December 15 Bob Feller on First Start after WWII

Matt and Tom Discuss -Bob Feller, Pitching Machines, December 15th, Free Agency, Bill Hamilton and Tommie AgeeDecember 15th Show Notes December 15, 1896 –THE PITCHING CANNON AT WORKIn 1896, Princeton University mathematics instructor Charles Hinton designed a gunpowder-powered baseball pitching machine for the Princeton University baseball team’s batting practice. According to one source it caused several injuries and may have been partly responsible for Hinton’s dismissal from Princeton that year. A demonstration was given in the school’s gymnasium on December 15, 1896.Hinton died unexpectedly in 1907 from a cerebral hemorrhage and while he is mostly remembered for his work on the fourth dimension, in stark contrast, he is also credited with designing the first playground jungle gym. December 15, 1967 — The Mets obtain Tommy Agee, the 1966 Rookie of the Year, and utility infielder Al Weis from the White Sox in exchange for Buddy Booker, Tommy Davis, Jack Fisher, and Billy Wynne. New York’s newest additions will both play a pivotal role in the team’s 1969 World Championship season.December 15, 1974 — Oakland A’s pitching star and Cy Young Award winner Catfish Hunter is declared a free agent. Arbitrator Peter Seitz rules that A’s owner Charlie Finley committed a breach of contract by failing to make a payment to Hunter’s life insurance fund. The four-time 20-game winner, who helped Oakland to World Championships in 1972, 1973 and 1974, will sign a five-year contract worth a record $3.75 million with the New York Yankees. The decision will usher in a new era in the owners’ relationship with their players.Died: December 15, 2010 in Cleveland, OH. Blessed with a resilient arm and an overpowering fastball that frequently approached 100 miles per hour, Bob Feller was the most dominant pitcher of his era. Despite missing four full seasons during the peak of his career to join the war effort, Feller compiled 266 victories over the course of 18 big-league seasons, including three no-hitters and a record 12 one-hitters. Many people still feel that no one has ever thrown a baseball harder than the Cleveland Indian Hall of Famer.Robert William Andrew Feller was born on November 3, 1918 in the small midwestern town of Van Meter, Iowa. Growing up an Iowa farm boy during the 1920s, much of Feller’s childhood consisted of performing household chores and playing baseball. Feller later credited milking cows, picking corn, and baling hay with strengthening his arms and giving him the capacity to throw as hard as he did.After...