Bob Feller was a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians in 1941. He was driving from his home in Iowa to Chicago to discuss his next contract with the Indians when he heard over his car radio that the Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor. Even though he had a family-related draft exemption, he informed the Indians that he was joining the Navy rather than sign his contract extension, and was sworn into the United States Navy two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
[Let's pause for a moment . . . a star pitcher in his twenties, who was exempt from the WWII draft, on his way to sign a new contract for over $50,000.00 @ year, instead volunteered to join the Navy and defend his country in World War II.]
After his basic training the Navy assigned him to be a physical training instructor. Bob, however, was not having that and quickly requested combat duty, (He explained his motivation,"I didn't volunteer to teach men how to play baseball, I volunteered to fight the enemy") and applied for gunnery school and sea duty. After four months of training he was assigned to a battleship, the USS Alabama as a gun captain. After six months of escorting convoys in the North Atlantic, the USS Alabama went through the Panama Canal and headed for the central Pacific. The Alabama survived an epic 13 hour bombing attack in the war in the Pacific as well. Over the next two years Bob and his fellow shipmates on the Alabama saw action off Tarawa, the Marshall Islands and the Philippines. In August of 1945, Bob went on inactive duty and rejoined the Indians on August 23rd, 1945. He pitched eight games before the season ended, winning five of those contests.
Bob Feller said in a newspaper interview later that after living through the combat on the USS Alabama the pinstripe perils of Yankee Stadium seemed pretty trivial. He also said, "War teaches you that baseball is only a game, - - a minor thing, compared to the sovereignty and security of the United States."
Bob Feller, a young man living the American dream, considered it his honor and duty to protect the country that he loved and willingly postponed his career as a professional baseball player to serve in the Navy. That is just one of the many stories about the character of the man.
As a kid, I couldn't stand seeing that four year block of empty games in the early 1940s. Surely Feller couldn't have wanted to miss part of the prime of his career. I mean, imagine the numbers had he stayed healthy. Based on the five year average from the three years prior to his service and the two years after, he'd have averaged 24 wins a season. Figuring in the five wins he DID win in 1945, that would be another 91 wins, another 1,000 k'S, and the potential for a much, much lower ERA.
Of course, Feller wouldn't have had it any other way. It wasn't about numbers, wins or even playing baseball. He enlisted in the Navy the day after Pearl Harbor, after waiving a deferment because his dad was ill, leaving Feller as the sole provider for his family. Feller's father would die while he was serving during World War II. Feller never questioned it. It was his duty. While there have been many references to "Chiefs" during the existence of the Cleveland Indians, Bob Feller was a legitimate one. He was baseball's only Chief Petty Officer elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In 1949, after winning over 20 games the previous two seasons, his pitching record was 15-14. He approached Hank Greenburg, who was the Cleveland General Manager and offered to take a pay cut due to the dip in his performance. Bob Feller, who just the year before had led the Indians to their second World Series title, (Which is still the last title the Indians have ever won) took a 25% salary reduction because he felt his work was below the standards he held for himself.
You can easily search the baseball statistics for Bob Feller's Hall of Fame career. But I've often thought that the measure of the man himself was the award that the United States Navy established after his death. You see, after Feller's death in 2010, the Navy established the Bob Feller Act of Valor in his honor. I'm betting that he would be prouder of that honor versus all the immense baseball accolades he acquired during his career. And to me, that sets him apart from most of the all-time greats.
