Now Pitching: Bob Feller

Bob Feller offers an in-depth account of his career with the Cleveland Indians, comparing baseball of the past with the game today and discussing fellow players

After so many recent sports autobiographies by also-rans, here is one by a baseball superstar, coauthored with freelancer Gilbert, and it is well worth reading. Iowa farm boy Feller broke into the major leagues in 1936 at age 17 with the Cleveland Indians, and went on to set all sorts of records for strikeouts, no-hit and one-hit games for the next 20 years. He emerges here as a levelheaded man, able to cope with his teenage celebrity and with the triumphs and tragedies that followed, chief among them his first wife's alcoholism and drug addiction and his inability to help her. Most interesting to fans are Feller's assessments of the players he considers the best: Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and pitcher Walter Johnson. Another intriguing sidelight is the depiction of his 50-year friendship with former Iowa sports announcer Ronald Reagan. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Feller, known as "Rapid Robert" for his incredible fastball, and one of baseball's greatest pitchers, played for the Cleveland Indians from 1936 to 1956. This book is a straightforward account of his life in and out of baseball. The book is chockful of anecdotes--Feller even devotes a few pages to his famous 1948 World Series attempted pick-off play which has become part of baseball lore. He is a level-headed observer of baseball today, and he decries the general lack of teamwork--the hallmark of yesteryear--as players compete more for individual feats to bolster future salary demands than for team effort. Recommended for most libraries.
- Paul Kaplan, Highland Park P.L., Ill.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.