 It is difficult to imagine now what a marvel Feller was when he burst upon the scene in 1936 , a callow youth of 17 . Many athletes are great . Bob Feller was seminal . In the long @-@ ago time , unlike nowadays , it was unheard of for teenagers to succeed in the big top of athletics . Children politely waited their turn in the sunshine . Perhaps in all the world only Sonja Henie had previously excelled at so young an age in any sport that mattered , and , after all , she was but a little girl wearing tights and fur trim , performing dainty figure eights . Feller dressed in the uniform of the major league Cleveland Indians , striking out – fanning ! – American demigods ... in the only professional team sport that mattered then in the United States . 
