Today is the 80th anniversary of Bob Feller’s Opening Day no-hitter.
The 21-year-old Feller used his “heater from Van Meter” fastball on April 16, 1940 to mow down eight White Sox batters as the Cleveland Indians topped Chicago 1-0. Feller’s parents and sister, Marguerite, were among the 14,000 fans at Chicago’s Comiskey Park that afternoon.
“I knew I had a chance for a no-hitter in the ninth,” Feller told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “but I tried to put the thought out of my mind by reminding myself you never have a no-hitter until the last man is out.”
Feller threw two additional no-hitters, tying Larry Corcoran and Cy Young (Justin Verlander later joined the three-peat club) for a major league record that would be broken by Sandy Koufax (4) and Nolan Ryan (7).
