BOB FELLER, AMERICAN HERO

BUMPED

Thanks to a link from Kathryn Lopez, I saw on the Bluey Blog that Bob Feller participated in today's Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C.

Bob Feller, the "Heater from Van Meter," was a childhood hero of mine. He was one of the Cleveland Indians' greatest pitchers, a key man in the rotation in 1954, along with greats Early Wynn, Bob Lemon, when the Tribe won 111 games -- 8 more than the Yankees had, in what turned out to be Casey Stengel's winningest year.

But clicking through to the Bob Feller museum's website, where a handy summary sheet of "Rapid Robert's" statistics is displayed, I noticed the following entry:

1942-43-44 In Military Service.

Bob Feller, the greatest pitcher of his time, enlisted in the Navy shortly after Pearl Harbor, and served as a gun crew chief on the U.S.S. Alabama (BB-60), a 35,000 ton South-Dakota-class battleship. While aboard, he earned 5 campaign ribbons and 8 battle stars during patrols that took the Alabama from island to island, all the way to Japan.

Feller's patriotism was not exceptional in his day, but it is no less admirable because of that. A pitcher's career is limited by time, and at the height of his powers, he accepted hazardous combat duty instead. Even though President Roosevelt had offered deferments to all Major League ballplayers.

America is the land of the free, because it is the home of the brave. We will always need men like Bob Feller, on and off the field, during times of peace and times of war.