Washington, D.C - Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) today introduced a resolution in the Senate honoring baseball great Bob Feller who passed away on Wednesday. Feller, a Van Meter native, was known as a great Iowan, a great baseball player and a great patriot. The resolution was cosponsored by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), George Voinovich (R-OH) and Jim Bunning (R-KY).
“This week we lost a great American,” said Harkin. “Bob Feller was one of the greatest baseball players in history, but also a decorated soldier who willingly interrupted that career to enlist in the military to serve in World War II. We do not just honor him because of his athletic achievements, we recognize him as a great American and patriot.”
“Bob Feller knew the honor and duty of being an American, and he took that responsibility very seriously. When his country needed him, he was the first to leave his professional baseball career and answer the call. And, though most will remember him for his curveball, Bob Feller most wanted to be recognized for his service in World War II defending the United States from totalitarian powers and promoting liberty and freedom around the world,” Grassley said.
Feller started his baseball career as pitcher for Van Meter High School. He went on to play 16 seasons in the major leagues, during which he had 2,581 strikeouts and 266 wins. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962. Feller also served our Nation in the Navy during World War II, enlisting two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Due to his service, he lost four baseball seasons, but has said he never regretted his choice.
Here is a copy of the text of Grassley’s statement inserted into the Congressional Record.
Mr. President, on November 3, 1918, an American hero - Robert William Andrew Feller - was born in Dallas County, Iowa near the town of Van Meter. Sadly, this same hero died on December 15, 2010.
Van Meter is nestled between the steady and rolling Raccoon River on the north side of town, and the lush and sweeping prairie hills on the south side of town.
In most ways, it is your typical rural Iowa town. There’s a post office. A few churches. A bank. A car wash and gas station. A bar and grill.
There are just under a thousand residents living in Van Meter. And so the Van Meter Bulldogs - from kindergarten through the twelfth grade - still all go to school together in the same building.
But unlike every other small town in Iowa, or America for that matter, there rests in Van Meter on Mill Street a museum paying tribute to the town’s hero and favorite son – Bob Feller.
Bob Feller was born and grew up on a farm just outside of Van Meter. Early on his father, who was a farmer, and his mother, who was a nurse and teacher, realized that their young Robert had a talent.
That talent was playing baseball. Specifically, hurling curve balls and sliders and fastballs at whoever dared to step up to the plate against young Bob Feller.
Bob Feller was so focused on baseball and so in love with the sport that his father built a regulation baseball diamond on their Dallas County farm naming it “Oak View Park.” Bob and his family recruited other players and formed a team appropriately called “The Oakviews.”
Bob Feller said his farm work and chores were what helped to develop his throwing speed and arm strength. His throwing speed and arm strength are what earned him the nicknames of “Rapid Robert” and “Bullet Bob” and “The Heater from Van Meter.”
Leveraged with a high left-leg kick and whip-like arm, Bob Feller delivered some of the fastest stuff ever to come down from a pitcher’s mound. Batters trembled facing him at home plate. Umpires needed to pay close attention. The crowds were always in awe. And Feller’s pitches were blurs.
It wasn’t too long before word spread about this baseball wonder. Soon - and still in his teens and not even having graduated high school yet - Feller was pitching to some of his boyhood heroes in front of crowds of tens of thousands of people all across America. He dazzled all who saw him play.
Barely old enough to shave, he found himself playing major league baseball for the Cleveland Indians in 1936. He faced the greatest baseball stars of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Ted Williams. Lou Gehrig. Hank Greenberg. Mickey Mantle. Nellie Fox.
Frequent opponent and purist hitter Joe DiMaggio said in 1941 about Feller, "I don’t think anyone is ever going to throw a ball faster than he does."
A sports reporter said of Feller’s pitching, "And his curveball isn’t human."
We’ve all read about Bob Feller’s amazing baseball career spent entirely with the Cleveland Indians where he was the winningest pitcher in club history with 266 wins.
He was an eight-time All Star. He captured a World Series ring in 1948. He pitched three no-hitters, including the only Opening Day no-hitter. He retired with 2,581 career strikeouts. He is enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
These are impressive statistics from arguably the best pitcher to ever take the mound. But these stats and this ‘farm to fame’ story is not what made Bob Feller a patriot or hero.
On December 7, 1941, the United States suffered a horrific attack by the Japanese when they bombed us at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Just two days later after that horrific attack, Bob Feller did something selfless - he signed up to serve in the United States Navy to fight in World War II.
This caused him to miss playing in the major leagues for a solid chunk of his career. He walked away from further baseball glory and records and achievements. Pure selflessness. He served voluntarily as a Chief Petty Officer on the USS Alabama between 1941 and 1945.
Though most will remember him for his curveball, Bob Feller most wanted to be recognized for his service in World War II defending the United States from totalitarian powers and promoting liberty and freedom around the world.
Bob Feller’s military service and love of country is what he ultimately wanted people to remember.
Across the plains there are everyday heroes serving us now, promoting security for Americans and freedom and liberty abroad. While they may not have sacrificed a professional sports career, they are still heroes and patriots nonetheless. Bob Feller would certainly agree with that assessment.
In Iowa, we grow more than just crops on the farm. We grow heroes, too. Heroes like Bob Feller. Everyday heroes.
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