Hall of Fame: Bob Feller (1962)

He may be controversial, but he was one of the best pitchers of all-time.

Year Team     G  GS  CG SHO  GF  SV   IP      H   BFP  HR    R   ER   BB   SO  SH  WP HBP  BK   W   L   ERA
1936 CLE A   14   8   5   0   5   1   62     52   279   1   29   23   47   76   1   8   4   3   5   3   3.34
1937 CLE A   26  19   9   0   4   1  148.2  116   651   4   68   56  106  150  12   5   2   2   9   7   3.39
1938 CLE A   39  36  20   2   3   1  277.2  225  1248  13  136  126  208  240  11   5   7   1  17  11   4.08
1939 CLE A   39  35  24   4   3   1  296.2  227  1243  13  105   94  142  246  17  14   3   1  24   9   2.85
1940 CLE A   43  37  31   4   5   4  320.1  245  1304  13  102   93  118  261  13   8   5   0  27  11   2.61
1941 CLE A   44  40  28   6   4   2  343    284  1466  15  129  120  194  260  13   6   5   0  25  13   3.15
1945 CLE A    9   9   7   1   0   0   72     50   300   1   21   20   35   59   3   1   2   0   5   3   2.50
1946 CLE A   48  42  36  10   5   4  371.1  277  1512  11  101   90  153  348  25   3   3   0  26  15   2.18
1947 CLE A   42  37  20   5   4   3  299    230  1218  17   97   89  127  196  15   7   4   2  20  11   2.68
1948 CLE A   44  38  18   2   3   3  280.1  255  1186  20  123  111  116  164  11   2   2   0  19  15   3.56
1949 CLE A   36  28  15   0   6   0  211    198   894  18  104   88   84  108   9   3   1   1  15  14   3.75
1950 CLE A   35  34  16   3   0   0  247    230  1055  20  105   94  103  119  14   3   5   0  16  11   3.43
1951 CLE A   33  32  16   4   1   0  249.2  239  1061  22  105   97   95  111  13   2   7   0  22   8   3.50
1952 CLE A   30  30  11   0   0   0  191.2  219   869  13  124  101   83   81  22   1   3   1   9  13   4.74
1953 CLE A   25  25  10   1   0   0  175.2  163   721  16   78   70   60   60   8   1   3   1  10   7   3.59
1954 CLE A   19  19   9   1   0   0  140    127   580  13   53   48   39   59   2   0   3   0  13   3   3.09
1955 CLE A   25  11   2   1   4   0   83     71   340   7   43   32   31   25   2   0   1   0   4   4   3.47
1956 CLE A   19   4   2   0   5   1   58     63   253   7   34   32   23   18   3   0   0   1   0   4   4.97
Total(18 y) 570 484 279  44  52  21 3827   3271 16180 224 1557 1384 1764 2581 194  69  60  13 266 162   3.25

8 All-Star Games (1938-1941, 1946-1948, 1950)


Robert William Andrew Feller was born on November 3, 1918 in Van Meter, Iowa. The son of a farmer and avid baseball fan, Feller grew up doing farm chores, but he also had a healthy love for the game of baseball. His father would create a "field of dreams" on their farm, but it was a full stadium with seats and a scoreboard. Bill Feller, Bob's father, recruited people to play, and his son was the star. The younger Feller went on to play for his high school, where he became a local sensation. Scout Cy Slapnicka signed the young flamethrower for $1 and an autographed baseball.

But like many things in regard to Feller, his career began in controversy. Slapnicka was made GM of the Indians before Feller ever played a minor-league game, and Slapnicka transferred Feller's contract through some minor-league teams before bringing him up. This broke league rules, and Kenesaw Landis was on it. However, he awarded Feller to the Indians after testimony from Feller and his father substantiated Slapnicka's claimes, but Landis never really believed them. In his first major-league start in 1936, he struck out 15 St. Louis Browns, and not too long after, he struck out 17 Philadelphia Athletics (both of which were the worst teams in the AL that season, but it was still impressive). Feller's arm was legendary from the beginning, and he did nothing to keep it from growing. He pitched his entire career with Cleveland. He won 266 games, and he may have won more if World War II hadn't taken 4 years from him (Feller was legendary even on the battlefield as he won 8 battle stars and 5 campaign ribbons). In addition, Feller led the league in wins and strikeouts 6 times, though he also led it 4 times in walks (he was notoriously wild, making comparisons to Nolan Ryan acceptable), but he only led the league in ERA once.

There's an interesting story about Feller's arm. Supposedly, he learned how to throw by throwing against his barn in Iowa, and all the farmwork made him very strong. Some people believe he has thrown the hardest fastball ever, even better than Nolan Ryan's. Nolan Ryan hit 102 on the radar gun, but some players who hit against both said that Feller threw harder. Now, you really have to take that with a grain of salt -- Feller could have been more deceptive, etc. --, but that would mean that Feller threw at least 103. One day, someone brought Feller to some army equipment designed to measure the velocity of artillery shells, but he only threw 98. However, that was at the end of his career, and there were a couple instances where radar guns read 104 and 107 earlier in his career. Can you believe it? Regardless of how fast it actually went, it's interesting to note that Feller usually gives credit to his curveball and slider for all those strikeouts.

By 1951, Feller's career was winding down, but his 22-win 1951 was still very impressive. His ERA jumped more than a point the next season to 4.74, and he became an effective spot-starter for the next 3 seasons. At age 37 in 1956, his arm had enough. Five years later in 1962, he became the first player since Walter Johnson to be elected in his first year of eligibility, and he was the first player voted in by the BBWAA since 1956.

Hall of Fame: Joe Cronin (1956)

His number 4 has been retired by the Red Sox.

Year Team    G    AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   BB   SO HBP  SH GDP   SB  CS   AVG   OBP   SLG
1926 PIT N  38    83    9   22   2   2   0   11    6   15   0   3        0   0  .265  .315  .337
1927 PIT N  12    22    2    5   1   0   0    3    2    3   0   0        0   0  .227  .292  .273
1928 WAS A  63   227   23   55  10   4   0   25   22   27   0  10        4   0  .242  .309  .322
1929 WAS A 145   494   72  139  29   8   8   61   85   37   1  21        5   9  .281  .388  .421
1930 WAS A 154   587  127  203  41   9  13  126   72   36   5  22       17  10  .346  .422  .513
1931 WAS A 156   611  103  187  44  13  12  126   81   52   4   4       10   9  .306  .391  .480
1932 WAS A 143   557   95  177  43  18   6  116   66   45   3   3        7   5  .318  .393  .492
1933 WAS A 152   602   89  186  45  11   5  118   87   49   2   5        5   4  .309  .398  .445
1934 WAS A 127   504   68  143  30   9   7  101   53   28   1   9        8   0  .284  .353  .421
1935 BOS A 144   556   70  164  37  14   9   95   63   40   3   8        3   3  .295  .370  .460
1936 BOS A  81   295   36   83  22   4   2   43   32   21   1   6        1   3  .281  .354  .403
1937 BOS A 148   570  102  175  40   4  18  110   84   73   6  11        5   3  .307  .402  .486
1938 BOS A 143   530   98  172  51   5  17   94   91   60   5  11        7   5  .325  .428  .536
1939 BOS A 143   520   97  160  33   3  19  107   87   48   0  20  18    6   6  .308  .407  .492
1940 BOS A 149   548  104  156  35   6  24  111   83   65   1  13   6    7   5  .285  .380  .502
1941 BOS A 143   518   98  161  38   8  16   95   82   55   1  14  20    1   4  .311  .406  .508
1942 BOS A  45    79    7   24   3   0   4   24   15   21   0   1   3    0   1  .304  .415  .494
1943 BOS A  59    77    8   24   4   0   5   29   11    4   0   0   3    0   0  .312  .398  .558
1944 BOS A  76   191   24   46   7   0   5   28   34   19   1   5   7    1   4  .241  .358  .356
1945 BOS A   3     8    1    3   0   0   0    1    3    2   0   0   0    0   0  .375  .545  .375
20 Years) 2124  7579 1233 2285 515 118 170 1424 1059  700  34 166  57i  87  71  .301  .390  .468

7 All-Star Games (1933-1935, 1937-1939, 1941)


Joseph Edward Cronin was born on October 12, 1906 in San Francisco, California. He was signed before the 1925 season by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he wasn't a particularly impressive shortstop prospect. In his brief time with the Pirates in 1926 and 1927, he didn't play all that much or well when he did play, but he did enough to catch the eye of Joe Engel, a scout for the Washington Senators. Engel bought Cronin away from the Pirates for $7,500 and brought him to Washington. Owner Clark Griffith wasn't amused and threatened to fire Engel.

Cronin's 1928 season wasn't really an indication that his career was going to turn around, but when he received a full season's worth of at-bats in 1929, he took full advantage. Cronin really broke out a season later with career-highs in RBI (126) and batting average (.346), and he won the Sporting News Player of the Year Award (sadly, the recognized MVP's of today weren't started until 1931 -- more on that in November). He continued to hit over the next few seasons, gaining the favor of fans and Griffith. Griffith introduced Cronin to his niece, and the two were soon married in 1934. In 1933, he had become the player-manager of the Senators and led them to a World Series, but his career and life in Washington weren't to be.

Griffith sold his star player and nephew-in-law (is there such a term?) to the Boston Red Sox after the 1934 season, but he ensured that Cronin received a 5-year/$250,000 contract when he did. His Boston career began a bit inauspiciously, but the years from 1938-1941 were some of Cronin's best. The career shortstop would continue to lead the Red Sox as player-manager in his time there, but in 1942, he began taking over as primarily the manager. A youngster by the name of Johnny Pesky was making a name for himself, and Cronin took himself out of the lineup. Cronin played until 1945, and though Pesky went off to World War II, Cronin's last 4 seasons were still spent primarily as a pinch-hitter.

Cronin went on to become GM of the Red Sox in 1947, where he somewhat infamously never brought up an African-American player to play for his team, and he became the American League President in 1959 (the year Pumpsie Green made his debut). Three years before that, the BBWAA saw fit to elect Cronin to the Hall of Fame with 152 of 196 votes (78.8%).

Hall of Fame: Hank Greenberg (1956)

It has often been wondered, "What might have been ..."

Year Team     G    AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   BB   SO HBP  SH GDP   SB  CS   AVG   OBP   SLG
1930 DET A    1     1    0    0   0   0   0    0    0    0   0   0        0   0  .000  .000  .000
1933 DET A  117   449   59  135  33   3  12   87   46   78   1   2        6   2  .301  .367  .468
1934 DET A  153   593  118  201  63   7  26  139   63   93   2   9        9   5  .339  .404  .600
1935 DET A  152   619  121  203  46  16  36  170   87   91   0   4        4   3  .328  .411  .628
1936 DET A   12    46   10   16   6   2   1   16    9    6   0   0        1   0  .348  .455  .630
1937 DET A  154   594  137  200  49  14  40  183  102  101   3   2        8   3  .337  .436  .668
1938 DET A  155   556  144  175  23   4  58  146  119   92   3   3        7   5  .315  .438  .683
1939 DET A  138   500  112  156  42   7  33  112   91   95   2  11   8    8   3  .312  .420  .622
1940 DET A  148   573  129  195  50   8  41  150   93   75   1   3  15    6   3  .340  .433  .670
1941 DET A   19    67   12   18   5   1   2   12   16   12   0   0   1    1   0  .269  .410  .463
1945 DET A   78   270   47   84  20   2  13   60   42   40   0   0   9    3   1  .311  .404  .544
1946 DET A  142   523   91  145  29   5  44  127   80   88   0   1  17    5   1  .277  .373  .604
1947 PIT N  125   402   71  100  13   2  25   74  104   73   4   0  16    0      .249  .408  .478
Total NL    125   402   71  100  13   2  25   74  104   73   4   0  16    0      .249  .408  .478
Total AL   1269  4791  980 1528 366  69 306 1202  748  771  12  35  50i  58  26  .319  .412  .616
Total      1394  5193 1051 1628 379  71 331 1276  852  844  16  35  66i  58  26i .313  .412  .605

2 MVP Awards (1935, 1940)
4 All-Star Games (1937-1940)


The first "Hammerin' Hank" was born on January 1, 1911 in the Bronx. Henry Benjamin Greenberg was a physical specimen at 6'4" and 215 lbs. while in high school, but his coordination was actually quite poor. His high school coach would later recall that Greenberg worked so hard because he was afraid of being embarassed. Overcoming his possible physical shortcomings (or tallcomings?), Greenberg was a two-sport star in baseball and, you guessed it, basketball, but Greenberg was always more interested in baseball. The Giants came calling, but McGraw eventually deemed him too awkward. The Yankees came next (a devout Jew, the Yankees saw the possible draw of a Jewish star in New York), but with Lou Gehrig seemingly cemented at first, Greenberg said no. In January of 1930, he finally signed with the Detroit Tigers.

Greenberg spent 3 seasons in the minors, but after nailing 32 dingers in 1932, the Tigers found a spot for him in 1933. He made an instant impact, lacing 33 doubles and 12 homers while hitting .301. Playing 153 games in 1934, Greenberg broke out. 63 doubles, 26 home runs, 139 RBI's and a 1.005 OPS later (.339 batting average), Greenberg was a star, but his most famous game was one he didn't play, sitting out Yom Kippur during a pennant race. A season later, he was an MVP, but it didn't end well. During the regular season, he hit .328 with 46 doubles, 36 home runs, and an astounding 170 RBI's, but he wasn't an All-Star (he had 103 RBI's by the break!! What happened?). However, once he led the Tigers to a World Series they would ultimately win, he broke his wrist in the second game of the World Series. When the next season rolled around, he broke the same wrist again, 12 games into the season. It appeared that his career was over.

But Greenberg was used to overcoming the odds. His 1937 campaign was a masterpiece. He hit .337/.436/.668 with 49 doubles and 40 home runs, and he made a run at Hack Wilson's RBI record when he posted 183. Greenberg belted 58 more home runs, nearing Ruth's record and tying Jimmie Foxx's for righties, a year later. 1939 was okay, but he did something truly remarkable for a man of his stature -- moved to left field to accomodate a younger player, Rudy York. It worked as the Tigers won the pennant. In 1941, he was inducted into service to be discharged a little later, but after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he re-enlisted, this time to the Air Corps. He served in the Pacific Arena with distinction, but he missed out on 4 and a half seasons of his prime. When he came back, he acted as if nothing had happened, hitting a home run in his first game. 1946 was another great season, but after a salary dispute with the Tigers owner, he was sent to Pittsburgh. Greenberg threatened to retire, but the Pirates convinced him to come back for one more season. Though he didn't hit all that great, his biggest contribution was mentoring Ralph Kiner, who would lead a Hall of Fame career.

Greenberg retired to the Cleveland Indians front office after the season. He would become general manager and was an advocate of bringing African-Americans into the game (I wonder if that had to do with his military service or empathy due to the Anti-Semitism he faced). In 1956, he finally became a member of the Hall of Fame when he garned 164 of 193 votes (85%).

Hall of Fame: Gabby Hartnett (1955)

Year Team    G    AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   BB IBB   SO HBP  SH SB  CS   AVG   OBP   SLG
1922 CHI N  31    72    4   14   1   1   0    4    6   0i   8   0   4  1   0  .194  .256  .236
1923 CHI N  85   231   28   62  12   2   8   39   25       22   3   4  4   0  .268  .347  .442
1924 CHI N 111   354   56  106  17   7  16   67   39       37   5   9 10   2  .299  .377  .523
1925 CHI N 117   398   61  115  28   3  24   67   36       77   2   7  1   5  .289  .351  .555
1926 CHI N  93   284   35   78  25   3   8   41   32       37   2   7  0   0  .275  .352  .468
1927 CHI N 127   449   56  132  32   5  10   80   44       42   3  13  2   0  .294  .361  .454
1928 CHI N 120   388   61  117  26   9  14   57   65       32   2   9  3   0  .302  .404  .523
1929 CHI N  25    22    2    6   2   1   1    9    5        5   0   1  1   0  .273  .407  .591
1930 CHI N 141   508   84  172  31   3  37  122   55       62   1  14  0      .339  .404  .630
1931 CHI N 116   380   53  107  32   1   8   70   52       48   1   5  3      .282  .370  .434
1932 CHI N 121   406   52  110  25   3  12   52   51       59   1   4  0      .271  .354  .436
1933 CHI N 140   490   55  135  21   4  16   88   37       51   0   8  1      .276  .326  .433
1934 CHI N 130   438   58  131  21   1  22   90   37       46   3   9  0      .299  .358  .502
1935 CHI N 116   413   67  142  32   6  13   91   41       46   1   6  1      .344  .404  .545
1936 CHI N 121   424   49  130  25   6   7   64   30       36   6   8  0      .307  .361  .443
1937 CHI N 110   356   47  126  21   6  12   82   43       19   0   6  0      .354  .424  .548
1938 CHI N  88   299   40   82  19   1  10   59   48       17   3   3  1      .274  .380  .445
1939 CHI N  97   306   36   85  18   2  12   59   37       32   1   7  0      .278  .358  .467
1940 CHI N  37    64    3   17   3   0   1   12    8        7   0   1  0      .266  .347  .359
1941 NY  N  64   150   20   45   5   0   5   26   12       14   1   2  0      .300  .356  .433
Total     1990  6432  867 1912 396  64 236 1179  703   0i 697  35 127 28   7i .297  .370  .489

1 MVP Award (1935)
6 All-Star Games (1933-1938)


Born on December 20, 1900, Charles Leo Hartnett would die exactly 72 years later (something I'd like to do). His father was a great defensive catcher for a semi-pro team, and he would teach his four sons the skills for the "tools of ignorance". As a child, Hartnett broke his arm, and when it didn't heal properly, his mother forced him to carry things with his right arm in order to exercise it, leading to a very strong arm. Harnett went on to play for any team he could find, and his break came in 1921 when the Chicago Cubs signed him.

He would play sparingly in his first season in 1922 and double his games the following season, and the most noteworthy thing he did was not talk (he was shy), which led to his nickname. When he finally got his shot in 1924, he made it count, coming in 15th in the MVP voting, with a .299/.377/.523 line, though he led the league in strikeouts. Hartnett followed that up by coming in second in the league the following season with 24 home runs. Four years later, he had a mysterious injury to his arm. With his new bride, he came to bring training, and his arm was pronounced "dead". He would only catch one game that year.

After the birth of his son, his arm was better, and he had a terrific 1930 campaign. He belted a career-high (and then record for catchers) 27 home runs and 122 RBI with an amazing 1.034 OPS. In 1932, he was behind the plate when Babe Ruth called his home run. Three years later, Hartnett won his only MVP Award by hitting .344 and leading in several defensive categories. His most famous moment came in 1928 when he hit his "Homer in the Gloamin'" to help the Cubbies win the pennant. By the end of his career in 1941 (his only season not as a Cub -- with the Giants), he held many of the offensive records for catchers, and his mask and bat were sent to the Hall of Fame.

Hartnett waited 14 years to find himself in the Hall of Fame. In 1955, he received 195 of 251 (77.7%) of the vote for his enshrinement.

Hall of Fame: Dazzy Vance (1955)

Not a looker.

Year	Age	Tm		W	L		ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	HBP	BF	ERA+	WHIP
1915	24	TOT		0	4	.000	4.11	9	4	4	1	0	0	30.2	26	17	14	1	21	18	3	134	71	1.533
1915	24	PIT	NL	0	1	.000	10.12	1	1	0	0	0	0	2.2	3	3	3	0	5	0	1	14	27	3.000
1915	24	NYY	AL	0	3	.000	3.54	8	3	4	1	0	0	28.0	23	14	11	1	16	18	2	120	83	1.393
1918	27	NYY	AL	0	0		15.43	2	0	1	0	0	0	2.1	9	5	4	0	2	0	0	15	18	4.714
1922	31	BRO	NL	18	12	.600	3.70	36	30	4	16	5	0	245.2	259	122	101	9	94	134	8	1069	111	1.437
1923	32	BRO	NL	18	15	.545	3.50	37	35	2	21	3	0	280.1	263	127	109	10	100	197	11	1187	111	1.295
1924	33	BRO	NL	28	6	.824	2.16	35	34	1	30	3	0	308.1	238	89	74	11	77	262	9	1221	174	1.022
1925	34	BRO	NL	22	9	.710	3.53	31	31	0	26	4	0	265.1	247	115	104	8	66	221	10	1089	118	1.180
1926	35	BRO	NL	9	10	.474	3.89	24	22	2	12	0	1	169.0	172	80	73	7	58	140	1	713	98	1.361
1927	36	BRO	NL	16	15	.516	2.70	34	32	2	25	2	1	273.1	242	98	82	12	69	184	6	1123	146	1.138
1928	37	BRO	NL	22	10	.688	2.09	38	32	5	24	4	2	280.1	226	79	65	11	72	200	7	1126	191	1.063
1929	38	BRO	NL	14	13	.519	3.89	31	26	3	17	1	0	231.1	244	110	100	15	47	126	9	978	119	1.258
1930	39	BRO	NL	17	15	.531	2.61	35	31	3	20	4	0	258.2	241	97	75	15	55	173	5	1061	189	1.144
1931	40	BRO	NL	11	13	.458	3.38	30	29	1	12	2	0	218.2	221	99	82	12	53	150	0	918	113	1.253
1932	41	BRO	NL	12	11	.522	4.20	27	24	2	9	1	1	175.2	171	90	82	10	57	103	1	742	90	1.298
1933	42	STL	NL	6	2	.750	3.55	28	11	8	2	0	3	99.0	105	42	39	3	28	67	1	427	98	1.343
1934	43	TOT	NL	1	3	.250	4.56	25	6	4	1	0	1	77.0	90	47	39	5	25	42	3	341	92	1.494
1934	43	STL	NL	1	1	.500	3.66	19	4	3	1	0	1	59.0	62	26	24	4	14	33	2	248	115	1.288
1934	43	CIN	NL	0	2	.000	7.50	6	2	1	0	0	0	18.0	28	21	15	1	11	9	1	93	54	2.167
1935	44	BRO	NL	3	2	.600	4.41	20	0	11	0	0	2	51.0	55	29	25	3	16	28	3	225	90	1.392
16 Seasons				197	140	.585	3.24	442	347	53	216	29	11	2966.2	2809	1246	1068	132	840	2045	77	12369	125	1.230

1 MVP Award


Charles Arthur Vance was born on March 4, 1891 in Orient, Iowa. Armed with an amazing fastball, Vance has problems making the majors. He bounced around the minors for 10 seasons before getting his first legitimate shot at a rotation spot. While in the minors, he would post ridiculous strikeout numbers the first half of the season, but in doing so, he tired and wasn't very good in the second half. After an arm surgery, his manager in New Orleans decided to make him pitch every four days instead of every three, and Vance seemed cured. The Dodgers would buy him and make him a starter in 1922.

Vance began his major-league career as a 31-year old in 1922. As a rookie, he posted fairly impressive numbers going 18-12 with 3.70 ERA while striking out 134. He won his first of seven consecutive strikeout titles that season with an unusual windup that saw a high leg kick and a foot waggle and a new curveball. Two years later, Vance had his best season. He won 28 games on the way to his only MVP Award, but the remarkable feat was really his 262 strikeouts, which was more than any other two pitchers put together. For the next four seasons, Vance continually racked up the most strikeouts in the league while winning 20+ in 3 seasons. In one of the oddest moments of his career, Babe Herman laced a ball into the gap, and Vance, starting from second, decided to stop at third for some reason. Herman and the other runner, not paying attention, also ended up at third. The opposing team tagged two of them out for a double play, leaving Herman with a double.

As a 38 year old in 1929, Vance was beginning to decline from his heyday, but he was still effective. But by 1933, he had pretty much lost his fastball and was no longer an effective starter. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals before the 1933 season, and he didn't last long there, being traded to Cincinnati during the 1934 season. In an odd move, he was waived, and the Cardinals brought him back just in time for the World Series. He tried one more time with Brooklyn in 1935, but it didn't really work out.

Vance was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1955 with 81.7% (205 of 251) of the vote.


Why did Baseball-Reference have to mess with a good thing. Copying and pasting just became a pain in the butt.