BB: Requiem in pace (R.I.P.)

[bulk19]

I think the Veterans' Committee will eventually do the right thing and give Santo his deserved place in the Hall of Fame...

[CrashDavisD3]

Bob Feller, the Iowa farm boy whose powerful right arm earned him the nickname "Rapid Robert" and made him one of baseball's greatest pitchers during a Hall of Fame career with the Cleveland Indians, has died. He was 92.

Feller died at 9:15 p.m. on Wednesday night of acute leukemia at a hospice, said Bob DiBiasio, the Indians vice president of public relations.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/sns-ap-bba-obit-feller,0,2756027.story

[Ralph Turner]

Bob Feller, the Iowa farm boy whose powerful right arm earned him the nickname "Rapid Robert" and made him one of baseball's greatest pitchers during a Hall of Fame career with the Cleveland Indians, has died. He was 92.

Feller died at 9:15 p.m. on Wednesday night of acute leukemia at a hospice, said Bob DiBiasio, the Indians vice president of public relations.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/sns-ap-bba-obit-feller,0,2756027.story

His numbers would no doubt have been even greater had his career not been interrupted by World War II.

The first pitcher to win 20 games before he was 21, Feller was enshrined in Cooperstown in 1962, his first year of eligibility.

...

Stirred by Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Feller enlisted in the Navy the following day — the first major league player to do so. He served as a gun captain on the USS Alabama, earning several battle commendations and medals.

He missed the 1942-1944 seasons, when he was age 23-25..

Perhaps his arm was not incurring repetitive stress during those years as his skeleton matured and he was able to have the success that he did.

[Jim Dixon]

The original phenom.  at the age Strasburg  threw his first major league pitch, Feller already had led the AL in strikeouts.

I need to check my files but a relative of Bob Feller is playing in D-III baseball.  I think it it a Mid-Atlantic team in Penn.

[CrashDavisD3]

Bob Feller Career Numbers
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/F/bob-feller.shtml

[CrashDavisD3]

Phil Cavarretta, the 1945 National League MVP who led the Chicago Cubs to their last World Series appearance, died Saturday. He was 94.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Cavarretta

http://news.yahoo.com/s//ap/20101219/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbo_obit_cavarretta

[Piobark]

Walt Dropo passed away this morning... former AL Rookie of the Year

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/news/story?id=5934459

This thread is getting way too much activity.... 

[CrashDavisD3]

Walt Dropo passed away this morning... former AL Rookie of the Year

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/news/story?id=5934459

This thread is getting way too much activity.... 

[bulk19]

Never saw him play, but did hear him speak... Ryne Duren, 1-6-11...

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/07/2005462/former-major-league-reliever-ryne.html

[Mr. Ypsi]

Never saw him play, but did hear him speak... Ryne Duren, 1-6-11...

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/07/2005462/former-major-league-reliever-ryne.html

While I would have no hope of getting a hit against ANY major league pitcher, you could not pay me enough to be in the batter's box against Ryne Duren!

Nolan Ryan may have been even more wild in his early days, but Ryne NEVER got control.   Worked pretty well for him, though - I think many batters were as intimidated as I would have been!

[CrashDavisD3]

Never saw him play, but did hear him speak... Ryne Duren, 1-6-11...

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/07/2005462/former-major-league-reliever-ryne.html

While I would have no hope of getting a hit against ANY major league pitcher, you could not pay me enough to be in the batter's box against Ryne Duren!

Nolan Ryan may have been even more wild in his early days, but Ryne NEVER got control.   Worked pretty well for him, though - I think many batters were as intimidated as I would have been!

[Ralph Turner]

We almost never got NY Yankees in the packages of bubble gum in Texas.  Six cards for a nickel pack of gum.  16 teams in MLB in 1959.  I should have gotten a NYY card in every 3rd pack.  No such luck!!!!

I think that that is 1959 baseball card for Duren.  (Any other fans know definitely? This blogger says it is the  1959 card.)

I think that the only Yankees' cards that I got were Duren, Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek and Cletus Boyer

[Mr. Ypsi]

We almost never got NY Yankees in the packages of bubble gum in Texas.  Six cards for a nickel pack of gum.  16 teams in MLB in 1959.  I should have gotten a NYY card in every 3rd pack.  No such luck!!!!

I think that that is 1959 baseball card for Duren.  (Any other fans know definitely? This blogger says it is the  1959 card.)

I think that the only Yankees' cards that I got were Duren, Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek and Cletus Boyer

I had a pretty full set of Yankees cards (including TWO Mickey Mantle rookie cards), but I was quite the nerd as a kid (before nerds were cool! ) and had a fairly complete set for most teams.

I probably could have nearly financed my two sons' education selling those cards - but while I was at college, my mother threw them out!!  If she wasn't 93 years old and (otherwise) a saint, I would probably have to kill her!

[bulk19]

Ralph - Go to the head of the class, or take a seat in the front row!
That is, indeed, a 1959 Topps Ryne Duren card...

[Ralph Turner]

Ralph - Go to the head of the class, or take a seat in the front row!
That is, indeed, a 1959 Topps Ryne Duren card...

I used to be able to recognize the Topps cards by years and their respective yearly formats.

My allowance was  25 cents per week  ($1.82 in 2009 dollars), which allowed me to buy either a Dreamsicle or a package of ball cards each day as I walked the 0.6 mi home.