Bob Feller - Is he a top tier Hall of Famer?

[Harliduck]

Jay...it's funny...I came back to read this thread and am genuinely surprised at how different others encounters with him seem to be. I took some time and googled for any other stories folks may have written about Bob, and found many. It seems they were either these amazing occurrences or stories like mine. I will rack it up to a fellow who had good days and bad days. Nothing will shake that memory I have, but it is good to hear other great stories. I can tell you I went into that day just shocked to be meeting a complete legend, and even at 13 I was completely obsessed with all things Baseball, and left crushed.

A couple of weeks later one of my youth baseball coaches who used to be a coach with the Phillies in the early 70's took me and a couple of buddies to a Mariner game. He was still pretty connected and we got to sit in the visiting dugout and hung out with the Tigers. I hung out with Milt Wilcox (a far cry from Bob Feller! haha) and that encounter restored my faith in baseball...what an awesome guy. I told him about meeting Bob Feller, and Milt said that players from that generation were tougher and overall played hard and were hard. He told me to forget about it. I will never forget that conversation either. I may not have had a Bob Feller card (still don't), but I had EVERY Milt Wilcox card, haha...and still to this day smile when I see them in my binders. The whole 83 Tigers were awesome to us punk kids...

Sorry to be OT...and I will state again...I consider Feller an elite HOFer.

[Section103]

I met Feller a few times and in most instances found him to be "grumpy", though certainly not to the level of John's interaction. "Bad days" certainly happen for a lot of folks, especially those of us who are older and those who have been through a lot. To me, it's just a real solid reminder that we don't really know these athletes like we want or think we do. My ex-wife, based on one interaction, simply cannot stand Tony Gwynn; yet most people consider him quite personable. I try to keep this in mind whenever athletes are being lauded or raked over the coals.

To the original question, I guess it really depends on what "top tier" means. For the HOF, that number is very low - like 10 or so. I don't think Feller reaches that level, but then my definition may be largely different than most.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Harliduck

Jay...it's funny...I came back to read this thread and am genuinely surprised at how different others encounters with him seem to be. I took some time and googled for any other stories folks may have written about Bob, and found many. It seems they were either these amazing occurrences or stories like mine. I will rack it up to a fellow who had good days and bad days. Nothing will shake that memory I have, but it is good to hear other great stories. I can tell you I went into that day just shocked to be meeting a complete legend, and even at 13 I was completely obsessed with all things Baseball, and left crushed.

A couple of weeks later one of my youth baseball coaches who used to be a coach with the Phillies in the early 70's took me and a couple of buddies to a Mariner game. He was still pretty connected and we got to sit in the visiting dugout and hung out with the Tigers. I hung out with Milt Wilcox (a far cry from Bob Feller! haha) and that encounter restored my faith in baseball...what an awesome guy. I told him about meeting Bob Feller, and Milt said that players from that generation were tougher and overall played hard and were hard. He told me to forget about it. I will never forget that conversation either. I may not have had a Bob Feller card (still don't), but I had EVERY Milt Wilcox card, haha...and still to this day smile when I see them in my binders. The whole 83 Tigers were awesome to us punk kids...

Sorry to be OT...and I will state again...I consider Feller an elite HOFer.

That does seem odd. I met him after he pitched a home run contest between games of a minor league doubleheader in 74 or 75. Very nice and very tolerant of the other kids using his autographed pictures to make paper planes(81/2 x11 printed sheet with stats on the back, and photo on the front)

I wonder if the differences were related to the venue? I went to an autograph thing at a shop - don't even remember who, nobody big. And there was a lot of friction between the owner and guest. Apparently the shop owner had got whoever to do it on a reduced fee plus so much per over some amount. The guest wanted to spend time with the few people there, and the shop guy kept pushing stuff at him to sign. Eventually they had a brief "discussion" about the arrangements. The guest expected a crowd based on promised promoting, the shop guy had basically just put up a couple hand made signs in the shop. And was figuring on getting a load of stuff for inventory cheap. Neither was all that happy.

I can picture Feller -or anyone really- getting cranky and demanding if he felt the shop wasn't holding up it's end of a deal.

Steve B

[Tabe]

I'd have no problem with Feller as a top-tier HOF'er. Don't think I'd put him there myself. Just a hair outside that elite group, I think.

To add to the story above, I have heard numerous stories about Feller being cranky, gruff, and just generally ornery. Lots of positive stories, too, but too many bad ones to comfortably call him a "great human being" or similar. And, like the other poster said, I don't believe in giving old people a pass for grumpy behavior. My wife does that and it drives me nuts.