The flame-throwing farm boy from Van Meter who went straight from an Iowa cornfield to baseball's Hall of Fame.
Robert William Andrew Feller was born on November 3, 1918, on a farm near Van Meter, Iowa, where his father built him a ballfield. Signed as a teenager, “Rapid Robert” struck out big-league hitters before he had finished high school.
A star pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, he threw three no-hitters and a record number of one-hitters. After Pearl Harbor he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, giving up nearly four prime seasons to wartime service.
Feller was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, and his decision to leave baseball at his peak to serve in World War II made him a model of patriotism. The Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter tells his story.
He is among the greatest athletes Iowa has produced.
The flame-throwing farm boy from Van Meter who went straight from an Iowa cornfield to baseball's Hall of Fame.
Bob Feller was from Van Meter, Iowa.
1918–2010.
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Portrait: Wikimedia Commons (public domain or freely licensed).