Godspeed, Bob Feller

[TheSportsPredictor]

Breaking on Twitter now that he has been moved to hospice care. Had been hospitalized w/pneumonia.

 

[Ilmago]

This isn't good news at all.

:(

 

[cyclingwriter]

very sad.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Maybe now would be a good time for me to put that picture he signed for me at a card show in 1990 on ebay.

I hope his final days are peaceful ones.

 

[Ilmago]

 

[albert77]

If you take the tour of the USS Alabama in Mobile Bay, there is a plaque somewhere deep in the ship (the radio room, maybe?) commemorating Feller's service on the Alabama. That generation is really starting to leave us at a rapid pace, so it's always good to remember the sacrifices they made.

 

[micropolitan guy]

My parent's favorite player, along with Lou Boudreau

 

[JBHawkEye]

Had a chance to interview him several years ago. Really nice guy who would have talked for hours if he didn't have somewhere else to go that day.

 

[TigerVols]

Oddly enough, his Wiki entry hasn't been updated yet; says he's the longest tenured living HOF member.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

Oddly enough, his Wiki entry hasn't been updated yet; says he's the longest tenured living HOF member.

Well, he's not dead yet. Just been moved to hospice care.

 

[black dude with pompano]

Bob is an irascible, crotchety old coot and I love him anyway. So do a lot of people.

I hate to hear this news, but I think anyone that's ever interacted with him in the last two decades can attest that we should all dream of being as physically and mentally sharp into our elderly years. The man was still playing old-timers games and offering pointed opinions at an age when many of us will lucky to be around.

Yes, he could be arrogant and self-important at times, but by god he was one of the greatest pitchers ever, he helped fight and win a world war and he has always been willing to talk baseball with anyone willing to lend an ear. I think that counts for something.

When Bob passes, we will be losing an original, and it will be quite a loss.

 

[TigerVols]

Oddly enough, his Wiki entry hasn't been updated yet; says he's the longest tenured living HOF member.

Oh, snap.

Well, he's not dead yet. Just been moved to hospice care.

 

[Batman]

The man was still playing old-timers games and offering pointed opinions at an age when many of us will lucky to be around.

When they made the switch from the old Hall of Fame game to the new "legends" game a few years back, wasn't he the starting pitcher for one of the teams?

 

[cyclingwriter]

Favorite Feller story: When he was kid, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were on a barnstorming tour near his home town. It cost $5 (or something high for the Depression) to get a baseball signed by both of them. So he and a friend gassed like 100 groundhogs and collected a bounty from the county for killing groundhogs. The bounty was enough for each to get a signed ball. Feller, who was 8, immediately added his own signature to it. True or a tale of his, it explains him a lot.

 

[Double Down]

Horse muffins to this sad news.

Feller spoke at my Little League Opening Day when I was 13 years old. I had no idea who he was at the time, but looking back ... very cool.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

I was walking through my local mall one day in my teens and he was there for some sort of card show. Nobody was around his table at time, so I popped over and had a little chat with him about something or other. I don't recall the nature of the conversation, but it was shocking to me that no one really was paying much attention to him that day.

Cheers to a man who got the most out of life. He'll be missed in Ohio.

 

[Ilmago]

Favorite Feller story: When he was kid, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were on a barnstorming tour near his home town. It cost $5 (or something high for the Depression) to get a baseball signed by both of them. So he and a friend gassed like 100 groundhogs and collected a bounty from the county for killing groundhogs. The bounty was enough for each to get a signed ball. Feller, who was 8, immediately added his own signature to it. True or a tale of his, it explains him a lot.

Wow! That's an incredible story, thanks for sharing.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

I was walking through my local mall one day in my teens and he was there for some sort of card show. Nobody was around his table at time, so I popped over and had a little chat with him about something or other. I don't recall the nature of the conversation, but it was shocking to me that no one really was paying much attention to him that day.

Cheers to a man who got the most out of life. He'll be missed in Ohio.

There's a running joke about Feller's autographs in Ohio. Soemthing to effect a rare baseball is one w/o Feller's signature.

 

[Shoeless Joe]

I raise a glass to the man for his Naval service during the war.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

I was walking through my local mall one day in my teens and he was there for some sort of card show. Nobody was around his table at time, so I popped over and had a little chat with him about something or other. I don't recall the nature of the conversation, but it was shocking to me that no one really was paying much attention to him that day.

Cheers to a man who got the most out of life. He'll be missed in Ohio.

There's a running joke about Feller's autographs in Ohio. Soemthing to effect a rare baseball is one w/o Feller's signature.

I have two!