Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the historic 1946 season of Major League Baseball Hall of Fame member Bob Feller and his return from military service to the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 449) commemorating the 60th anniversary of the historic 1946 season of Major League Baseball Hall of Fame member Bob Feller and his return from military service to the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include Dextraneous material on H.Con.Res 449.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. LaTOURETTE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I want to, first of all, thank the chairman of the full committee, Mr. Davis of Virginia, for moving this legislation forward. This measure recognizes my constituent, Baseball Hall of Famer Bob Feller, for his military service to our country and also commemorates the 60th anniversary of his greatest baseball season.

It is my honor to have introduced this measure, together with a number of our colleagues that you will hear from this afternoon, and it will be our honor to host Bob Feller tomorrow when he visits Capitol Hill on the eve of his trip to Cooperstown for the annual Hall of Fame weekend.

Mr. Speaker, in 1941, Bob Feller was at the peak of his baseball career. The right-hander from Van Meter, Iowa, had signed with my beloved Cleveland Indians at the age of 16 and became an instant sensation. Feller made quick work of rewriting the record books and thrilling fans. In his first major league start, he struck out 15 St. Louis Browns.

In 1938, Feller established a new major league strikeout record by striking out 18 Detroit Tigers in a single nine-inning game. He was the first pitcher in modern major league history to win 20 or more games before the age of 21.

He pitched his first no-hitter on opening day at Comiskey Park against the Chicago White Sox on April 16,

1940. It remains today as the only no-hitter ever thrown on a major league opening day.

Two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Mr. Speaker, in 1941, Bob Feller did what seems almost unthinkable with some of today's professional athletes. A month after his 23rd birthday, he enlisted in the Navy and volunteered for combat, placing service to his country above the sport he loved. It didn't matter that his father was dying of cancer and that his mother and sister depended upon him for financial support. His country needed him, and Feller didn't think twice.

Bob Feller was sworn in by heavyweight champion Gene Tunney and was off to fight in World War II.

For the next 44 months, Feller's life was devoted to his country and his fellow sailors aboard the USS Alabama, where he served as an anti- aircraft gunner. Feller participated in the famous 1944 Battle of the Marianas Turkey Shoot, where 219 of Japan's 326 planes were downed in a single day. He has called the Marianas shootout the greatest day of his life. He left the Navy a war hero, earning eight battle stars.

Bob Feller missed nearly four full seasons to defend our great Nation and returned at the end of the 1945 season just in time to pitch a handful of games. He tried to keep his fastball in shape during the war, often tossing the ball on the deck of the Alabama. Still, there were a number of whispers that perhaps his best days were behind him.

Sixty years ago, in 1946, Feller silenced the critics. He had his best season ever, one for the record books and the stuff of Hollywood movies. The season reminds us why baseball is so revered.

In 1946, Feller pitched a remarkable 36 complete games in 42 starts. To gauge this feat, consider this: The five teams in the American League Central Division had just 35 complete games between them all of last year.

Feller led the American League in wins, shutouts, strikeouts, games pitched and innings. He struck out 348 batters, then a major league record.

In April of 1946, he pitched his second no-hitter, this time against the Yankees in New York. He went 26-15 with 10 shutouts, including the no-hitter, and had a career low 2.18 earned run average. He pitched in six relief games, saving four of them.

He pitched a total of 371-1/3 innings and often threw 125 to 140 pitches a game. He says today that he never iced his arm, if you can imagine that. He had a fastball clocked at 109 miles an hour that year, again, after a 4-year hiatus.

The Baseball Hall of Fame has said Feller's ``blazing fastball set the standard against which all of his successors have been judged.''

He was the winning pitcher in the 1946 All-Star Game and threw three scoreless innings in a 12-0 victory by the American League. He achieved all of this while my beloved Indians that year, 1946, only won 68 games.

Mr. Speaker, Bob Feller has been a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame since 1962. Purists can recite his stats: His three no-hitters, his 12 one-hitters, his 266 wins, his 2,581 strikeouts and his 18 years with the Indians.

What many sports fans don't know, however, is that none of these records or accolades are as important to Bob Feller as was his service to our country. Bob has said, ``It was more important for me to be in the military trying to protect the sovereignty of this country than playing professional baseball or any other sport.'' He also said that the only win he ever wanted was World War II.

Bob Feller today says that he is no war hero, but rather a survivor, because he is one of the lucky ones to have made it home.

Mr. Speaker, I would argue that ``Rapid Robert'' Feller is a hero in every sense of the word, both on and off the field. Now 87 years old and part of the Greatest Generation, he remains completely devoted to his sport, to the Indians, and to our men and women in uniform. He is a wonderful and selfless American.

I urge my colleagues to support the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, in my opening remarks I mentioned Van Meter, Iowa. It is now my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham), who represents Van Meter, Iowa.

Mr. Speaker, when we introduced this resolution with all of the folks that are speaking here today, we got a call from Representative Gingrey's office. I said to myself, well, he is not from Iowa, he is not from Cleveland, why would a guy from Georgia want to talk about Bob Feller? He is about to tell us.

It is my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).

Mr. Speaker, when we called up Bob Feller and said we were going to be doing this and invited him to Washington tomorrow, he said there are two people I need to see, my good friend Senator Jim Bunning, who he knows, of course, from the Baseball Hall of Fame, and I have to see my great friend, Sherry Boehlert, who represents Cooperstown, New York.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Boehlert).

(Mr. BOEHLERT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, when we introduced this resolution, I was riding over for a vote yesterday and saw Mr. Leach of Iowa, and his eyes lit up when I said we were going to do this, because he too has some remembrances that he wants to share about Bob Feller. It is now my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach).

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I just want to thank everyone who spoke, Mr. Boehlert, Mr. Latham, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Davis, again, and thank Mr. Davis of Virginia and Mr. Leach for talking about Bob Feller. I again would tell folks that at 87 years old, he will be here tomorrow, and, if schedules permit, I hope you take time to say hello to him. I urge passage of the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that, I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding me time. I also want to thank Mr. LaTourette for the work that he has done to bring this resolution to the floor of the House.

As someone who grew up in the city of Cleveland and had the opportunity as a young boy to watch the Cleveland Indians, or to listen to them on the radio, and to have had the opportunity to go to a baseball game with my father to see Bob Feller pitch, to dream that from that point to this moment that so many years later we would have the opportunity to personally recognize his achievements through this congressional resolution, for any of us who were Cleveland Indians fans back then to be here now in this Chamber, it is an honor for us.

Bob Feller epitomized everything that any of us ever hoped our professional athletes would be. In the fifties, there was a different type of iconography of professional athletes. They were people who we would aspire to emulate, people who carried with them not only exceptional prowess on the field, but also had stories of personal achievement that were so extraordinary.

The story then wasn't about how much money an athlete made. The story was about their quality of heart, and in Bob Feller's case, the quality of commitment to our Nation.

Is there any question that with the tremendous number of records he held in major league baseball that he could have set marks that would never, ever be reached had he pitched those 4 years in which he decided instead to serve his country at a much higher level.

But he enlisted in the Navy at the peak of his career, missing those four seasons, serving in World War II, served as an anti-aircraft gunner on the USS Alabama.

He earned five campaign ribbons and eight battle stars. Oh, yes, he played on eight All-Star teams as well. As a major leaguer, he took the Cleveland Indians to two World Series, in 1948 and 1954. I remember in the Kucinich household the World Series pennants from 1948, and I remember how proud we were of the fact that Bob Feller and then what was known as the Big Four of our pitchers helped to guide the Indians' fortunes for quite a few years.

We have such pride in our community and in baseball's link to the tradition of Cleveland, and Bob Feller has been an important part of that. He was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in January of 1962 and inducted in July of the same year. As we know, he spent his entire career with the Cleveland Indians, from 1936 to 1956.

He pitched three no-hitters. And the first, as has been recounted, pitched on an opening day. Pitched his second no-hitter in 1946, and his third in 1951. He also pitched 12 one-hitters. Think about it: 12 one-hit games. And he won more than 20 or more games in a season six times.

Cleveland's Bob Feller, also known as Rapid Robert, amassed 226 wins and 2,581 strikeouts; led the league in strikeouts seven times during his career; voted the Cleveland Indians' Man of the Year twice.

Well, he is always going to be our baseball man of the year because he is someone who if you go outside of the Cleveland stadium, you will see a monument to Bob Feller. It shows him basically rearing back, ready to throw that fastball that always went over 90 miles an hour.

And it shows him in that perfect form of his youth, immortalized as the great pitcher. It also shows him as someone who carried with him the hopes and dreams of a community during times that were often very difficult. We love you, Bob Feller, and we love the fact that our Congress is recognizing not only what you have done for Cleveland, Ohio, but what you did for major league baseball and what you did for the morale of our country. Thanks, Rapid Robert.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

Mr. Speaker, I must confess that I grew up as a Brooklyn Dodger fan, but I also confess that Bob Feller was one of the brightest stars in major league baseball.

Though only 5 years into his career in 1941 with the Cleveland Indians, he had already set the major league record for the most strikeouts in a game and for the most wins by a pitcher under the age of 21. He already had accomplished baseball's elusive and exhilarating no-hitter, and he had done so in an opening day game, no less. When the same season came to a close, Feller was named major league baseball's Player of the Year.

On the heels of that season, at a point of great promise and mounting reward, Feller took off the rich colors of his Cleveland Indians and put on the uniform of his country. Two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he left baseball to enlist in the Navy.

Feller fought as an anti-aircraft gunner aboard the USS Alabama. He served with valor for 4 years and earned eight battle stars for heroism. His service and sacrifice offer the kind of inspiration that warms people's hearts, energizes their spirits and awakens their faith in what man and woman can do for his or her country and for their fellow persons.

Feller missed nearly four full seasons of the game he loved, but the story of what Feller did upon his return to baseball adds nearly unbelievable athletic feats to the heroism he displayed at sea.

``Bullet Bob,'' as he was called, pitched a second no-hitter in 1946, his first full year back as a major league player. He also led the American League in wins, shutouts, strikeouts, games pitched and innings pitched that season. Feller went on to pitch for almost 10 more years and led the league in strikeouts in seven of those years.

The 60th anniversary of Feller's triumphant 1946 season and his return from military service to the United States is certainly cause for commemoration. They also give us cause for thanks and reflection upon a professional athlete who is a model in his play and in his principles for all generations.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to another boy wonder of Cleveland, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

Although he was not so much known as a young athlete, he was indeed the mayor of Cleveland before he was 30 years old. He is a distinguished Member of this body.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, let me just say that I know that Dr. Gingrey had a great time in terms of all of those memories

and being as close to all of that action as he was. And so I would simply say that Bob Feller was indeed one of the greatest athletes that we have ever known; and this resolution is indeed a tribute to not only his athletic abilities, but his great spirit as an American.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve my time.

Mr. Speaker, simply to close, I would just simply reiterate that America has never known a greater athlete nor a greater spirit in terms of one who would interrupt his career as a professional athlete, join the military, and go and fight for a cause greater than the World Series. Bob Feller was a hero to thousands and thousands and thousands and will continue to be.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative LaTourette and my colleagues from Ohio and Iowa, as obviously this is their native son, and to hear them talk about Bullet Bob. I, like so many of the male Members of this body in particular growing up in the early fifties had one of these invaluable collections of baseball cards and almost a complete collection for each team.

Right at the top of the stack for the Cleveland Indians was, of course, Bob Feller. I, later on, many years later in fact, met my wife. We married 36 years ago. And to tell you the thrill it was when I found out that her dad, Bill Ayers, who died in 1980 of a heart attack, was also a professional baseball player, in fact, a major league baseball player.

During those years I had an opportunity to pepper Bill with baseball questions. He was originally an Atlanta Cracker and had signed with the Atlanta Crackers when he was 19 years old. But listen to some of these similarities between Bullet Bob Feller and my father-in-law Bill Ayers.

Of course, Bob Feller was a Hall of Fame baseball player, and my father-in-law spent, I think, a year and a half in the majors, playing for the New York Giants under Leo Durocher. They were the exact same age, almost. Bob Feller born in November of 1918; my father-in-law, August of 1918. They both served in the military; interrupted a professional career. Bob Feller serving from 1941 to 1945 in the Navy; my father-in-law, Bill Ayers, serving under General Patton's Third Army 1943 to 1946 in the United States Army in Europe.

Of course, Bob Feller signed a contract, as we know, at age 16. My father-in-law signed a contract at age 19. They were both pitchers. I asked my father-in-law, Bill Ayers, one time about who was the greatest hitter he ever pitched against. And his answer was Joe DiMaggio.

I said, well, who was the toughest, the greatest pitcher that you ever batted against? And, Mr. Speaker, you know in those days there was no such thing as a designated hitter. And the Cleveland Indians and the New York Giants actually did their spring training in Tucson, Arizona. And my father-in-law, Bill Ayers, was pitching in an exhibition game against Bob Feller.

He told me, he said, Phil, without question, Bob Feller was the greatest pitcher that I have ever faced. He said, in fact, he batted against him one time, and he struck out on three straight pitches, never getting the bat off his shoulder.

I said, Bill, why didn't you swing at the ball? He said, because I never saw it. And as I read the resolution by Representative LaTourette and realize that Bullet Bob was throwing a 109 mile-an-hour fastball, it is understandable.

So for me to have an opportunity to take just a few minutes to relate that anecdote to my colleagues and say, God bless Bob Feller. Representative LaTourette assures me I will have an opportunity to meet him tomorrow.

I really look forward to that. I don't know if he will remember Bill Ayers, but certainly that is a great memory for me and my family.

Mr. Speaker, I have to start with a confession. And here is the confession: Bob Feller is one of my heroes.

I say that unabashedly. It is not because to me as the ultimate baseball junkie I appreciate the great game and the great players; it is not just because baseball's mecca, the Baseball Hall of Fame, is the epicenter of my district. No, I appreciate and applaud Bob Feller for all the things he has done on the diamond, but he is one of my heroes because of the person that he is, the guy inside.

I have been privileged to get to know Bob Feller quite well over the last several years. As a matter of fact, Memorial Day 2002, when the Baseball Hall of Fame announced the policy that forevermore all veterans would be admitted free into that shrine, the mecca of baseball, they had a special ceremony to recognize the greats of the game who served in the military when the Nation needed them most. And it was my high honor to present Bob Feller's submission.

There is there in the Hall of Fame this plaque, a great big plaque with some of the greats of the game, Ralph Kiner, Warren Spahn, Phil Rizzuto, all people who served in time of the Nation's need. But the one that got the most attention was Bob Feller. And I will tell you this, think about the dynamics. In 1941, 23-year-old ace of the Cleveland Indian staff, he won 23 games that year. His record was 23- 15. What would that command in today's market? He would have 14 agents and he would have a gillion dollars' worth of offers from every club in the major leagues because pitching is such a premium. So this ace, this admittedly acknowledged one of the best in the business anywhere, 2 days after Pearl Harbor, became the first member of Major League Baseball to pack his belongings and sign up for his Nation. And he served with great distinction all during the war, World War II, in the U.S. Navy. And when he came back, he resumed his career. You know the rest of the story, so many of my colleagues have said it so well. He was just absolutely a breathtaking talent on the mound.

Mr. Gingrey reported on his father-in-law mesmerized by what he saw. He was just wonderful. But that typifies the inner man. He is wonderful every single day of his life, in his personal life, and I am privileged to salute Bob Feller and his very fine partner, his wife Ann. They are truly great Americans.