Another "sports" legend passes on. I remember him from my younger days on the sandlots of Dayton, Ohio, that high leg kick, trying to emulate Rapid Robert Feller. He was a sports icon, like Ruth and the others, Feller takes his place up there with them.
By LUKE MEREDITH, AP Sports Writer Luke Meredith, Ap Sports Writer – Thu Dec 16, 9:14 pm ET
VAN METER, Iowa – In his tiny hometown, Bob Feller was the farm boy who never forgot his roots.
The flags that defined him — those representing the United States, the Navy and the Cleveland Indians — flew at half-staff on a snowy Thursday morning at the Bob Feller Museum, a day after he died of acute leukemia at the age of 92.
"It's such a great loss. Bob was a guy who was a little bit bigger than life," said museum member Ed Brown, who stopped in to drop off flowers. "He had a lot of pride about being an Iowan and about the game of baseball."
Feller's path toward the Hall of Fame began to take shape at age 16 when he caught the attention of an Indians scout. In 1936, he made his first major league start two months before his 18th birthday, showing off a rocket right arm he claimed was strengthened by doing chores at home.
Soon, every sports fan had heard about "Rapid Robert." They also knew of his "Heater from Van Meter" — hard to say whether they all realized the nickname came from this dot of a town west of Des Moines.
Feller won 266 games in 18 seasons with the Indians despite missing three full years and most of a fourth for service during World War II. He was the first pitcher to win 20 games before he was 21 and was chosen for eight All-Star games.
Elected to Cooperstown in his first year of eligibility, he enjoyed more than half his life as a Hall of Famer.
