Why Is Bob Feller Such A Jerk?

Feller may be a jerk, that i dont know. What I do know is that he was a great soldier with one of the all time best statements on war. "I wasn't a hero, I was a survivor. the heroes didn't come back. The survivors returned." Feller was the first Major League baseball player to enlist and over 45 months he earned 8 battle stars.

It's definitely not the most overrated catch in history because not only was it an amazing catch but the play prevented the Indians from taking the lead and, in the bottom of the 10th, the Giants won the game on their way to sweeping the Series.

It's not just that it was an incredible play but it was one of the most memorable plays in the history of baseball not only because of the difficulty of the play and it's importance to the outcome of the game itself.

Feller has always been known as a jerk. And you're asking Feller to comment on a play that cost his team a World Series game, so how complimentary can you really expect him to be anyway.

To be fair to Feller's comment, personally I've seen about a dozen catches in baseball that I thought were more amazing than Mays' catch.

Jim Edmonds, when he was with the Angels, made the same catch as Mays except in a full-speed dive toward the centerfield wall, sliding and nearly crashing into it. That's the best catch I've ever seen in my life.

But to ask if that's the greatest "catch" in baseball history is really the wrong question to ask. The two things that make Mays' play spectacular were:

1) It happened in the World Series;
2) It was during a critical moment in the game;

and

3) The amazing way he spun and threw the ball back to the infield to keep the runners from advancing.

So it was the catch and the throw, combined with the whole context of the game, that made it one of the greatest defensive plays in baseball history.

Willie Mays and Joe DiMaggio were really the first five-tool players in baseball history, following two players - Honus Wagner and Babe Ruth, who were sort of 4 1/2 tool players.

Honus had four tools down cold - speed, a great arm, great hitter and a great glove. He was considered a power hitter for his time but, based on his hitting stats, wouldn't be considered a power hitter today.

Babe Ruth was obviously an incredible power hitter, hit for high average and had a terrific arm. He was never considered fast, although he was though of as being pretty fast for his size, and his glove in the outfield was good but never great.

Mays had it all. Power, speed, a great glove, hit over .300 on a regular basis and a powerful arm. He is one of the few pre-1970 players who, as an athlete, could have played today and been among the elite. He would have been a Hall of Famer in any era.

Yep, Feller has always struck me as kind of a jerk.

To be fair though, Willie himself has often come across as a little stand-offish in intervies and such (especially in his older gae). Does anyone remember him at the 2008 All Star Game? he looked so much less enthusiastic than the rest of the hall of Famers, and he didn't even tip his cap or wave to thae fans when his name was called. He just stood there looking sour.

http://ohiostate.247sports.com/Board/120/Contents/Have-You-Ever-had-a-Bad-Autograph-Request-Experience-11066516

Jun 10, 2012

I must of caught Bob Feller on a bad day once. He was signing at a local card show in Cleveland for a small fee, I think $5 or $10. I think I was 12 or 13 years old at the time and was there with another buddy my same age and my dad. We were waiting in line before the signing was scheduled to start and we were like 3rd or 4th in line, which was put us right in front of the table he was signing on.

Bob Feller then showed up early and was signing items for the promoter before the scheduled start time. We didn't talk to him or bother him while he was signing for the promoter and just kept to ourselves.

There were items to sign for sale on the table as we were checking them out and they were selling the 8 x 10 photo famous shot of Bob Feller on the mound at Yankee Stadium. I saw the picture and commented to my friend that photo must be from a famous game because I see it all the time. Bob Feller was apparently listening and butted in saying "the reason you see that photo everywhere is because it was a pose on a special photo day and there weren't that many photo days back then you jackass."

At that age I was full of a little piss and vinegar and ended up saying something like f u back to him and just walked out. My dad was able to get a refund from the promoter. I'll never forget that one.

Everything I've ever heard about Feller says he was a curmudgeon, except for the time I met him. Of course, it was at a book signing (around 1990, when his book "Now Pitching, Bob Feller" came out). I had just bought a book. I was in my early 20s. He looked up and said "You never saw me pitch" and I said "yes, but my grandfather, a Yankee fan, hated you". He laughed and signed my book. Granted, he didn't give his autograph for free, but was a fun exchange.

The best observations that I've read about Bob Feller was that he was a very complex man:
https://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/newsstand/discussion/shysterball_bob_feller_is_an_incredible_ass/

There was the Bob Feller who from those who met him personally who proclaimed that he could be generous and engaging. And then there's the Bob Feller who was cranky, prickly, and self-aggrandizing. While we can obviously respect Bob Feller for his achievements on the baseball field as well as his service to his country, he was also a man who depending on your point of view, had a track record of self-centeredness, insensitivity, and ignorance.

In other words, he appeared to lack of nuance or willingness to draw critical distinctions when such distinctions are called for. He just seemed incapable or unwilling to present himself or think in a sophisticated way. He only saw things in the simplest way to put things in another perspective.

Feller is from the old school where anything resembling showboating is frowned upon. I think, rightly or wrongly, he viewed Mays as a bit of a showboater so was biased against him. On the other hand he gives Ted Williams all the credit in the world. Says he couldn't throw a pitch good enough to get him out.

They say the thing about the play, was the throw, more than the catch. And its the timing of the catch that made it great, not the actual catch. And from what I've heard Mays is a real jerk. Hell he's Bonds' godfather, where do you think he learned to be such a class act

Feller may have doubted that Robinson would make because early on Jackie lunged at fast balls and this had several observers doubting that he'd hit in the big leagues. Of course, these doubts may have been based largely on prejudice. After all, Robinson was a great breaking ball hitter, not to mention very skilled defensively and on the bases, so he could obviously help a team even if he didn't improve much against fastballs (which he did).

I don't know that much about Bob Feller. But when I was a kid and Willie Mays was still playing (about 1971), I bought a book about him in some book offer from school. I was just getting really into baseball, and my dad, who unquestionably had some racism about him, still was a big admirer of Willie Mays. But I do remember reading in that book what Willie, naturally asked to comment following game #1 of the 1954 WS, said the catch was "not really as hard as it must have looked...." So Feller's assessment of the play that turned the WS against his heavily favored team in the first game cannot be out of line IMO.

I also don't mind his 'calling them the way he sees them' as to players of his era v. modern players. Sometimes the old guys may be envious of the advantages the more recent players have, and they think-- somewhere between fantasy and reality-- of how much better they could be if they'd been born later. But that's okay, isn't it? If Bob Feller and Roy Holliday could get into a time machine and switch places, I don't know who would get the worst of it. But that's the point... nobody knows for sure, so anybody can say what they think, including those involved in the 'experiment.'