Bob Feller
New York. Home, sweet home.
The Big Apple was alive on Saturday, June 14. Still four out in second place, the Yankees were nestled safely in the Bronx for a three-game series with front-running Cleveland.
New Yorkers didn’t know what to talk about first: the pennant race, the fact that Bob Feller (13-2) would pitch the opener for the Indians, or The Streak, now at 26 straight.
Feller was the league’s second-biggest draw, and with baseball’s biggest draw, ol’ No. 5, in the other dugout, it wasn’t surprising when more than 44,000 showed up for the game.
On an overcast afternoon, fans were abuzz from batting practice through the opening pitch. Could Feller—whose fastball was guesstimated at 100 mph—stop Joltin’ Joe?
A future Hall of Fame pitcher with two dazzling out pitches, Feller—who had a killer curveball to augment the heater—surely could be the one to stop DiMaggio.
There was one problem—a problem for Feller.
DiMaggio hit well against Bullet Bob. In 13 seasons, Joe would tag Feller for seven home runs and a .344 batting average. The rest of mankind was hitting .196 against Feller that year.
Tommy Henrich put the Yankees on the board 1-0 with a first-inning homer. DiMaggio made the last out of the opening frame.
In the third, with Red Rolfe and Henrich on base, Feller fell behind Joe 3-0.
Many times throughout his life DiMaggio would tell people he never liked to walk. “I am at the plate to drive in runs,” he once was reported as saying. “It doesn’t have to be a strike to be a good pitch to hit.”
On the next Feller offering, DiMaggio put his bat where his thoughts were. Feller’s fastball was just off the plate, outside by inches. DiMaggio swung, blasting a double into right-center field. Rofle scored, Henrich held at third and New York led 2-0.
DiMaggio’s single moved him a game closer to the club hit-streak mark. Reporters were asking him about that now, the 29 straight games in which Earle Combs and Roger Peckinpaugh hit, sharing the Yankee standard.
“You know, I don’t worry about that stuff,” DiMaggio told the New York Times. “It was a big win for us … and we need to go out and do it again tomorrow.”
New York was only three games back and had won six straight. There was something in the air.
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