Vintage 75-year old handwritten Bob Feller letter
Here's a handwritten letter that's three-quarters of a century old. Bob Feller writes this four-page handwritten letter to his wife two months before the American League was integrated.
The first image shows the envelope addressed to Virginia Feller with a postmark from Boston on May 21, 1947. The scans are very high resolution and maybe the writing is darker than in real life.
From the context of the letter, Feller wrote it the day before. He writes about the (Ted) "Williams show tomorrow - we got Joe DiMaggio today".
Interestingly, of all the batters Feller faced, DiMaggio and Williams were #1 and #2 in plate appearances - he faced them the most. Feller gave up ten or more homers to only two batters -- Joe (11), and Ted (10). They were also #1 and #2 in RBI off of Feller.
For his career, Joe DiMaggio hit .342 with a .415 on-base percentage and a .643 slugging mark. Not to be outdone, Ted Williams hit .344 with a .474 on-base percentage and a .675 slugging mark.
Feller's Indians did indeed best the Yankees on May 20th. Cleveland won 4-2 though DiMaggio did get a base hit and run scored. The Yankees got their other run off of a solo shot from Charlie Keller. Cleveland player/manager Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau got a hit and later scored the go-ahead run in the 8th.
They didn't get to see the Ted Williams show as the games in Boston were rained out and had to be made up.
Later in the letter Feller refers to his wife as "Doll" and to himself in the third person.
His devotion to wife Virginia is profuse. "Bobby sure does want to see Doll. B is all eyes for little D. Yes!...Doll's letters are always so perfect. Bobby has a perfect dear little wife an I sure know it too. Everybody thinks Doll is a real perfect wife for Bobby - and I just beam when the say it. Oh boy I love Doll so awful awful much."
The year the letter was written, Feller led the league in wins, strikeouts, shutouts, WHIP, innings and starts.
This letter is truly vintage - it's 75 years old, nothing like all the manufactured memorabilia or common pieces from autograph signings. Here's a chance to get an authentic piece.
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06-30-2022, 11:58 PM
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