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► , _ — BOB FELLER Feller Laughs Off Over-The-Hill Talk Veteran Cleveland Hurler Expects to Play for Four More Years, Maybe Longer By JAMES DUNNE United Press Sports Writer CLEVELAND, Ohio, June 11. — Robert Feller, once the fastest pitcher around, but now one of the craftiest, laughs when people remind him that this is his thirteenth year with the Cleveland Indians and that the pre-season consensus was that he was "over the hill" at 32. "Nope," the former fire-ball artist said. "I think Im far from started on the decline. In fact I feel better than ever and Im sure of at least four more good years. Maybe even more." Feller has good cause to feel that way. The number one hurler for the Tribe owns a 8-1 record for the season and his pitching is being co/npared to that of 1946 when he won 26 games while losing 15. Fellers pitching has been the talk of the league. For the last four years he has relied mostly on curves, both fast and slow, mixed with a good portion of sliders and moderate fast balls. "He pitches with his head now — not just his arm," general manager Hank Green-berg said. Hitch Is Gone in Arm Fellers rejuvenation may be a mystery to his detractors but "its no mystery to me," he said. "For the first time since I fell off that mound in Philadelphia in 1946, my arm is right. The hitch is gone and I know why." "If you remember," he continued, "after that fall I tried to pitch and my motion was all wrong. I tore a muscle loose from a rib. A calcium deposit formed around the injury." "Until this year I couldnt throw a ball naturally. There was always that pull when I came back. The doctors told me that the deposit would dissolve in time. Well, it has. My motion is free and easy now." Feller also feels that this is his lucky year for another reason. A month ago he developed a muscle spasm in his back that hindered his pitching. During treatment in a clubhouse "whirlpool" bath the hot water hose wrenched loose and sprayed Feller with scalding water. The shock from the water cured Feller of the spasm, but covered him from the waist down with burns. Less than a week later, however, he pitched against the Chicago White Sox while swathed in bandages— and won, 11-2. Mel Harder, Indians coach and one of their great all-time pitchers, said, "Right now Bob is the best pitcher in baseball." Harder believes Feller is even better than his 1941 year when he had a record of 17 wins and four losses going into the All-Star game. Harder pointed oUt that Feller has an earned run average of 1.71 — the lowest of any starter in the American League. For the record books, Feller is looking for his eleventh one-hitter, his third no-hitter and more frames to add to his 3,008 innings pitched as of last Friday night. He needs only seven more games to tie, and eight more to establish a new record for wins with the Indians. Harder owns the record of 223.
