Saturday Spotlight: Bob Feller

Bob Feller was a starting pitcher for the Cleveland Indians from 1936-1941 and 1945- 1956. He left baseball in 1942 to serve his country in the Navy during WWII. He signed with the Cleveland Indians when he was only 17 years old, in 1936, for $1 and an autographed baseball. His debut was on July 19, 1936.
One year before he left baseball in 1940 at the age of 21 he had a stellar season. He pitched 43 games with a win loss record of 27-11. He had an ERA of 2.61, struck out 261 batters, and pitched 320.1 innings. Of his 43 games he had 31 complete games and 4 shutouts. He gave up 245 hits, 102 runs, 93 earned runs, 13 home runs, and 153 walks. He lead the American League in ERA, wins, games pitched, innings pitched, strikeouts, complete games, shutouts, and games started. Feller won the AL Triple Crown leading in strikeouts, wins, and ERA.
In 1942 Feller left to join the Navy in WWII. He served on the USS Alabama during his time in the war. He returned to baseball at the end of the war in 1944.
One year after his return, in 1946, Feller still seemed to be as good as he was before he left. He pitched 48 games with a win loss record of 26-15. He had an ERA of 2.18, struck out 348, and pitched 371.1 innings. In his 48 games he had 36 complete games and 10 shutouts. He gave up 277 hits, 101 runs, 90 earned runs, 11 home runs, and 153 walks. He lead the American League in wins, games pitched, innings pitched, strikeouts, complete games, shutouts, games started, walks, and hits. He was third in ERA that season as well.
In his 18 years playing for the Indians he played 570 games. HE had 226 wins, 162 losses, ERA of 3.25, 44 shutouts, and 279 complete games.  He pitched 3827 innings and struck out 2581 batters. He gave up 3271 hits, 1557 runs, 1384 earned runs, 224 home runs, and 1764 walks.
Although pitch speed was not recorded at the time, Feller was said to throw upwards of 100mph. Some throws were recorded at 98.6 and 107.6 mph. This earned him the nickname Heater from Van Meter.
Feller was an 8 time All-Star, 6 time American League wins leader, and 7 time MLB strikeout leader. He help lead the Indians to a World Series win in 1948 and has three no hitter to his name, 1940, 1946, and 1951. He was a first ballot inductee to the 1962 Hall of Fame wining 93.8% of the votes. His number, 19, is retried by the Indians and he will always be a legend in the heart of the Indians.

Pre-Season Baseball

Today marks the start of pre- season baseball. The Indians played today against the Cincinnati Reds. Countdown to regular season baseball continues with only 34 days left!!!

Saturday Spotlight: Yan Gomes

Yan “Yanimal” Gomes is catcher for the Cleveland Indians. He was drafted by Toronto Bluejays in the 10th round in 2009. November 3, 2012 he was traded along with Mike Aviles for Esmil Rogers. Gomes has played for Cleveland for three seasons. His biggest year came in 2014. Not only was he good defensively he was killing it at the plate. Defensively in 2014 he had 1052 putouts, and nine double plays. He had 66 stolen base attempts which was fourth in the AL, and 31 were successful caught steeling which was second in the AL. Gomes was fifth in the AL in caught stealing percentage 32.09%, which was down from 40.8% in 2013. At the plate 2014 left Gomes booming. He had 61 runs, 135 hits, 21 home runs, 72 RBIs, a batting average of .278, and a slugging percentage of .472. These stellar numbers lead him to win the Silver Slugger award for Catchers in 2014 the same season pitcher Corey Kluber won his Cy Young award. Gomes is currently signed trough 2019 on a 6 year $33 Million contract and will become a free agent in 2020.

Team Adriana

I am pleased to report that Mike Aviles daughter Adriana was announced cancer free! Although Aviles is no longer with the Indians, teammate and fan alike are pleased to hear the good news. Forever and always #TeamAdriana

Baseball is Beginning!!

Yesterday marked the start of baseball season with pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training! We are 46 days away from Opening Day! BASEBALL IS BACK! I'm just a tad bit excited!!!!!

Saturday Spotlight: Corey Kluber

Corey Kluber is a starting pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. He was a fourth round draft pick in 2007 by the San Diego Padres. On July 31, 2010 Kluber was apart of a three team trade between the Indians, Padres, and St. Louis Cardinals. Kluber was sent to the Indians and Indians closer Jake Westbrooke was sent to St. Louis. Current General Manager of the Chicago Cubs has stated that the Kluber trade was his biggest regret from his time working for San Diego via cubs.com.
Kluber pitched three seasons before his big breakout year in 2014. He lead the AL in wins with 18, had 9 losses in 34 games started. He had three complete games with one shut out. His Earned run average (ERA) was 2.44 and allowed 207 hits, 51 walks, and 14 home runs in 235.2 innings pitched. In 2014 he was second in the AL in strikeouts with 269 and averaged 10 SO per 9 innings. These staggering statistics earned him a Cy Young Award in 2014.
In 2015 on the surface looks like Kluber did not have the greatest season. He went from leading the AL in wins to leading in losses with 16 losses and 9 wins in 32 starts. He still had an amazing season by the numbers. He had a 3.49 ERA and had 4 complete games. He gave up 22 HRs, 45 walks, 189 hits in 222 innings pitched. Kluber was 3rd in the AL in strikeouts with 245 as well as being one of for Indians starting pitchers to have 100+ strikeouts. At the end of the season he was 9th in the runing for Cy Young Award.
On May 13, 2015 Kluber set records. In a game against the St. Louis Cardinals Kluber struck out 18 with no walks, one hit through 8 innings. The Indians came away with a 2-0 win. This record setting outing stands as the most stikeouts in less than nine innings. Also it tied a team record set by Bob Feller on October 2, 1938. An intresting side note is that the same day the Bob Feller was opening at Progressive Field. 
Klubers projected 2016 stats have him with a 11 win and loss season with a 3.34 ERA. He is projected to give up 18 home runs, 45 walks, and 175 hits over 194 innings pitched. As well as striking out 205 averaging 9.5 strikeouts per 9 innings. 
Kluber is signed with the Indians through the 2019 season on a 5 year $38.5 million deal.
Kluber is a fan favorite with a no non-sense face when he takes the mound which has earned him the nickname Klubot.

Help: Lets get Bob Feller the Presidential Medal of Freedom

 Please help me in joining me to sign this petition to award Bob Feller the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Feller put is All-Star career on hold to serve in WWII. He deserves nothing but the best! So please join in signing this petition!

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/award-bob-feller-presidential-medal-freedom-his-military-service-during-world-war-ii