Bob Feller, the greatest pitcher of his generation, didn’t ignore his call to duty

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Bob Feller was a teenage sensation, pitching for the Cleveland Indians in the Major Leagues at the age of 17, then returning to Van Meter, Iowa to finish high school.

“Bob was a phenom,” explained Jeremy Feador, the Cleveland Guardians (formerly the Indians) historian. “He left Van Meter, pitched in Cleveland — never pitched a minor league game — and then went back to high school and graduated. That was broadcast on the radio across the country because the national was like, who was this guy, from the cornfields of Iowa to Cleveland.”

Leaving those cornfields, Feller made his career in Cleveland, playing 18 years with the Indians and pitching in the 1948 World Series on the last Cleveland Indians championship team.

An eight-time All-Star, he became a member of t