Young Feller vs Ailing Gehrig

[Swoboda4]

Athough not a game used topic just a quick mention with Lou Gehrig's record being in the news. I recently went on the Bob Feller Museum website and saw the following item for sale.



You can purchase an autographed baseball that Bob inscribed,"I struck out Lou Gehrig-Bob Feller HOF 62".
My problem is this. Feller came up midway in 1936 at 18 yrs old. His first two full years '37,'38 were Gehrigs last two. Gehrig first noticed symptoms of ALS in 1937 which means it silently began to attack him while Feller was still in short pants .Today ALS takes 12 months to be diagnosed and in Gehrig's case it took much longer to identify and he keep playing untill he literally couldn't run anymore. He died in 1941 which means he fought this disease for 5 years.
Bob shouldn't be bragging about stiking out anyone named Gehrig any of the times he could have faced him.

[metsbats]

Gehrig's last two years were actually very productive.

1937 37 HR 159 RBIs .351 AVG 200 hits 49 SO
1938 29 HR 114 RBIs .295 AVG 170 hits 75 SO

Gehrig stuck out career high 84 times in 1927.

I'd find no fault in Rapid Robert's achievement and it's probably meant as a tribute to Gehrig's greatness more than anything (or a testament to how long Rapid Robert's been around).

It's certainly a tribute to Gehrig that he was able to produce those type of numbers during the early stages of ALS though.

[Swoboda4]

Hi David. Thank you again for the Chavez bat. I still appreciate that. Your right about the numbers. But believe it or not ,for Gehrig they're not good. Especially the .295 average. I'm just about finishing reading "Luckiest Man". Every other day in '37 things were appearing to cause problems for Gehrig. In '38 he struggled every day and received criticism by teamates and in the papers. Those numbers were miracles and a testiment to his ability. Feller is quoted in the book saying, "when he ran the bases (1938) he kept tangling his legs." So it's just my opinion but Bob,who I admire for a lot of reasons,should bragg he struck out someone 100% healthy.
Buy the "I struck out Ted Williams or DiMaggio" ball.

[metsbats]

Is there a "Babe Ruth leaned on my bat" inscribed ball

[corsairs22]

Hi David. Thank you again for the Chavez bat. I still appreciate that. Your right about the numbers. But believe it or not ,for Gehrig they're not good. Especially the .295 average. I'm just about finishing reading "Luckiest Man". Every other day in '37 things were appearing to cause problems for Gehrig. In '38 he struggled every day and received criticism by teamates and in the papers. Those numbers were miracles and a testiment to his ability. Feller is quoted in the book saying, "when he ran the bases (1938) he kept tangling his legs." So it's just my opinion but Bob,who I admire for a lot of reasons,should bragg he struck out someone 100% healthy.
Buy the "I struck out Ted Williams or DiMaggio" ball.

Feller isn't putting Gehrig down. In fact, it's kind of a tribute to Gehrig. If one of the best things you ever did was strike out a certain guy, then that guy must have been one hell of a player. And he was still Lou Gehrig for those 2 years, so I don't think it was a mean achievement.

[metsbats]

Feller isn't putting Gehrig down. In fact, it's kind of a tribute to Gehrig. If one of the best things you ever did was strike out a certain guy, then that guy must have been one hell of a player. And he was still Lou Gehrig for those 2 years, so I don't think it was a mean achievement.

"I'd find no fault in Rapid Robert's achievement and it's probably meant as a tribute to Gehrig's greatness more than anything (or a testament to how long Rapid Robert's been around)."

I agreed with that sentiment too in my previous post. Gehrigs last two years numbers would make for a career year that some of today's players would love to have had.

[Swoboda4]

I don't think he means to put Gehrig down either but striking out a guy who's slowly dying and would be dead in two years isn't something I would boast about.Srtriking out Gehrig prior to any onset of this disease fine.
Feller's a pisser though and let me tell you why. In 1993 I go to a show and ask him to sign a ball,"Robert William Andrew Feller" . He sits me down and tells me a story. When his uncle Andrew died he left him out of his will. Because of that slight Feller said he will never sign his confirmation name from uncle Andrew. So he signed the ball,"Robert William Feller". But guess what he's selling now at the Bob Feller Museum? I guess he made up with his uncle Andrew:

[metsbats]

Robert,

I can certainly see your point of view on this too. I agree Gehrig was not himself the last two seasons and whether it cheapens Feller accomplishment is a matter of opinion.

Here's a comment from Bob Feller on Lou Gehrig in an article I found on the web:

On Lou Gehrig: "I pitched against Gehrig. I knew his doctor--Dr. (Paul) O'Leary at Mayo Clinic--three years before he ever met him. My father was going to the Mayo Clinic for brain cancer treatment and I got to meet all the doctors up there, and Dr. O'Leary was one of them. Dr. O'Leary did not work on my father, though, but I did know him. That was in 1936, and Gehrig got there in May 1939. I pitched to Lou for two-and-a-half years. He was not a great curveball hitter. He was a great fastball hitter, and he was a highball hitter. I threw him a lot of overhand curveballs. He was a very quiet person. I knew his wife Eleanor, too. Of course, I knew Claire Ruth, also. I used to go with the two of them after their husbands had died to different functions, to Babe Ruth League activities usually."

Evidently Feller knew Gehrig's weakness hitting the curve ball and exploited it.

[Swoboda4]

When asked what baseball moment he wished he could revisit Feller stated he wished he could have a catch with his dad on his farm. God bless Bob Feller. End of story.


GOD BLESS BOB FELLER