Bob Feller interview
Date1989 June 09
DescriptionTwo audio cassettes featuring an interview with Bob Feller conducted by Rod Roberts on the behalf of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on June 9, 1989 in Cooperstown, New York.
Object numberHF-1994-0001-008
Interviewer
Roberts, Rod
Interviewee
Feller, Bob, 1918-2010
Subject
Feller, Bob, 1918-2010
Classificationsaudio/visual materials
Collection NumberBA RMA 001 Rod Roberts oral history collection
Library Call NumberCTA 833
Library Call NumberCTA 834
Dimensions2 audio cassettes
TrannscriptionCassette 1 content of the interview includes: Side One -- Track 1 - Born on a farm outside of Des Moines, IA; went to school in Van Meter, IA; played American Legion baseball in Adel, IA; played in Des Moines; father was a corn-hog farmer, his father died when he was 9; three sisters and a brother also died, went to school until 8th grade than had to stop and work the farm; grandmother never remarried; father was an intelligent man, enjoyed baseball, thought athletics were good for young men and women; furnished equipment for the school and town team; kids played out in a pasture, hard clay like bricks; Feller had a sister Marguerite, nine years younger, mother was a nurse and had to work; sister now lives in Chicago area (00:00.00 to 00:02:41) Track 2 - On ethnic background, mostly German, ancestors from Alsace Lorraine, and the German side of Switzerland, some French as well; a lot of Lutherans, Germans, Irish in the area where he grew (00:02:41 to 00:03:23) Track 3 - On playing baseball in first grade; started throwing the ball at 5-6 years old in the house with his father; also played basketball; no football; didn't participate in track; played fall baseball, summer vacation bible school; a lot of amateur teams in Des Moines; played with adults all the time, father thought it was good for him to play with older, better players; Feller played shortstop, third, second, even caught a little but wasn't good at it; school was too small for football (00:03:23 to 00:06:01) Track 4 - Used to pitch on a regular basis, by the time he was 15 pitching most of the time, by 16, all he did was pitch; playing for a Farmer's Insurance team in Des Moines that won the Iowa state championship; came back and played in first national amateur finals in Dayton, OH; was already under contract to Cleveland but had received no money, so he was still an amateur (00:06:01 to 00:07:10) Track 5 - On Cleveland scouting him first, Cy Slapnicka signing him and then becoming general manager, from Cedar Rapids, also signed Herb Score, Al Trosky, Lou Boudreau, Mel Harder, Kenny Keltner; he was the greatest scout in baseball history, a loner, no children, wife traveled with him; treated Feller like a son, took him under their wing, taught him about business, acted like an agent for him (00:07:10 to 00:08:48) Track 6 - On starting in the Majors at 17, youngest pitcher to start in a Major League game, win one and complete one; only opening day no-hitter in history, not necessarily records, but milestones, had not graduated from high school yet when he came to Cleveland; signed in 1935, was supposed to go to Fargo, ND, for Class D; joined the team in July 1936; had a tutor in spring training in New Orleans in 1937; he had pitched 5 games in 8 days sin the state tournament, arm was tired from the pitching and plowing the fields, Cardinals came to town for an exhibition charity game; Feller had sent them two years before in the World Series and now was pitching against them, Joe Medwick, Pepper Martin, Leo Durocher, and Slapnicka asked him to pitch against them, struck out 8 out of 9 and never made it to Fargo; he had a really good arm and his dad used to measure how far he could throw in the pasture; he liked to show off, father bought the best equipment (00:08:48 to 00:12:18) Track 7 - On his training regimen, throwing a lot with his dad, start early and finish late in the summer, put off dinner until after dark so they could play ball; started American Legion ball when he was 12; Satchel Paige was a great fellow, used to pitch against him all over the U.S. starting in 1936, Paige was a good PR man, great arm, they were real good friends; he and Paige traveled together in the Pacific Coast League; after the War they did big, professional tours, in '46 and '47, played all across the northern and western states, the black teams couldn't play in the southern states; made a lot of money barnstorming, had to wait until the World Series was over, Stan Musial made $10,000 for barnstorming and only $3,200 for winning the World Series, he was joking but the club owners took it wrong (00:12:18 to 00:16:16) Track 8 - Discussion about the interview, Feller wanting to give him a lot of material; Roberts talking about the Hall of Fame transcribing the material, tape cuts off during breakfast and picks back up with a whine in the background (00:16:16 to 00:16:45) Track 9 - Starts in the middle of a discussion about other sports, how people are distracted from baseball (horrible whining and noise in the background,) on kids not having much fun playing Little League (00:16:45 to 00:18:35) Track 10 - (Contains profanity) On having a tutor in New Orleans, came to the hotel every evening to tutor him; Australian man interrupts to ask a question, discussion about Australian rules football, real football, Feller talking about where he was in the South Pacific during World War II, but not making it to Australia; discussion about Cooperstown, beautiful lake, feeding the ducks; someone else stops by to chat and take photos; someone chain-sawing in the background; exchanging cards, on being incorporated since 1946 (Profanity: hell) (00:18:35 to 00:23:04) Track 11 - On being tutored, taking two weeks off to graduate, hurting his arm in early April; didn't pitch again until July in 1937; got his diploma, broadcast the graduation live on NBC; only had 18 people in his graduating class; nice school, he gave a commencement address one year (chainsaw in background) (00:23:04 to 00:25:05) Track 12 - On pitching at 17, father and mother did not see him pitch until mid-September; saw him pitch in Philadelphia and strike out 17; then went back to Iowa; came and brought him home in October and he went back to school until spring training (chainsaw in background) (00:25:05 to 00:26:04) Track 13 - On pitching a fast ball, curve ball, sidearm, change-up, from different angles, started throwing curves since he was 8 years old, good control of his curve, fastball was wild, hardly ever walked a man; a matter of concentration, didn't get that tired because of farm work building his stamina; curve was always his best pitch; always went with the catcher's signal, didn't shake him off (chainsaw in background) (00:26:04 to 00:29:12) Track 14 - On working with catchers, Greek George, Frankie Pytlak, (Rollie) Hemsley, Sherm Lollar, Hank Helf; Frankie Hayes, Jim Hegan, Joe Tipton, Joe Becker; catcher for first Major League game was either Pytlak or George; Pytlak caught him in 1938 when he struck out 18 (fan interrupts to get an autograph, photograph) (00:29:12 to 00:31:52) Side Two -- Track 1 - Interviewer Roberts talking about Greek George coming to a bad end, getting thrown out of the Majors (00:00:00 to 00:01:01) Track 2 - On Earl Averill, getting traded in ‘39-‘40 to Detroit, great hitter, hit .378, pretty good center fielder, didn't have a great arm but could run fast, from Snohomish, WA, along with Earl Torgeson, home of the Earls, Averill's son Earl Jr. caught for Cleveland; never name any son junior; Earl Junior slugged another ballplayer and got sued; a likeable young man; Averill had spinal fusion surgery (00:01:01 to 00:02:58) Track 3 - On Steve O'Neill being like a father to Feller; roommate Skeeter Webb married one of O'Neill's four daughters; Webb from Mississippi and in the state hall of fame (00:02:58 to 00:03:32) Track 4 - On media attention, becoming a mopping-up pitcher; hadn't done anything sensational until he had a start and a real good day, Browns weren't the strongest team; he continued to start, went 5-3, had control issues; didn't know what he was doing until '39, better control, won 24 ball games, was on the All Star Team; 1940, good year (00:03:32to 00:05:17) Track 5 - In '40, pitched a no-hitter on opening day, half of his home town were there, mother and sister was there, catcher Rollie Hemsley tripled, roommate Jeff Heath on first after singled in 4th inning, a cool day, windy and cloudy and no one got on base after 4th inning; walked the bases full in 1st or 2nd inning, in 9th he walked Luke Appling with two out; Taff Wright hit a hard ground ball to second baseman Ray Mack, made a good play to his left, fired to Al Trotsky at first and threw him out; Mack made final out on Charlie Keller in Yankee Stadium after WWII (00:05:17 to 00:06:53) Track 6 - Felt good about no-hitters, needed more defense, had good stuff against the Yankees; not sure why some days are better than others; knew when he was warming up if he was going to have a good game; you know if you're at peak performance (chainsaw in background) (00:06:53 to 00:09:04) Track 7 - On asking a lot of questions; thirsty to learn; talked to catchers like Wally Schang, who played and caught with Babe Ruth; Schang was really helpful to him; questioned Johnny Bassler, tried to get information; no one resented him being young and asking questions (chainsaw in background) (00:09:04 to 00:10:48) Track 8 - On Mel Harder, was a great friend of Feller's, helped him, answered his questions, Johnny Allen, Denny Galehouse, were all good friends; Harding was a good pitching coach, wonderful person, great family; best record of any pitcher in Major League All Star games, hardly ever scored off him (chainsaw in background) (00:10:48 to 00:11:47) Track 9 - On hurting his arm in 1937 throwing a curve ball; didn't pitch until July, hurt his ulna bone and pinched ulna nerve got calcium in there; Dr. Austin in Cleveland broke up the adhesions, an apprentice to (John?) Bonesetter Reese; Austin charged the club $10 to fix up Feller's arm and he pitched a couple of days later; was worried that his career was over (chainsaw in background) (00:11:47 to 00:14:56) Track 10 - On 1938, Steve O'Neill being fired and replaced by Oscar Vitt, he had managed in Newark, had a great ball club, a lot of players signed to Major League, owner Alva Bradley told Vitt to keep his mouth shut but he didn't listen; everyone thought they had the pennant won, but hitting stalled; they started losing and finished one game out; Feller won 27 ball games, but pitching was not dependable in September; Vitt aggravated a lot of players; players asked Bradley to get rid of Vitt and he did at the end of the season (chainsaw in background) (00:14:56 to 00:17:35) Track 11 - Managing is tough, political, hard to deal with news media; a lot of competition; a lot of people bench jockeys make more money than the manager; Don Zimmer likes the dog track; on betting on horse races, wife owes him two chocolate sodas; more on horse racing; news media is a service nation, don't like it, need manufacturing, don't have enough leaders in politics or business, young people need better training, parents don't say no enough or turn off the TV, get off their butts and play ball; even today's farm kids don't work that hard, all automated; businessman with air conditioned car, home, office and pays to go to a gym and perspire (00:17:35 to 00:23:07) Track 12 - On World War II, enlisted two days after Pearl Harbor, after the U.S. declared war on Japan; went to Norfolk, VA, then to Alabama, then to Europe, and then to Pacific for two years, took Mickey Cochrane's job at Great Lakes Naval facility, running the baseball team; they sent Cochrane to Guam; Great Lakes had 110,000 personnel so they played ball to entertain the troops; good football team there, with all the NFL players, Paul Brown was the coach and formed the Cleveland Browns there; bat boys for his team were Brown's sons; Great Lakes baseball players included Walker Cooper, Cochrane, Eddie Carnett, (Dale?) Hackbart, Tommy Upton, Kenny Keltner, Pinky Higgins, Johnny Groth, Max Marshall, Denny Galehouse, Denny (?) from St. Louis and Cleveland, (? McKetti?) of the Giants; Clyde Shoun, some college kids pitched for him; during WWII, only 400 players in the Major Leagues and 274 were in the military; Pete Gray, the one-armed outfielder did a great job; Joe Nuxhall, Carl Sheib; wartime baseball had a lot of 4F players and heads of household; Feller enlisted with Gene Tunney, it was time to show your loyalty and patriotism to defend the country; losing the war in Europe, losing big in the Pacific, had to organize the military before it was too late; had great leaders in Washington and the military; security was not what our ancestors came here for, came for opportunity and freedom; what this country was all about; today, everyone wants security, long term contracts (00:23:07 to 00:30:02) Track 13 - On barnstorming being a big deal, Babe Ruth took a team around the world; John McGraw took teams to Australia and Japan; barnstorming across the country, Canada, there was money in it and it was fun to see the country and get paid for it; big exhibitions after WWII; rivalry between black and white teams in 1946; Jackie Robinson with Montreal and on Satchel Paige's team (tape runs out) (00:30:02 to 00:31:56) Cassette 2 content of the interview includes: Side One -- Track 1 - Feller had a front man, Burton Hawkins, writer for the Washington Star, he was out ahead of the team to get publicity 10 days ahead to get things ready for the team, wrote a story for the Saturday Evening Post about the barnstorming; Flying Tiger Airlines; had Jackie Price and Max Patkin to perform before the game; played 35 games in 27-28 days in '46-'47; did not barnstorm in '48; in '49 went out again, but the big days of barnstorming were over by then, people had televisions, blacks were in the Major Leagues and people were spending money on consumer goods; black players used to invite Feller to national convention, along with Happy Chandler, deserved credit for getting blacks in the Big Leagues (00:00:00 to 00:03:09) Track 2 - On trip with Satchel Paige; Feller pitched more than Paige; Feller pitched 26 consecutive days; took a day off for a convention and flew back and pitched the rest of the tour; had good ball games in Yankee Stadium, in Los Angeles, had a lot of fun, made some money; black teams appreciated being selected for the barnstorming tour; Kansas City Monarchs organized tour, got Frank Duncan to manage and best black players; Paige had great control, good fastball, change-up, not much of a curve, he could handle big league hitters very well, fast, sneaky, great motion, threw strikes almost all the time, a great con man; Feller had a good relationship with the Kansas City Monarchs and black leagues (00:03:09 to 00:06:29) Track 3 - Paige really helped in '48, but by '49 he had lost some on his fastball; helped in the World Series after Feller had blown a lead and lost to Johnny Sain on a controversial pick-off call; didn't score any runs, so can't win; every player on the team contributed; Pete Rose's hitting streak; Feller was happy that the team won the World Series, wasn't personally disappointed in his performance (00:06:29 to 00:08:45) Track 4 - On the pick-off play, game was televised coast-to-coast; umpire Bill Stewart called Phil Masi safe at second, shortstop Lou Boudreau hadn't told him; even Tris Speaker in the press box and Nelson Potter in dugout all said watch for the pick-off (00:08:45 to 00:10:05) Track 5 - On umpires, some are good and some are bad; a good umpire behind the plate is consistent, Cal Hubbard, Bill McGowan, Catfish Klem, Bill Summers were consistent; Feller never got thrown out of the game arguing with the umpire, used to joke with them before the game; Bill Stewart admitted later he blew the pick-off call (00:10:05 to 00:11:30) Track 6 - On changes in the strike zone, height lowered, no diagram of a strike zone, belt-buckle to armpits but lowered down to belly button, umpires are inconsistent; a strike is strike, just not always called that way; strike zone is based on size of the body when you're standing up (00:11:30 00:13:19) Track 7 - (Contains profanity) On changes in the game; overemphasize the numbers, base stealing just to up the numbers; relief pitching has changed the way pitchers pitch; Feller had about 20 saves, would relieve on his middle day of a four-day rotation; changes earned run average; designated hitter changes things around; off of the field the game has changed, lack of relationships between the players and the owners; Players Association promotes that feeling, which I don't like; Feller was a player representative, worked on the pension fund with John Galbreath; great friend of Feller's; he just received the John Galbreath award from his son Dan; different now, money, merchandising, alcohol promotion is obnoxious and it stinks, bad for families, people drink too much, buy a dozen beers; Feller never drinks alcohol when he's talking to kids anywhere; not when he's driving; alcohol and tobacco promotion happens in all sports; Feller never even ate candy when he was a kid, trained real hard; trained hard on the USS Alabama with the troops; interviewer interjects comment about Jane Fonda (00:13:19 to 00:19:18) Track 8 - On problems of college kids drinking, girls and boys living together, college presidents not stopping it, no discipline; people drinking during the day; love a kid enough to say no, pull the plug on TV; busing kids to school (00:19:18 to 00:22:12) Track 9 - Greatest defensive play in New York; (Joe) DiMaggio catching (Hank) Greenberg's ball among the monuments in Yankee Stadium (00:22:12 to 00:23:19) Track 10 - Toughest hitters, Taft Wright and Tommy Henrich; DiMaggio; Ted (Williams,) Roger Hornsby, DiMaggio best right-hand hitter, Hornsby very tough; Hornsby a batting coach, a funny guy tried to teach Jim Hegan and Pat Seerey how to hit; Feller said they were playing golf, and asked if he wanted to go, and Hornsby said that if he hit a ball, wanted someone else to chase it; hard to get along with, Hemsley hated him; Hemsley a better catcher drunk than most people sober; people asked if Paul Waner drank that much and apparently he did (00:23:19 00:25:36) Track 11 - On Seery hitting the ball a mile, longest ball ever off Hal Newhouser, was a tough player; Feller first American Legion player in Hall of Fame; Ted Williams, the second; on American Legion coach Nile Kinnick, Heisman Trophy winner, both he and his brother killed as pilots in WWII (00:25:36 to 00:27:36) Track 12 - On Ray Narleski, a good fastball; son played but never made it, he and Don Mossi great relief pitchers in the ‘50s; Feller on collecting antique tractors; on draft horses (00:27:36 to 00:32:50) Track 13 - On Babe Ruth as greatest ball player ever, got an autographed ball from an exhibition game; saw Ruth and Gehrig; hit the ball further and pitched well, he could do it all, never threw to wrong base; Ruth (00:32:50 to 00:34:56) Track 14 - Best players Feller played with or against were DiMaggio, best leader was Boudreau, couldn't ask for a better player; only saw (Willie) Mays in spring training, next to DiMaggio; current players don't have discipline (00:34:56 to 00:36:45) Track 15 - On no real regrets, maybe walked too many men, would work on his control; concentrate on the first hitter of the inning; not conscious of the record books; had chance to break Rube Waddell's strike-out record in '48, but they found more from Waddell (00:36:45 to 00:38:26) Track 16 - On Ferris Fain, good hitter, had a temper, kicked the bag and broke his leg, picked up for growing marijuana, he was a hustler, tough, came to play; when it comes to baseball and record books, should have something about players who were in military service and it should be in there, took four years out of his career, Williams' career; Ralph Winnie, Boeing executive, came up with a system of projections as to what if the players hadn't missed out during military service; some players were injured in the War and never played again; Monte Irvin was never the same after the War (00:38:26 to 00:43:47) Track 17 - (Contains profanity) On the earlier interruptions , autograph seeker, local area; more on WWII; Elmer Gideon only Major League player killed in WWII; 247 Major Leaguers served during the War; Japanese call it unfortunate time, rant on people not working; Feller working card shows, personal appearances, tape runs out (00:43:47 to 00:46:36)Public Access NotePlease note that not all works are on view at all times - their availability is subject to change per the discretion of the Museum staff. 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