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Pat Donahue started playing professional baseball in 1902. He enjoyed a 14-year pro career that included 119 big league games for the Red Sox, Athletics, and Indians.

After retiring as a player in 1917, Donahue became a minor league umpire and later a scout. By 1935 a 50-year old Donahue was umpiring semi-pro games in Des Moines, Iowa.

It was in this capacity that he first saw 16-year old Bob Feller. Born and raised in Van Meter, Iowa, Feller traveled the 20 miles to Des Moines with his team. Donahue watched the youngster strike out 18 batters in one game and 21 in the next.

Donahue alerted Indians scout Cy Slapnicka and Cleveland scouting director and Hall of Fame umpire Billy Evans. The Indians beat out a dozen other teams and signed Feller.

The fireballing right hander went on to a Hall of Fame career that included three no-hitters, 12 one-hitters, and 266 wins. The Tribe paid Donahue a measly $200 for the tip that changed their franchise.

In the collection is this letter on Philadelphia Athletics letterhead from Pat Donahue dated January 9, 1949. Three months earlier, Feller and the Indians won the the ’48 Fall Classic.

At the time the letter was written, Feller was a 7-time All Star with 177 wins to his credit. By ‘49 Rapid Robert topped the AL in strikeouts seven times.

Donahue writes, “Thank you for the honor. From that man who discovered Bob Feller and received a lousy $200 from big hearted Slapnicka. He has only made 50 grand off of Feller. I’ll laugh that off.” Donahue has signed the bottom of the correspondence. 

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One of the game’s greatest pitchers, Bob Feller won 266 games despite missing four seasons of his prime in World War II.

After reaching the big leagues at age 17, Feller hit the ground running. Rapid Robert won 107 games before the start of the war by averaging more than 23 wins per season from 1938-1941. Then with three consecutive 20-wins seasons, Feller left for the war.

The 8-time all star then missed each of the next three seasons before returning for nine games in 1945. The following year, Feller was back to form, leading the league with 26 wins and a career-high 348 strikeouts. That same season, Feller threw the second of his three no-hitters.

In the collection is a Yankee Stadium program and scorecard from that no-hit bid of April 30, 1946. It signed by Feller with a nice inscription.

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Bob Feller autographed this 1946 scorecard just below an ad for Chesterfield Cigarettes. “Jim this is the program from 4/30/46 the day I pitched the no-hitter against the Yankees. Enjoy, Bob Feller”.

This was the second no-hitter of Feller’s career. Five years later in 1951 Feller threw his third no-hit game to tie the MLB record shared by the great  Cy Young and 19th century hurler Larry Corcoran.

Dodger legend Sandy Koufax broke the record by throwing a no-no in four consecutive seasons starting in 1962. Koufax held the mark until Nolan Ryan threw the fifth of his seven no-hitters in 1981.

In 2019 Justin Verlander became the sixth hurler with at least three no-hitters when he threw a gem against against the Blue Jays.

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Bob Feller’s second no-hit game came against the 1946 Yankee roster that boasted six future Hall of Famers. Four were in the lineup that day – leadoff man Phil Rizzuto, cleanup hitter Joe DiMaggio, the career record-holder for homers by an AL second baseman in Joe Gordon, and catcher Bill Dickey. Bob Feller tamed Joe McCarthy’s lineup, striking out 11.

Tough luck pitcher Bill Bevens pitched a gem for the Yankees scattering seven hits in the 1-0 loss. Interestingly, the Indians’ starting center fielder that day was future Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Lemon.

Shown here is the cover and back page of the program that Feller signed.

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Bob Feller witnessed quite a lot during his baseball career. He broke in during the 1930s as a 17-year old. Before he was old enough to buy a drink Feller was a two-time All Star, 20-game winner, and third-place finisher in MVP voting.

At the height of his career Feller left the game to enlist in the Navy two days after the attack at Pearl Harbor. Gone for nearly four seasons, Feller  returned to lead the league in wins in each of his first two full seasons back.

In 1947, Feller saw baseball’s integration up close. On July 2nd, Indians owner Bill Veeck purchased the contract of Larry Doby from the Newark Eagles of the National Negro League. After the deal was done, a phone press conference was held. Among those on the call was Frank Gibbons, the Indians beat writer for the Cleveland Press.

The letter shown here was written the very next day – Doby’s first in a big league uniform. Earlier in the day Feller’s Indians dropped a 6-5 game to the Tigers. The Bengals manager was Steve O’Neill, the skipper for Feller’s first two big league years.

Notice the envelope’s postmark of July 3, 1947 in Detroit.

Feller writes in part, “Honey, I was held up last nite with the radio show – getting O’Neill on and I had to wait for Gibbons (as usual) he was in the press conference concerning the Negro player the Indians signed. Guess it was quite a session.”

Feller could not have imagined the impact Doby’s signing would have on the game and American society. At last the American League’s color barrier was struck down.

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When he penned this letter on July 3, 1947, Feller was 10-6 with a 3.32 ERA. He improved upon that, going 10-5 with 3 saves and a 2.16 ERA the rest of the way. By year’s end his 299 innings, 20 wins, 5 shutouts, and 196 strikeouts led the American League.

Shown here is the second page of Bob Feller’s letter from Doby’s first day in a big league uniform. In the correspondence he writes, “Have to…get my back worked on and see [Indians owner Bill] Veeck about some stuff.”

After missing the chance to call his wife the previous day because of the Doby announcement, Feller was eager to speak to her.

“Honey, hope you call tonight as I will be in all evening…” Feller closes the letter, “I love you Doll.” He then signs the letter “Bobby”.

Another letter from Feller to his wife from ’47 is found below while a third one is on the pages of Ken Keltner and Fred Hutchinson.

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Bob Feller and Larry Doby were Indians teammates for nine years. From 1947-1955 Feller saw Doby up close. A great performer for the Newark Eagles, Doby broke the AL’s color barrier, became an All Star, and ultimately a member of the Hall of Fame.

Doby is best remembered for his courage in becoming the first African-American player in American League history. Not as renown as Jackie Robinson, Doby faced the same challenges as his National League counterpart.

After his playing career, Doby became the American League’s first African-American manager.

According to the Hall of Fame’s website, Bob Feller had high praise for Doby.

“He was a great American, he served the country in World War II, and he was a great ballplayer. He was kind of like Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, because he was the second African-American player in the majors behind Jackie Robinson. He was just as good of a ballplayer, an exciting player, and a very good teammate. ”

The image above shows the telegram Feller sent to his wife. It mirrors the content of the letter.

“DEAREST DOLL DUE TO THE PRESS CONFERENCE AND MAKING RADIO SHOW AFTER GAME COULD NOT TALK TO YOU PLEASE CALL THURSDAY NIGHT AFTER 9PM LOTS OF LOVE BOBBIE”

Feller had little idea of the impact the signing of Doby would have not only on baseball, but on the American Civil Rights movement as a whole.

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Shown here is a letter handwritten by Bob Feller to his wife. The postmark on the envelope shows it was dropped in the mail on September 10, 1947. Feller refers to his wife Virginia as “Doll”, and to himself in the third person.

That day the Indians dropped a 7-4 contest at Yankee Stadium. Feller made his 32nd start of the season. He allowed three runs on five hits with two strikeouts. The ’47 season was a good one for Rapid Robert. His 20 wins led the American League. Feller also paced the Junior Circuit in innings, strikeouts, and WHIP.

He writes that he’s waiting for the 6:00pm train to Boston where the Indians opened up a four-game series agains the Reds Sox the next day.

Feller also writes about his dismay with Indians manager Lou Boudreau. “Had a chance to win today but Lou yanked me out for a pinch hitter.”

The rest of the five-page letter can be seen in the following images.

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In the second page of the 1947 letter, Bob Feller explains that the Indians pulled ahead of the Yankees after manager Lou Boudreau pinch hit for him. Feller goes on, “Wished Boudreau would not be so jittery and relax. I might’ve had 19 wins at least I would of had a 4-3 lead in the 6th inning which isn’t bad.”

Feller again refers to his wife as “Doll” and here uses the third-person. “Bobby sure misses his Doll…”

Vintage letters written by Feller from his playing days rarely surface.

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According to BaseballReference.com, Bob Feller made $40,000 for pitching for Cleveland in 1947. In page 3 of the letter to his wife, Feller writes that he must get up early the next day, and, “really get my barnstorming going again.”

The previous season, Feller teamed with famed Negro League pitcher Satchel Paige for a barnstorming tour. The two pitchers headed teams that faced each other in 27 cities.

According to the Hall of Fame, Feller explained his play thusly, “I had it all laid out. I knew what I was going to do and I knew the people personally that I was going to have get the black clubs together – the Kansas City operator, Mr. (J.L.) Wilkinson, and Satchel Paige and many others that I wanted to oppose us.”

Barnstorming provided a way for players to augment their income through playing more baseball.

Feller tells his wife that he’ll call Friday before his start the next day. On Saturday, September 13th Feller started and pitched seven innings of five-hit ball at Boston. He left the game down 2-0. The Indians rallied to tie it in the eighth before a home run by Red Sox centerfielder Dom DiMaggio off of reliever Al Gettel provided the winning margin.

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Shown here is page 4 of this 1947 correspondence between Hall of Fame pitcher and his wife, Virginia.

Feller writes in part, “I want to wind up with a good year and win a lot of games if possible.” That he did. Feller reached the 20-win plateau for the fifth time. He posted league-leading totals in wins, shutouts, innings pitched, strikeouts and WHIP.

The right-hander ended his career with 266 victories and likely would’ve topped the 300 mark if not for his service in World War II. In the four seasons before the war, Feller averaged 23 wins. The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor he enlisted into the Navy at age 23. Feller missed each of the next three season and most of 1945 before returning on August 24, 1945.

Upon his full-time return, Feller had his finest finest season in 1946, leading the AL in wins (26), shutouts (10), and strikeouts (348). He also posted career-bests in ERA (2.18), and WAR (10.0). Then in ’47, he paced the league in wins again.

Adding 34 victories over nearly four full seasons would’ve been a sure thing for one of the game’s greatest pitchers at the height of his career.

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The fifth and final page of the letter is the shortest. The 28-year old Feller adds Xs and Os representing kisses and hugs.

Feller closes,

“Lots of love and kisses, honey

Bobby boy

O X O X O X O X”

After writing this letter, Feller made 5 more starts and one relief appearance in 1947. He went 2-2 with a save and a sparkling 1.83 ERA the rest of the way. Feller finished the year 20-11 with a 2.68 earned run average.

In addition to the two letters from 1947 written by Feller to his wife, a third one is found on the pages of Ken Keltner and Fred Hutchinson.

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In 1948 Bob Feller posted league-leading totals in starts and strikeouts on the way to the 7th of his 8 All Star selections. His 19 wins helped push the Indians to the American League pennant and a date with the Boston Braves in the World Series.

In two starts Feller had mixed results. In Game 1 he was the tough-luck loser in a stellar performance. Feller went the distance and allowed just two singles. The first one came off the bat of Marv Rickert leading off the 5th inning. Feller responded by retiring the next three batters the end the threat.

The Braves didn’t muster another baserunner until the 8th. That’s when Feller ran into trouble.

Bill Salkeld led off the inning by drawing a walk then yielded to a pinch runner Phil Masi. Mike McCormick sacrificed Masi to second. The Indians elected to give the next batter Eddie Stanky an intentional pass. Braves pitcher Johnny Sain came to bat and put a change in the ball with a lineout to deep right field. One out away from retiring the side, Feller surrendered an RBI single to Tommy Holmes. The lone run was the difference in Feller’s 1-0 defeat.

His next start came in Game 5. Feller gave up three in the first, one in the third and the sixth, and two more in the seventh before manager Lou Boudreau lifted him. In 6 1/3 innings he allowed 7 runs on 8 hits and two walks. Boston’s Bob Elliott was the star of the game with two home runs – both off of Feller – and four runs batted in. The Indians dropped the affair 11-5.

Feller never again pitched in the Fall Classic. In two games on baseball’s biggest stage Rapid Robert went 0-2 with a 5.02 ERA. He pitched 14 1/3 innings, allowing 8 earned runs on 10 hits and five walks.  Feller struck out 7 and surrendered 3 home runs.

Shown here is a ticket to Game 4 of the 1948 World Series signed by 1948 MVP Lou Boudreau. The Indians player/manager played a part in the Indians 2-1 victory over the Boston Braves.

In the bottom of the first inning he hit a double down the right field line to score leadoff man Dale Mitchell. In the third inning Larry Doby added a solo home run that proved to be the difference.

 

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Cy Young pitched from 1890-1911 and won 511 games. When Young died in 1955 baseball commissioner Ford Frick decided to annually honor the best pitcher in the big leagues with the Cy Young Award.

From 1956-1966 one award was given for both leagues. In 1967 baseball switched gears and recognized one pitcher from each league.

Shown here is an 8×10 photo of an aging Cy Young with Indians great Bob Feller. The Cleveland pitcher has signed his name over his uniform.

Though he led the American League in wins six times and was clearly the best pitcher in his league in multiple seasons, timing prohibited Feller from winning the Cy Young Award. With his best years behind him, Feller pitched only in the first year the award was offered.