page_title: Cleveland Indians
section_title: 1936–1946: Bob Feller enters the show
hierarchical_section_title: Cleveland Indians / Franchise history / 1936–1946: Bob Feller enters the show
caption_attribution_description: Bob Feller, Baseball Hall of Famer
context_page_description: The Cleveland Indians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Indians compete in Major League Baseball as a member club of the American League Central division. Since 1994, they have played at Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. Since their establishment as a major league franchise in 1901, the team has won 10 Central Division titles, six American League pennants, and two World Series championships. The team's World Series championship drought since 1948 is the longest active among all 30 current Major League teams.
  The name "Indians" originated from a request by club owner Charles Somers to baseball writers to choose a new name to replace "Cleveland Naps" following the departure of Nap Lajoie after the 1914 season. It was a revival of the nickname that fans gave to the Cleveland Spiders while Louis Sockalexis, a Native American, was playing for the team. Common nicknames for the Indians include the "Tribe" and the "Wahoos", the latter referencing their former logo, Chief Wahoo. The team's mascot is named "Slider."
context_section_description: The Indians were a middling team by the 1930s, finishing third or fourth most years. 1936 brought Cleveland a new superstar in 17-year-old pitcher Bob Feller, who came from Iowa with a dominating fastball. That season, Feller set a record with 17 strikeouts in a single game and went on to lead the league in strikeouts from 1938–1941.
  On August 20, 1938, Indians catchers Hank Helf and Frank Pytlak set the "all-time altitude mark" by catching baseballs dropped from the 708-foot (216 m) Terminal Tower.
  By 1940, Feller, along with Ken Keltner, Mel Harder and Lou Boudreau, led the Indians to within one game of the pennant. However, the team was wracked with dissension, with some players (including Feller and Mel Harder) going so far as to request that Bradley fire manager Ossie Vitt. Reporters lampooned them as the Cleveland Crybabies. Feller, who had pitched a no-hitter to open the season and won 27 games, lost the final game of the season to unknown pitcher Floyd Giebell of the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers won the pennant and Giebell never won another major league game.
  Cleveland entered 1941 with a young team and a new manager; Roger Peckinpaugh had replaced the despised Vitt; but the team regressed, finishing in fourth. Cleveland would soon be depleted of two stars. Hal Trosky retired in 1941 due to migraine headaches and Bob Feller enlisted in the Navy two days after the Attack on Pearl Harbor.  Starting third baseman Ken Keltner and outfielder Ray Mack were both drafted in 1945 taking two more starters out of the lineup.
caption: Bob Feller; winner of the A.L. pitching Triple Crown in 1940, member of the 1948 World Series Championship team, the Indians all-time leader in wins and strikeouts, and an MLB Hall of Famer.
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