Bob Feller showed up in the MASN booth at National’s Park on Sunday to talk pitching with Jim Palmer and Rob Dibble and, because it was the Memorial Day weekend, he reminisced about his time in the armed forces. Feller (“the heater from Van Meter”) served in the Navy, taking nearly four years off from baseball. He enlisted one day after Pearl Harbor and served as a Gun Captain aboard the U.S.S. Alabama, participating in the “Great Mariana’s Turkey Shoot” against the Japanese in the late summer of 1944.

Bob Feller is known for being outspoken, and his time with Palmer and Dibble was no different. During the in-game interview, Feller commented that he thought that fellow Tribesman Herb Score was a better pitcher than Sandy Koufax – a surprising claim given Score’s record. (Not to mention Koufax . . . ) While Score set the rookie mark for strikeouts (245) in 1955 and was a combined 36-19 over his first two seasons, his career was cut short when Gil McDougald lined a ball off his right eye in May of 1957. The legend is that after he recovered, Score changed his motion to compensate for his fear of batted balls. Score, who died last year at 75, always denied this, saying that he changed his motion because his arm was sore.

The kind of claim that Feller made about Score might be controversial, but it’s not uncommon among ballplayers of any era, no matter how smart, how well-traveled, or how widely respected they have become. A hard core group claim that Al Oliver was one of the most talented hitters ever, and there are entire chat rooms dedicated to the question of his place in baseball history. Okay, you can make a case for Oliver (he has been considered for “the Hall”), but Feller’s claim comes dangerously close to entering the fantasy world of “if onlys.” The world of “if onlys” is a world inhabited by fans who obsess on the likes of Herb Score and Kenny Hubbs – who might have been one of the best defensive second baseman of all time . . . if only . . .

The Curse of Rocky Colavito: the history of Feller’s team, the Indians, is filled with “if onlys” — they seem to follow the team around. The biggest “if only” involves the trade of Rocky Colavito for Harvey Kuenn in 1960. The Colavito for Kuenn trade seemed even-up at the time, with the Naps sending their big bomber (he led the AL in home runs in 1959) to the Tigers for Kuenn, who had won the batting crown. Colavito, who loved Cleveland, is said to have put a curse on the team — which he denies. Even so, the Colavito trade, according to one Cleveland writer, began a 33-year run of futility for the Tribe that included a number of management pratfalls that kept Cleveland from fielding a good team – moves that included trading Tommy John, Jim “Mudcat” Grant, Joe Carter and Rick Sutcliffe, rushing pitching phenom Steve Dunning to the major leagues and signing over-priced pitcher Wayne Garland. In 1987, Sports Illustrated featured the Indians on its baseball preview issue under the headline “Indian Uprising.” The team lost 104 games.  

Down On Half Street: A good friend says that the Indians are as bad as the Nats. Not true. The Indians actually have a closer (Kerry Wood) and Carmona and Lee (in spite of their troubles) are more than passable front-line pitchers. In fact, Lee is brilliant . . . and the Naps are filled with talent: Grady Sizemore is one of the best center fielders in the game (despite his current BA) and Matt LaPorta is a rising star. Victor Martinez is still the heart of the team . . . But the Tribe is in trouble and in a seller’s market. Their front-line is hobbled, their players are underproducing, their fans are coming to the games as blue seats. And they have only 18 wins. The Nats could catch them, and it would have nothing to do with a Colavito Curse . . . Nats management says that they will draft and sign Stephen Strasburg and then send him to the minors instead of bringing him to the big club, because he will need “some seasoning.” So? Jordan Zimmermann and Shairon Martis and Craig Stammen are what, hard-bitten veterans? Tell ya what, send Danny down for “seasoning,” bring Strasburg to the big club, put him in a uniform and send him to the mound. Steaks need seasoning, the Nats need  wins. Seasoning? It doesn’t make sense . . . The Cubs are sinking like a stone. Pitching problems, hitting problems, injuries, poor attitudes (Milton) and they’re missing that great ineffible quality — a sparkplug, a ballplayer who wants to win. More than anything they miss that one gamer who can make a difference. They had him at one time but, believe it or not, he’s now in Cleveland  . . . Bill Ladson says that it’s decision time for Mike MacDougal, before giving us this bit of bad news — Scott Olsen is getting better . . .