Yesterday, Baseball lost one of the all-time greats as Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame Pitcher Bob Feller passed away at the age of 92. In memory of, I put together a little collage of some of my favorite Feller photos I have collected. You will be missed Rapid Robert.
1941. Feller in Spring Training. You don’t see many pitchers with a leg kick like that anymore.
April 30th, 1946. Bob Feller in Yankee Stadium pitching to Joe DiMaggio during a Indians-Yankees game. He threw his 3rd career no-hitter that day.
Bob Feller and Satchel Paige, simply incredible.
Bullet Bob in action.
An cool photo of Bob Feller on the mound in 1937. 2 things I love about this photo: 1) How he stands out from the shadows and 2) The fact he is wearing #14 instead of his famous #19 which is forever retired in his honor by the Tribe. Feller did not always wear #19 as he wore #9 in 1936 and from 1937-1938 he wore #14. Larry Doby ended up wearing #14 from 1947-1955 and eventually also had his number retired by the team.
March 9th, 2010. Feller threw out the ceremonial first pitch of Spring Training for the Indians at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. I remember watching the highlight of this on television and thinking “Wow, this guy is 91 years old and looks very solid, not frail by any means. It looks like he wants to take the mound again!” From his body language, you could definitely tell that he wore the Indians jersey with pride that day.
Famous photo of Pittsburgh Pirates legendary Shortstop Honus Wagner from 1910. This has always been one of my favorite all-time Baseball photos. I kind of try to stay away from well known classic Baseball photos on this blog but this pic is just too good as it has always inspired lots of feelings and thoughts about Wagner and Baseball in the early 1900’s.
October 25th, 1981. Dave Winfield of the New York Yankees tracks down a fly ball in game 5 of the World Series. The Yankees beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4 games to 2 to become World Champions of the strike shortened 1981 season.
1926. Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers crosses homeplate after hitting a home run against the New York Yankees. Based on the direction he’s looking and what we know about Cobb, I’d like to think he is staring down the Yankees’ dugout and saying things that are probably not acceptable for children to hear.
April 4th, 1988. Coming off of winning the 1987 AL MVP, George Bell of the Toronto Blue Jays crushes his 1st of 3 opening day home runs off of Kansas City Royals Ace Bret Saberhagen; therefore becoming the first player in Major League history to hit 3 dingers on opening day. I loved Bell as a kid and he was actually my brother’s favorite player. Bell was always so firey and pissed off when he played and few could crush a ball as hard as he could during his best years. I always thought it was unfortunate that he was kind of ran out of Toronto due to his differences with Manager Jimy Williams and his lack of defensive skills. He should have accepted his role as DH and retired as a member of the Blue Jays instead of finishing his career in Chicago.
Mickey Mantle galloping over a bat and an opposing Catcher’s leg while preparing to cross home plate. I love this photo because you can almost tell from Mantle’s mid-stride body language that he is battling his bad knees while sprinting that last 90 feet to home. I will never tire of photo’s of Mickey Mantle in action.
September 30th, 2001. San Diego Padres Right Fielder and future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn receives a stand up ovation by players and fans alike at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco. It was Gwynn’s last appearance in San Francisco before retiring 1 week later at the end of the 2001 season.
1926. Detroit Tigers legendary Outfielder Ty Cobb wearing sunglasses during Spring Training. Cobb had a medical procedure on one of his eyes prior to reporting to the team and was required to wear the glasses for an extended time while he recovered. Take note of Cobb’s hands and how he held his bat. He claimed that having his hands not touching was the proper way to attain supreme bat control. For a man who retired with a career batting average of .366 and 4,189 hits it may be kind of hard to disagree with him…. especially considering how mean and nasty he was.
August 22, 1972. Billy Martin, then Manager of the Detroit Tigers is literally moments away from starting a brawl with the Oakland Athletics. What’s kind of ironic is that Martin played for the A’s during his playing career in 1957 and later on ended up managing them for 3 seasons (1980-1982). It didn’t matter who got in Martin’s way as his intensity and desire to win was unrivaled by most.
August 4th, 1983. In a game between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Dave Winfield accidentally hit a bird and killed it while playing warm up catch with a bat boy in between innings.
A great photo of James “Cool Papa” Bell during his time with the St. Louis Stars of the Negro National League. Bell played with the Stars from 1922 to 1931 and is commonly known as being one of, if not the fastest man in Baseball history. Amongst the many legendary tales regarding his speed on the base paths, it is said that he could round the bases in 12 seconds in addition to being able to reach Third Base from First Base on a bunt.
Out. The Glenn Burke Story is an incredible documentary and I can not wait to own a copy of my own to share with friends. Regrettably, I missed the debut screening of this at the Castro theater here in SF a few weeks back but THIS youtube user has put up the entire documentary split up in 5 parts. Check it out, you wont regret it. It is a heartbreaking story but also very informative with lots of great interviews and takes on Burke’s life and career which both were unfortunately cut short. The Glenn Burke story is tragic and one can only hope that in time things can and will change in regards to the issue of homophobia in sports.
A few weeks ago it was announced that long time ESPN Sunday Night Baseball announcers Joe Morgan and Jon Miller will not be returning to the broadcast booth for the 2011 season after 21 years. I really cant stand Joe Morgan in the broadcast booth as he often infuriates me with his know-it-all outlook on the game when he is often wrong but in a weird twisted way I will miss the team of him and Miller. Sometimes Morgan is just so off his rocker that it offers comedic entertainment and Miller is one of the all time greats in my opinion. I have a feeling we wont be seeing the end of the Miller-Morgan duo.
On Wednesday, 48 year old Major League Pitcher Jamie Moyer had Tommy John surgery on his throwing arm after injuring his elbow in the Dominican Winter Leagues in November. Moyer is now Major League Baseball’s oldest Tommy John surgery patient. As of now he plans on taking the 2011 season off to rehab and be ready to pitch again by Spring Training 2012 at at age 49. Moyer made his MLB debut in June 1986 with the Cubs (a week after I finished kindergarten!) and is currently the only player left in the big leagues along with Omar Vizquel to also play in the 1980’s. I wish him the best of luck with the rehab and will be anxiously awaiting his return to the mound.
I just found out a few days ago (how did I miss this??) that 5 Weeks ago on Halloween that Artie Wilson passed away at the age of 90 in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. During his career, Wilson played on the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues, the Oakland Oaks, San Diego Padres, Seattle Rainiers, Portland Beavers, and Sacramento Solons of the PCL and spent some time with the New York Giants of the MLB in 1951. Wilson’s career was fascinating for various reasons and I strongly suggest doing some research on him as he had a remarkable career.
I wont get too deep into it, but everyone should know this: He hit .402 in 1948 as a Shortstop for the Black Barons (Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941) so in a sense he is the last true major leaguer to hit over .400 and don’t even try and tell me that the Negro Leagues were not the same caliber talent-wise with the Majors. Also, he took a young Willie Mays under his wing as his pupil in 1948 while both played on the Black Barons. 3 years later in 1951 in a strange twist of irony when Mays was called up to the New York Giants to make his MLB debut, it was Wilson who was sent back down to the minors to make room for the Say Hey Kid. Rest in Peace Artie, Baseball will miss you you.
(Warning: this one is a little personal) Today the Boston Red Sox successfully completed a trade with my San Diego Padres to acquire All-Star & Gold Glove First Basemen and San Diego native Adrian Gonzalez. In return the Padres received prospects Casey Kelly, Anthony Rizzo, Reymond Fuentes and a player to be named later. None of the players are Major League ready and will not make an impact on the team for several years. It’s hard to see the positive in this trade as a life long Padre fan however, I understand why it had to happen but it still doesn’t soften the blow. This is Major League Baseball in this day and age and its unfortunate that bloated payroll teams such as the Yankees and Bosox can go after anyone they want with their deep pockets. I have 4 things I want to say about this trade:
1) Adrian will always be a Padre and there is already talk about him finishing his career in SD. Hypothetically, if he ever makes the HOF he better go in with that SD hat on.
2) I knew he was gonna have to go to somewhere that could afford what Adrian is worth but I really didn’t want to see him in with the Bosox. I guess it’s good that I will not have to see him playing the Padres in the NL.
3) This is 110% soon to be ex-owner John Moores fault for destroying this teams payroll due to his divorce and forced selling of the team. Thanks John, the city of SD and Padres fans everywhere thank you for collectively fucking this team for which will probably be half a decade due to you and your wife. Moorad and Hoyer better get this thing in gear as fan moral is easily at the lowest it has ever been since the early 90’s Werner fire sales.
4) As bitter as I am about the trade, I am happy that Adrian will get the money he easily deserves once his extension is completed. Congrats Gonz, no one deserves it more than you.
This Thursday, legendary Chicago Cub 3rd Basemen passed away due to complications of diabetes; a disease he fought the majority of his life including his entire career. Santo spent all 14 years of his career playing in the city of Chicago (1960-73 w/Cubs & 1974 w/Chisox) and had been in the Cub’s broadcast booth for WGN from 1990 to present. I am far from a Cubs fan but watching their games was a always treat because Santo’s enthusiasm was always so very genuine in regards to his love for the team and the city. The city of Chicago was very lucky to have Santo as a member of their Baseball family for so long. It had to be a treat that multiple generations of Cubs fans were able to become familiar with him and appreciate him on different levels. Baseball lost a great one this week who will never be forgotten by the city of Chicago and all Baseball fans alike.
Hopefully one day the Baseball Hall of Fame voting committee will get their heads out of their asses and make the right decision in getting Santo in the Hall where he deserves.
May 24th, 1963. Santo attempting to dive for a ball in a game against the Houston Colt 45s.
Santo at bat during his later years with the Cubs.
Santo performing his trademark heel-click of the 1969 season.
Santo and fellow Cub legend Ernie Banks fooling around.
A quite infamous photo of Santo in the on-deck circle awaiting his turn while a black cat passes him by. This couldn’t have been a good omen for his upcoming at-bat, I have always wondered if he got a hit after this occurred.
A great action shot of Santo playing 3rd Base in a game against the Phillies. I could be wrong, but I believe that may be Dick Allen sliding into him.
ninety feet of perfection. 
