Today, we marvel at athletes excelling in their chosen sport so young. How amazing that Sidney Crosby can win a Stanley Cup and an Olympic gold medal by age 22. How incredible that Stephen Strasburg can strike out 14 batters in his big league debut at 21. How improbable that Bryce Harper can crush junior college pitching at 17.
Well, Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller, who died on Thursday of leukemia, has them all beat. Just 17 and a high school junior when he made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1936, Feller struck out 15 batters in his first game. Three weeks later he tied a major league record with 17 strikeouts. His high school graduation the next year was broadcast nationally on the radio.
Few athletes of any age had more moxie. Feller — at the height of his game — enlisted in the Navy after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He didn’t even wait to get drafted and spent four years in the military during World War II. And few athletes have been as outspoken on topics as varied as steroid scandals and Muhammad Ali. The term “politically correct” was foreign to the man, always.
“[Feller] was the same guy all the time. He gave his opinions and he said what he thought,” said former Red Sox second baseman Bobby Doerr, the oldest living Hall of Famer. “He didn’t hedge around anything. … You had to always be alert with him. He was a real competitor.”
