The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #83 Bob Feller

Rifling in at #83 is Cleveland great Bob Feller. Like many of the elite players of the 1940s, Bullet Bob’s career was interrupted by service in WWII. Feller missed three-and-a-half seasons just as he was establishing himself as the best pitcher in the world. It’s not hard to imagine Feller leading the league in wins for what would’ve been an unbreakable record of nine consecutive seasons had he been stateside for his entire career. In fact, he’d likely hold the records for most consecutive seasons leading the league in strikeouts and innings as well. Despite his lengthy absence from the majors, Feller put together one of the most impressive pitching careers MLB baseball has ever seen. He was the best pitcher in the American League the three years before left for the war and arguably in his first two full seasons after returning from the war. Feller is one of only 10 pitchers to throw at least 3,800 innings with an ERA+ of at least 122. He also led the league in strikeouts seven times, wins six times and innings pitched and games started five times each.

Leave a Reply

Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *