Bob Feller, baseball player, 1936-1956

Bob Feller

⭐ Hall of Fame 1962

Born: 11/3/1918 in Van Meter, IA, USA

Died: 12/15/2010 in Cleveland, OH, USA

MLB Debut: 1936-07-19 | Final Game: 1956-09-30

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'0" | Weight: 185 lbs

Full name: Robert William Andrew Feller

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Biography

Bob Feller, born in 1918, was an iconic American pitcher whose career spanned from 1936 to 1956. Known for his blazing fastball and fierce competitive spirit, Feller became one of the most dominant pitchers of his era, accumulating a career record of 266 wins and 162 losses. His impressive earned run average (ERA) of 3.25 and his remarkable total of 2,581 strikeouts solidified his reputation as a formidable force on the mound. Feller also recorded 21 saves throughout his career, showcasing his versatility and ability to close out games. Feller was an eight-time All-Star and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, marking his enduring legacy in the sport. He played during a transformative time in baseball, witnessing the game's evolution through the Great Depression and World War II, during which he served in the Navy. His contributions to the game and his remarkable performance have made him a legendary figure in baseball history, often celebrated for his sportsmanship and dedication to the sport.

Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
37.0 36.0 3.0 3.0 0 0 1.0 1.0 0 5.0 0 0.083 0.083 0.167 0.250

Pitching

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
25.0 0 0 30.0 1.0 0 0 0.0 86.0 29.0 19.0 3.0 0 0 1.46

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1936 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
1937 2.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 0 0 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0.500 0.500 2.000 2.500
1939 3.0 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
1941 2.0 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
1945 3.0 3.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
1946 15.0 15.0 0 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 2.0 0 0.133 0.133 0.133 0.266
1947 11.0 11.0 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Season W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
1936 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
1937 2.0 0 0 2.0 0 0 0 0.0 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
1939 2.0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0.0 5.0 2.0 2.0 0 0 0 2.57
1941 3.0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 1.80
1945 1.0 0 0 2.0 0 0 0 0.0 4.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
1946 14.0 0 0 16.0 0 0 0 0.0 43.0 15.0 9.0 1.0 0 0 1.56
1947 3.0 0 0 7.0 1.0 0 0 0.0 29.0 11.0 7.0 2.0 0 0 1.85

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
266 162 570 484 279 44 21 3827.0 3271 1384 224 1764 2581 3.25 0

Career ERA 3.25 vs. league average 4.07 across their career seasons — 20.0% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1936 CLE AL 5 3 14 8 5 0 1 62.0 52 23 47 76 3.34 4.59 (+27%) 1576.0
1937 CLE AL 9 7 26 19 9 0 1 148.7 116 56 106 150 3.39 4.34 (+22%) 2396.4
1938 CLE AL 17 11 39 36 20 2 1 277.7 225 126 208 240 4.08 4.35 (+6%) 381.0
1939 CLE AL 24 9 39 35 24 4 1 296.7 227 94 142 246 2.85 4.28 (+33%) 6614.7
1940 CLE AL 27 11 43 37 31 4 4 320.3 245 93 118 261 2.61 4.21 (+38%) 9933.4
1941 CLE AL 25 13 44 40 28 6 2 343.0 284 120 194 260 3.15 3.94 (+20%) 3117.7
1945 CLE AL 5 3 9 9 7 1 0 72.0 50 20 35 59 2.50 3.67 (+32%) 1583.8
1946 CLE AL 26 15 48 42 36 10 4 371.3 277 90 153 348 2.18 3.59 (+39%) 12370.7
1947 CLE AL 20 11 42 37 20 5 3 299.0 230 89 127 196 2.68 3.97 (+33%) 4243.0
1948 CLE AL 19 15 44 38 18 2 3 280.3 255 111 116 164 3.56 4.10 (+13%) 2300.6
1949 CLE AL 15 14 36 28 15 0 0 211.0 198 88 84 108 3.75 4.12 (+9%) 1726.8
1950 CLE AL 16 11 35 34 16 3 0 247.0 230 94 103 119 3.43 4.36 (+21%) 2432.2
1951 CLE AL 22 8 33 32 16 4 0 249.7 239 97 95 111 3.50 4.04 (+13%) 517.2
1952 CLE AL 9 13 30 30 11 0 0 191.7 219 101 83 81 4.74 3.70 (-28%) -352.2
1953 CLE AL 10 7 25 25 10 1 0 175.7 163 70 60 60 3.59 4.14 (+13%) -139.9
1954 CLE AL 13 3 19 19 9 1 0 140.0 127 48 39 59 3.09 3.90 (+21%) 847.2
1955 CLE AL 4 4 25 11 2 1 0 83.0 71 32 31 25 3.47 4.00 (+13%) -42.6
1956 CLE AL 0 4 19 4 2 0 1 58.0 63 32 23 18 4.97 3.96 (-25%) -796.9

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
570 1282 99 193 28 13 8 99 1 100 505 0.151 0.214 0.211 0.425 -8227.0

Career AVG .151 vs. league average .265 across their career seasons — 43.2% below league average.

Career OBP .214 vs. league average .337 across their career seasons — 36.6% below league average.

Career SLG .211 vs. league average .385 across their career seasons — 45.1% below league average.

Career OPS 0.425 vs. league average 0.722 across their career seasons — 41.1% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1936 CLE AL 14 22 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0.136 — — — — 0.0
1937 CLE AL 26 53 1 9 1 1 0 9 0 3 17 0.170 .276 (-39%) .342 (-37%) .398 (-43%) .740 (-40%) -377.4
1938 CLE AL 39 94 6 17 3 1 0 13 0 11 32 0.181 .272 (-34%) .341 (-22%) .392 (-40%) .734 (-32%) -518.2
1939 CLE AL 39 99 14 21 5 1 0 7 0 14 35 0.212 .274 (-23%) .342 (-8%) .393 (-28%) .735 (-19%) -298.1
1940 CLE AL 43 115 7 18 5 1 2 12 0 8 45 0.157 .267 (-41%) .335 (-37%) .387 (-30%) .722 (-33%) -699.9
1941 CLE AL 44 120 11 18 1 4 1 12 0 8 44 0.150 .262 (-43%) .332 (-37%) .373 (-33%) .705 (-35%) -753.9
1945 CLE AL 9 25 2 4 0 0 0 1 0 3 12 0.160 — — — — 0.0
1946 CLE AL 48 124 9 16 1 1 0 7 0 9 49 0.129 .256 (-50%) .328 (-43%) .358 (-57%) .687 (-50%) -1054.0
1947 CLE AL 42 98 8 18 3 2 0 7 0 8 38 0.184 .262 (-30%) .336 (-27%) .376 (-32%) .712 (-30%) -522.1
1948 CLE AL 44 95 1 9 2 0 0 3 0 1 39 0.095 .263 (-64%) .340 (-67%) .379 (-69%) .719 (-68%) -1131.2
1949 CLE AL 36 72 7 17 2 1 2 10 0 2 23 0.236 .262 (-10%) .343 (-25%) .384 (-2%) .727 (-13%) -198.8
1950 CLE AL 35 83 7 10 0 1 2 5 1 5 33 0.120 .265 (-55%) .346 (-51%) .401 (-46%) .747 (-48%) -731.2
1951 CLE AL 33 81 10 10 1 0 0 3 0 8 36 0.123 .260 (-53%) .336 (-40%) .385 (-65%) .721 (-53%) -730.3
1952 CLE AL 30 60 5 7 2 0 1 8 0 8 31 0.117 .252 (-54%) .326 (-32%) .369 (-46%) .696 (-40%) -391.0
1953 CLE AL 25 56 3 6 1 0 0 1 0 6 23 0.107 .264 (-59%) .335 (-42%) .397 (-69%) .733 (-57%) -536.6
1954 CLE AL 19 48 6 9 1 0 0 1 0 4 17 0.188 — — — — -284.3
1955 CLE AL 25 21 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 12 0.048 — — — — 0.0
1956 CLE AL 19 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 0.000 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1948 WS CLE 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 2 2 2 0 14.3 10 8 5 7 5.02

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1948 WS CLE 0 2 2 2 0 14.3 10 8 5 7 5.02

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 570 34 146 510 25 28

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1936 CLE P 14 0 0 5 0 0
1937 CLE P 26 0 0 27 2 1
1938 CLE P 39 0 8 37 3 1
1939 CLE P 39 0 8 44 3 2
1940 CLE P 43 0 5 34 2 2
1941 CLE P 44 0 12 50 1 1
1945 CLE P 9 0 7 4 0 0
1946 CLE P 48 0 13 47 1 2
1947 CLE P 42 0 17 50 1 2
1948 CLE P 44 0 16 39 2 1
1949 CLE P 36 0 12 19 1 2
1950 CLE P 35 0 8 23 0 2
1951 CLE P 33 0 6 32 2 2
1952 CLE P 30 0 13 34 3 1
1953 CLE P 25 0 10 31 0 5
1954 CLE P 19 19 7 15 0 2
1955 CLE P 25 11 2 11 3 2
1956 CLE P 19 4 2 8 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 570

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1951 TSN Pitcher of the Year
1947 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1947 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1947 TSN All-Star P
1946 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1946 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1946 TSN All-Star P
1941 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1941 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1941 TSN All-Star P
1940 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1940 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1940 Pitching Triple Crown
1940 TSN All-Star P
1940 TSN Major League Player of the Year
1939 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1939 Baseball Magazine All-Star P3
1939 TSN All-Star P

Featured In Rankings

#22
Top 25 Starting Pitchers in History of MLB Baseball
Ranked 22 of 25
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Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1951 Most Valuable Player AL 5th 118.0 336 0
1948 Most Valuable Player AL 23th 6.0 336 0
1947 Most Valuable Player AL 8th 58.0 336 0
1946 Most Valuable Player AL 6th 105.0 336 1
1941 Most Valuable Player AL 3rd 174.0 336 0
1940 Most Valuable Player AL 2nd 222.0 336 6
1939 Most Valuable Player AL 3rd 155.0 336 3