Final Card Friday: 1956 Bob Feller

For this week’s Final Card Friday, my twin brother, Kirk Weber, is our guest contributor. Thanks, Kirk, for taking the pressure off of me in a busy week of umpiring and teaching.

It seems appropriate as we open the 2019 MLB season to look back at some Opening Day greatness with Hall of Famer “Bullet” Bob Feller—the only pitcher to toss a no-hitter on Opening Day. Feller got the Opening Day call seven times for the Cleveland Indians, going 4-3. However, no start was more historic than his April 16, 1940, 1-0 gem against the White Sox in Chicago’s Comiskey Park. This was the first of 27 wins in 1940 for the 22-year-old. He also won the pitching Triple Crown in 1940 with 27 wins, a 2.61 ERA and 261 strikeouts. After another superb 1941 season, Feller was the first American professional athlete to enlist for World War II.

In the 21st century, we live in an era of flame throwers, with the average major league fastball at 92 MPH last season. In 2010, Aroldis Chapman was clocked at 105.1 mph, which is the fastest pitch ever recorded in MLB. Feller was an exception 80 years ago throwing on average in the mid-90s when the rest of the league was at least 10 MPH slower. Primitive measurements recorded Feller at 105, 104, and 107.6 MPH in his prime. Mix in Feller’s exceptional curve, and you had one of baseball’s best strikeout artists.

In his final season, 1956, Feller started four games and appeared in 15 others. He finished with a 0–4 record and career-worst 4.97 ERA. Still, he earned a C/C* rating from APBA. Feller finished his career with 266 wins and 2,581 strikeouts. It’s likely he would have won over 300 games if he didn’t lose four years in the Navy during the prime of his career. Feller actually believed he would have come closer to 400 wins and over 3,800 strikeouts.