1918
Born November 3, 1918
Van Meter, IA, USA
Bob Feller Marquee Hall of Fame 1962
b. November 3, 1918 · Cleveland Indians 1936–1941, 1945–1956
He reached Cleveland at 17 in 1936 and never pitched for anyone else. By 1940 he was 27-11 and had the American League pitching triple crown, and he had led the league in strikeouts four years running before his 23rd birthday. Everything about him arrived early.
Then the record simply stops after 1941. Two days after Pearl Harbor he enlisted, the first major leaguer to do so, and spent most of the war as a gun captain aboard the USS Alabama in the Pacific. He came back late in 1945 for nine starts. Three seasons are missing outright.
His first full year back he went 26-15 over 371 innings with 36 complete games and 348 strikeouts, second among all seasons before 1950 behind Rube Waddell's disputed 349 in 1904. He finished with 266 wins and 2,581 strikeouts, led the league in wins six times, and was elected in 1962.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 8 | 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950 |
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 5 | 1939, 1940, 1941, 1946, 1947 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 5 | 1939, 1940, 1941, 1946, 1947 |
| Triple Crown (pitching) | 1 | 1940 |
| The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year | 1 | 1940 |
| The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year | 1 | 1951 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | CLE | 14 | 22 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | .136 |
| 1937 | CLE | 26 | 53 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 17 | 0 | .170 |
| 1938 | CLE | 39 | 94 | 6 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 11 | 32 | 0 | .181 |
| 1939 | CLE | 39 | 99 | 14 | 21 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 35 | 0 | .212 |
| 1940 | CLE | 43 | 115 | 7 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 45 | 0 | .157 |
| 1941 | CLE | 44 | 120 | 11 | 18 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 44 | 0 | .150 |
| 1945 | CLE | 9 | 25 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 0 | .160 |
| 1946 | CLE | 48 | 124 | 9 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 49 | 0 | .129 |
| 1947 | CLE | 42 | 98 | 8 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 38 | 0 | .184 |
| 1948 | CLE | 44 | 95 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 39 | 0 | .095 |
| 1949 | CLE | 36 | 72 | 7 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 23 | 0 | .236 |
| 1950 | CLE | 35 | 83 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 33 | 1 | .120 |
| 1951 | CLE | 33 | 81 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 36 | 0 | .123 |
| 1952 | CLE | 30 | 60 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 31 | 0 | .117 |
| 1953 | CLE | 25 | 56 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 23 | 0 | .107 |
| 1954 | CLE | 19 | 48 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 0 | .188 |
| 1955 | CLE | 25 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | .048 |
| 1956 | CLE | 19 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | .000 |
| Career | — | 570 | 1282 | 99 | 193 | 28 | 13 | 8 | 99 | 100 | 505 | 1 | .151 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | CLE | 5 | 3 | 14 | 8 | 1 | 62.0 | 52 | 23 | 47 | 76 | 3.34 |
| 1937 | CLE | 9 | 7 | 26 | 19 | 1 | 148.2 | 116 | 56 | 106 | 150 | 3.39 |
| 1938 | CLE | 17 | 11 | 39 | 36 | 1 | 277.2 | 225 | 126 | 208 | 240 | 4.08 |
| 1939 | CLE | 24 | 9 | 39 | 35 | 1 | 296.2 | 227 | 94 | 142 | 246 | 2.85 |
| 1940 | CLE | 27 | 11 | 43 | 37 | 4 | 320.1 | 245 | 93 | 118 | 261 | 2.61 |
| 1941 | CLE | 25 | 13 | 44 | 40 | 2 | 343.0 | 284 | 120 | 194 | 260 | 3.15 |
| 1945 | CLE | 5 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 72.0 | 50 | 20 | 35 | 59 | 2.50 |
| 1946 | CLE | 26 | 15 | 48 | 42 | 4 | 371.1 | 277 | 90 | 153 | 348 | 2.18 |
| 1947 | CLE | 20 | 11 | 42 | 37 | 3 | 299.0 | 230 | 89 | 127 | 196 | 2.68 |
| 1948 | CLE | 19 | 15 | 44 | 38 | 3 | 280.1 | 255 | 111 | 116 | 164 | 3.56 |
| 1949 | CLE | 15 | 14 | 36 | 28 | 0 | 211.0 | 198 | 88 | 84 | 108 | 3.75 |
| 1950 | CLE | 16 | 11 | 35 | 34 | 0 | 247.0 | 230 | 94 | 103 | 119 | 3.43 |
| 1951 | CLE | 22 | 8 | 33 | 32 | 0 | 249.2 | 239 | 97 | 95 | 111 | 3.50 |
| 1952 | CLE | 9 | 13 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 191.2 | 219 | 101 | 83 | 81 | 4.74 |
| 1953 | CLE | 10 | 7 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 175.2 | 163 | 70 | 60 | 60 | 3.59 |
| 1954 | CLE | 13 | 3 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 140.0 | 127 | 48 | 39 | 59 | 3.09 |
| 1955 | CLE | 4 | 4 | 25 | 11 | 0 | 83.0 | 71 | 32 | 31 | 25 | 3.47 |
| 1956 | CLE | 0 | 4 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 58.0 | 63 | 32 | 23 | 18 | 4.97 |
| Career | — | 266 | 162 | 570 | 484 | 21 | 3827.0 | 3271 | 1384 | 1764 | 2581 | 3.25 |
On this day & linked events
2010
Died December 15, 2010
1936
Major-league debut: Bob Feller
Bob Feller made a major-league debut on July 19, 1936.
1940
Bob Feller's No-Hitter
Bob Feller threw a no-hitter for the Cleveland Indians against the Chicago White Sox on April 16, 1940, winning 1–0.
1946
Bob Feller's No-Hitter
Bob Feller threw a no-hitter for the Cleveland Indians against the New York Yankees on April 30, 1946, winning 1–0.
1951
Bob Feller's No-Hitter
Bob Feller threw a no-hitter for the Cleveland Indians against the Detroit Tigers on July 1, 1951, winning 2–1.
1951
Allie Reynolds's No-Hitter
Allie Reynolds threw a no-hitter for the New York Yankees against the Cleveland Indians on July 12, 1951, winning 1–0.
1956
Final major-league game: Bob Feller
Bob Feller played a final major-league game on September 30, 1956.
Image: dbking, CC BY 2.0