So Long, Bob.We'll Miss You!
Surprising out of all the emails sent out to the Class of '64 Bob Feller has drawn more interest than any of the others. There must be a lot of baseball fans in our class. The following two letters came from Les Levine and Barb Donaldson Shriner. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Jim
Jim,
As long as you are getting Bob Feller stories, I thought I would pass this one along. In my many years of covering sports on Cleveland radio and TV I had many opportunities to talk---I mean listen---to Bob Feller. Many times you wished he had a PR person around to protect him from himself, but he was always fabulously entertaining. I once asked him how good Satchel would have been if he had been allowed to play before he turned at least 42. Feller said, 'Satch would have been one of the top five pitchers of all time'. Naturally I asked him who were among the top five. He said, 'In no particular order, Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, and Sandy Kaufax'. Hearing only four, I asked him to repeat them. He said, 'Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, and Sandy Koufax.' As I suspected, he left no doubt who he thought was the other member of the top five.
Best wishes for a happy, healthy new year...Les Levine
Jim - Forty-three years ago my husband, Jim, was playing on an AA team in Lakewood. A teammate was Steve Feller (Bob's son) and Bob himself served as the third base coach whenever he could. One evening when the team was warming up and I was sitting in my car in the parking lot, Bob Feller pulled in next to me and proceeded to change from a business suit to his baseball uniform behind his car by the trunk. So, I saw Bob Feller in his boxers! The team won the championship that year and each member of the team got a congratulatory letter, signed by Bob Feller. Jim still has that autograph! Barb
No comments:
Post a Comment