The Bob Feller Museum was a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

museum located in

Van Meter, Iowa Van Meter is a city in Dallas County, Iowa, United States, situated along the Raccoon River. The population was 1,484 at the time of the 2020 census. Van Meter is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. History ...

. The Bob Feller Museum was founded in 1997 and to honor

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

pitcher

Bob Feller Robert William Andrew Feller (November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010), nicknamed "the Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob", and "Rapid Robert", was an American baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Clevel ...

of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

. The Bob Feller Museum is located in Feller's home town.

History

The museum concept advanced in 1990, when a committee was formed in Bob Feller's home town of Van Meter, Iowa for the purpose of establishing a museum honoring Feller. Several fundraising projects followed. During the process, Feller served as Grand Marshall of a local Fireman's Kids Day and was interviewed by journalist

Charles Kuralt Charles Bishop Kuralt (September 10, 1934 – July 4, 1997) was an American television, newspaper and radio journalist and author. He is most widely known for his long career with CBS, first for his "On the Road" segments on '' The CBS Evenin ...

with the interview airing on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

show, Sunday Morning. In 1993,

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 ...

came to Iowa for an

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...

game in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

and a fundraising dinner was held in conjunction with his visit. After successful fundraising efforts, the Bob Feller Museum opened in Van Meter, Iowa, on June 10, 1995 with a crowd of 800 in attendance. The museum was designed by Feller's son Stephen, an architect. The museum property was donated for the project by Brenton Banks. Bob Feller 2007

The museum contained Feller memorabilia and items from his own collection. The Feller bat used by

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

when he made his last public appearance at Yankee Stadium was at the museum. Feller said a teammate had stolen the bat and eventually it was purchased by the

Upper Deck The Upper Deck Company, LLC (colloquially as Upper Deck and Upper Deck Authenticated, Ltd. in the UK), founded in 1988, is a private company primarily known for producing trading cards. Its headquarters are in Carlsbad, California, United State ...

sports card company for $107,000. Feller later offered the company $95,000 in return for the bat. Following Feller's death in 2010, the museum faced funding issues. In 2015, with family approval, the Bob Feller Museum was donated to the city of Van Meter for use as the city hall. Some artifacts remain on permanent exhibit without charge. Other artifacts were moved to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, where the Cleveland Guardians have the items on display within

Progressive Field {{Infobox stadium , name = Progressive Field , nickname = ''"The Jake"'' , logo_image = Progressive_Field_Logo.svg , logo_caption = , image = , caption = Progressive Fiel ...

. "He truly was the engine that made that place run and with his passing, the museum struggled," explained museum board member Bob DiBiasio, who also served senior vice president of public affairs for the Cleveland Indians.

References

External links

Museum photos
{{authority control Baseball museums and halls of fame Sports museums in Iowa Baseball in Iowa Museums in Dallas County, Iowa Museums established in 1995 Dallas County, Iowa