Bob Feller Career

[G1911]

Originally Posted by jethrod3

As for some folks being jaded by Feller being ubiquitious in the hobby, that's hard to fathom. Much of the money he raised by signing autographs helped support his 2-room museum in Van Meter (which was fantastic by the way) and which helped draw people to the city and supported a few people. When I purchased my autographed material the items were extremely reasonably priced. I don't care about scarcity of the autographs. I just want them at a cost that won't break my bank. And Feller's autograph was the autograph of a superstar HOFer that I wanted and still cherish, even though I know if won't help fund my retirement!

I agree. I think it's awesome that Feller signed everything a fan put in front of him for like 70 years. I don't get why this would be considered a bad thing.

[jethrod3]

Originally Posted by G1911

I agree. I think it's awesome that Feller signed everything a fan put in front of him for like 70 years. I don't get why this would be considered a bad thing.

I know, right? And I suspect that from the point of view of a collector, it wouldn't be. I feel bad that they were unable to keep his museum open. I visited it twice. Both times I went, I was visiting Des Moines and it was just a short drive from there. And both times, they had pieces on loan from Feller's personal collection or others, including the bat Babe Ruth used to lean on in his final appearance at Yankee Stadium. The breadth of autographed material there when I visited was phenomenal, and extremely reasonable priced, and I was able to purchase some autographed HOF cards and a couple of signed HOF busts for the few bucks I had brought with me in my wallet. I was glad that some of the money was going to support his museum. This was probably 15-16 years ago. Unfortunately I never got to meet him and get an autograph in person. As someone else noted above, he was a great ambassador for the game.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by jethrod3

Feller's case always gets me thinking about Ted Williams. Both lost prime years due to the war. How much higher in the key rankings would they have climbed if they hadn't lost those years to serving the greater good? Williams was probably my favorite player that I never actually saw play in live games at a stadium and on TV. Feller may be one of my two favorite pitchers that I never saw play in live games at a stadium or on TV. Feller may have produced numbers putting him squarely in the top 10 all time. I believe Williams may have firmly established himself as the best hitter of all time. Ahh, what might have been!

As for some folks being jaded by Feller being ubiquitious in the hobby, that's hard to fathom. Much of the money he raised by signing autographs helped support his 2-room museum in Van Meter (which was fantastic by the way) and which helped draw people to the city and supported a few people. When I purchased my autographed material the items were extremely reasonably priced. I don't care about scarcity of the autographs. I just want them at a cost that won't break my bank. And Feller's autograph was the autograph of a superstar HOFer that I wanted and still cherish, even though I know if won't help fund my retirement!

That museum was very nice and had a lot of really cool stuff in it. We stopped there on the way back from a Alice Cooper concert in Des Moines not long before it closed.

Originally Posted by G1911

I agree. I think it's awesome that Feller signed everything a fan put in front of him for like 70 years. I don't get why this would be considered a bad thing.

Ever try to find a old ball to get autographed that didn't already have a Bob Feller auto on it?