,'' Feller said.
       The no-hitter on that day in late April silenced any 
     doubts. So did that incredible 1946 season, when he pitched 
     in a league that featured the likes of Ted Williams, Joe 
     DiMaggio, Hank Greenberg, Mickey Vernon and Rudy York.
       Feller's 26 victories plus his four saves meant he had an 
     arm in 30 of the Tribe's 68 wins.
       Feller was 27 that year, at the height of his physical 
     powers. If he says he threw more than 125 pitches most games, 
     he probably did.
       By contrast, in 2005, only two of the World Champion 
     Chicago White Sox pitchers used more than 120 pitches. None 
     had more than 130. No Tribe pitcher went over 120.
       ``I don't care how many pitches you throw,'' Feller said. 
     ``It's, `Are you tired?' How are you throwing?''
       Feller believed the arm is a muscle, and you develop it 
     with exercise. The best one is throwing. He also lifted light 
     weights, rare for a player of his era. He didn't smoke, 
     rarely drank and ate reasonably well, lots of protein.
       Never iced his arm, either.
       ``I used a little rubbing alcohol,'' he said. ``Then after 
     I'd pitch, I'd go home and take a nice, hot bath.''
       He lived at the Tudor Arm Hotel on East 107th and Carnegie 
     Avenue.
       ``I had a beautiful suite, they had a great pool and I swam 
     a lot,'' he said.
       Feller was 6-foot, 185 pounds, in 1946. He looked taller 
     because he had long arms, a high leg kick and a big windup 
     that seemed to make him look so much closer to the hitter 
     than the regulation distance of 6-feet, 6-inches when he 
     released the ball.
       He had a fastball for the ages, but he believes he notched 
     as many strikeouts with his big, overhand curveball. It was a 
     pitch that didn't just break about a foot to the right, but 
     also dropped about a foot.
       The rotation of the ball was so tight, so fast, that 
     hitters swore you could hear it ``bite'' the air on the way 
     to the plate.
       Feller finished his career with 266 victories despite 
     missing nearly four years while serving in World War II, much 
     of it on the battleship Alabama. He didn't pitch in 1942-44, 
     and only in nine games at the end of 1945.
       He was in his early 20s, and had averaged 26 victories the 
     three previous years. So you have to figure Feller could have 
     won another 100 games. Who knows how many more strikeouts (at 
     least 1,000) and no-hitters he might have had?
       As for his military service, Whitey Lewis wrote in the 
     Cleveland Press: ``The erstwhile boy wonder, now a man, had 
     served 44 months and had earned eight battle stars as a 
     gunnery specialist on the USS Alabama. But could he still 
     pitch?''
       Feller did his throwing on the deck of the Alabama.
       ``Guys took turns wanting to catch me,'' he said.
       Why not, even if they ended up losing some teeth because 
     they missed a pitch. Feller had already won 107 games at age 
     22 when he entered the Navy. He led the American League in 
     strikeouts for four consecutive seasons. His fellow sailors 
     knew he was Cooperstown bound.
       After nearly four years away from the majors, Feller 
     returned to pitch nine games at the end of the '45 season. He 
     was 5-3 with a 2.50 ERA, but some whispered he didn't throw 
     quite as hard, his breaking ball was not as sharp.
       Then came 1946, when Feller pitched and pitched and 
     pitched--almost as if to make up for lost time.
       At the all-star break, Feller had 15 victories and 190 
     strikeouts. In 1945, there was no All-Star Game because of 
     war-time travel restrictions. In 1946, it was a celebration 
     of returning stars such as Feller and Williams. Feller was 
     the winning pitcher, throwing three scoreless innings. 
     Williams had four hits, including two homers. The American 
     League rolled, 12-0.
       ``Only time I ever won an All-Star Game,'' Feller said.
       Feller always wanted to beat Rube Waddell's major-league 
     strikeout record of 343 for a season, set in 1904.
       ``Wheaties was going to pay me $5,000 if I did it,'' he 
     said.
       But then he detoured into a story of having his fastball 
     measured. The Indians were playing in Washington, and 
     Senators owner Clark Griffith advertised that Feller would 
     throw his fastball into what was known as a Rube Goldberg 
     device, and they would figure out the speed.
       ``I read about it in the paper, but Griffith never asked 
     me,'' Feller said. ``I got to the park to pitch that night, 
     and finally they told me about the idea.''
       Feller said, ``Fine, I want $1,000.''
       Griffith said it was good for the game for Feller to go 
     along with the gimmick.
       Feller knew it also was good for Griffith's gate with all 
     the extra fans coming.
       ``Settled for $700,'' Feller said. ``I threw 15-25 pitches 
     into that thing.''
       The numbers ranged from 98 to 117 mph, depending upon where 
     they set up the device. They came up with an average of 109. 
     ``Then I pitched something like 10 innings,'' Feller said. 
     ``Got beat 2-1.''
       Feller said part of the reason he pitched in relief was to 
     pick up some extra strikeouts. In the second-to-Iast game of 
     the season, the Indians were in Detroit. In the game, he tied 
     Waddell's record of 343.
       The next day, there was no game.
       Forty-eight hours later, the Indians played their final 
     game of the season--and Feller was on the mound again. He 
     pitched nine innings, winning 4-1, and striking out five to 
     claim the record at 348.
       ``But 10 years later, they went back and recounted 
     Waddell's strikeouts (from 1904) and found six more, putting 
     him ahead of me by one,'' Feller said. ``If I knew it back 
     then, I just would have pitched in relief another game and 
     struck out some more guys.''
       At least he did get the $5,000 from Wheaties.
       The barnstorming tour was an adventure all its own.
       ``Started in Pittsburgh, ended up in Seattle,'' Feller 
     said. ``Had two DC-3s; went first class. I paid Stan Musial 
     $10,000. Other guys got $300 to $500 a game. Some got more.''
       Consider that in 1946, the winner's share of the World 
     Series was only $2,000 per player, which was big money.
       Remembering the barnstorming tour, Feller didn't care about 
     the race issue. He liked Paige, he respected the black 
     players and knew the games would draw big crowds, everyone 
     making money in the process.
       ``I was excited to be chosen to play for the Satchel Paige 
     All-Stars,'' Buck O'Neil wrote in his book, Right on Time. 
     ``I knew I'd be making more money in that month than I did in 
     six. I'd be taking my first plane ride and I felt this tour 
     was an event that could have a real effect on big-league 
     integration.''
       Feller made more than $100,000 in 1946. His base salary was 
     $50,000, and Tribe owner Bill Veeck paid him a bonus for 
     attendance at his home games. He also had his own radio show, 
     made commercials and personal appearances. He led the 
     American League in wins (26), shutouts (10), strikeouts 
     (348), games pitched (48) and innings (371\1/3\).
       He would never again strike out more than 196 batters in a 
     season. His career ended in 1956.
       ``It wasn't because I threw too much in 1946,'' he said. 
     ``It's because I slipped on the mound in Philadelphia the 
     next year. I had maybe my best fastball, struck out nine of 
     the first 11 guys. I went to throw a curve, my front foot 
     gave out and I felt something rip in the back of my 
     shoulder.''
       He pitched a few more innings, then rested. But not for 
     long. Feller still was 20-11 with a 2.68 ERA in 1947. He 
     threw 299 innings, completed 20 games and struck out a 
     league-leading 196.

[[Page E1383]]

       ``But I never was really the same after that,'' he said. 
     ``That's why I say 1946 was my greatest year.''
       Feller said it with a shrug. Sixty years and another era 
     ago.
       That season, shortstop Lou Boudreau also was the manager. A 
     fellow named Bob Lemon began the year as a light-hitting 
     outfielder and was converted to pitcher during the season--no 
     stop in the minors. He was 4-5 with a 2.49 ERA in 1946 and 
     eventually made the Hall of Fame, just like Feller.
       ``A different game,'' Feller said.
       One every baseball fan wishes they could have seen.

                          ____________________